Continuity and Rupture

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Continuity and Rupture: Philosophy in the Maoist Terrain

Author	J. Moufawad-Paul
Country	Canada
Language	English
Subject	Maoism, Marxism, dialectical materialism, anti-revisionism, mass line
Genre	Political philosophy
Publisher	Zero Books
Publication date	2016
Pages	312
ISBN	9781785354762

Continuity and Rupture: Philosophy in the Maoist Terrain is a 2016 book written by J. Moufawad-Paul. The book provides a philosophical analysis of the theoretical foundation of the Marxist school of thought developed by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, Maoism. Moufawad-Paul argues that the political ideology of Maoism, despite being formulated in the 1960s, only achieved full theoretical maturity in 1988 in Peru.^[1][2]

Synopsis[]

The book is introduced as an attempt by Moufawad-Paul to reclaim Maoism, as a contemporary political ideology and contest the negative conceptualizations by Trotskyists and Anarchists in the political left. For Moufawad-Paul, Maoism must be understood as being both a continuation of Leninist political, philosophical and strategic positions, while simultaneously, acting as a rupture from the dogmatic orthodoxy and theoretical limits of standard Marxism-Leninism, thus Maoism is characterized as both continuity and rupture. Throughout the work, Moufawad-Paul offers a critique of contemporary and historical Maoist organizations, such as The Revolutionary Communist Party USA, The Shining Path, The Naxalite insurgency in India, and The New People's Army, as well as contemporary Marxist intellectuals, Slavoj Zizek, Alain Badiou, and Tom Clark (author of State and Counter-Revolution).

The Terrain of Maoism-qua-Maoism[]

Moufawad-Paul premises his work on five axioms, which are introduced in chapter one:

1. The distinction between "Mao Zedong Thought" and "Marxism–Leninism–Maoism" (what he calls "Maoism-qua-Maoism")
2. Maoism, as a political ideology began in 1988 with the formation of The Communist Party of Peru, the first self-labelled Maoist party that conceived Maoism as a "third stage" of revolutionary science
3. Historical Materialism is a science due to its ability to explain historical phenomenon
4. Maoism as a third stage of revolutionary science that is both a continuity and rupture from Marxism-Leninism
5. To understand Maoism, one must understand the theoretical limitations of Marxism-Leninism.

Science's Dogmatic Shadow[]

In the second chapter, Moufawad-Paul introduces his argument that Marxism, in contrast to contemporary intellectual consensus, is not simply a philosophy, but a science, specifically Marx's theory of historical materialism.

The General Limits of Marxism-Leninism[]

In the third chapter, Moufawad-Paul discusses the inherent contradictions within the ideology of standard Marxism-Leninism. According to Moufawad-Paul, within a Marxist-Leninist Vanguard Party if understood through Lenin's What is to be Done?, is a party that represents the working class but is limited by the conception of "the general staff of the proletariat." Writing in response to Marxist writer Tom Clark's State and Counter Revolution, Moufawad-Paul concludes that the dialectical conflict between the working-class character of socialism and the petite-bourgeoisie character of the Vanguard Party is resolved through the application of the Maoist strategy of the mass line, wherein the Vanguard Party is further developed through the mass line.

A New Anti-Revisionism[]

In this chapter Moufawad-Paul defends the concept of Anti-Revisionism, which is an essential component of Maoist ideology, anti-revisionism is the Marxist position opposing alteration or "revision" of the established Marxist-Leninist ideology that had been developed in the Soviet Union following the death of Joseph Stalin (though Moufawad-Paul is also critical of Stalin's conception of Marxism-Leninism, treating it as a limit transgressed by Maoism). Moufawad-Paul defends this concept along using the logic of his conception of Maoism as a continuity of and rupture from Marxism-Leninism. Maufawad-Paul explains that any new conception of Anti-Revisionism must be understood within the dialectical interrelation between continuity and rupture within Maoism.

Maoism or Trotskyism[]

Continuity and Rupture contains an additional essay titled "Maoism or Trotskyism" which evaluates Maoism and Trotskyism as derivative forms of Leninism and their mutual claim to be the continuation of the Leninist political philosophy that led the October Revolution.

Reception[]

Part of a series on
Maoism
Concepts Agrarian socialism Antagonistic contradiction Anti-imperialism Anti-revisionism Cultural Revolution Marxism–Leninism Mass line New Democracy People's war Proletarian nation Revolutionary base area Self-criticism Social imperialism Three Worlds Theory
Variants Gonzalo Thought Maoism–Third Worldism Mao-Spontex Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Prachanda Path
People Mao Zedong Faiz Ahmad Samir Amin Bob Avakian Alain Badiou Mohan Baidya Afzal Bangash Charles Bettelheim Bo Xilai Chen Boda Chin Peng Pushpa Kamal Dahal Norm Gallagher Abimael Guzmán Harry Haywood Ted Hill Jiang Qing İbrahim Kaypakkaya Li Minqi Lin Biao Charu Majumdar Pierre Mulele Huey P. Newton Muppala Lakshmana Rao Siraj Sikder Jose Maria Sison Akram Yari Yao Wenyuan Zhang Chunqiao
Theoretical works Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan On Contradiction On Practice On Guerrilla Warfare On Protracted War A Critique of Soviet Economics Quotations from Chairman Mao Historic Eight Documents
History Chinese Soviet Republic Chinese Revolution People's Republic of China 1949–1976 1976–1989 1989–2002 2002–present Korean War Sino-Soviet split Great Leap Forward Black Power movement Cultural Revolution New Communist Movement Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Communist rebellion in the Philippines Sino-Albanian split Maoist insurgency in Turkey Internal conflict in Peru Nepalese Civil War
Organizations Communist Party of China Communist Party of Peru – Shining Path National Democratic Front of the Philippines Communist Party of the Philippines New People's Army Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) Communist Party of India (Maoist)
Related topics Anarchism in China New Left in China Guevarism Left communism in China Nanjie National Democracy Movement Naxalite Red Guards Socialist ideology of the Kuomintang Thought reform in China
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J. Moufawad-Paul's work received a positive reception among Marxist critics.

Historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and social activist Gabriel Kuhn both provide positive reviews of the book in the cover section.

Hamayon Rastgar in Marx and Philosophy gave a positive review of the book, writing, "Moufawad-Paul makes an appealing case for a return to the revolutionary kernel of communism through understanding the most contemporary stage of the development of the ideology and science of revolution, namely Maoism."^[3]

J. Moufawad-Paul's work received a negative reception among some circles of Maoist activists in the United States.^[4]

References[]