Continuity and Rupture: Philosophy in the Maoist Terrain by J. Moufawad-Paul

Author:J. Moufawad-Paul [Moufawad-Paul, J.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, pdf
ISBN: 9781785354779
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Published: 2016-12-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

Maoist Openings

[Humanity] inevitably sets itself only such tasks as it is able to solve, since closer examination will always show that the problem itself arises when the material conditions for its solution are already present or at least in the course of formation.

—Karl Marx, A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy

New Questions

By transgressing the limits of Marxism-Leninism, the theoretical terrain of Maoism is capable of answering many of the significant questions that hampered the previous period of anti-revisionism. These were questions that hastened the disintegration of numerous Mao Zedong Thought organizations and were often leveled against the theory and practice of revolutionary communism. Despite a few admirable attempts, many of which should form the foundation of our analysis now, these organizations were by-and-large incapable of answering these questions and thus shattered or declined when they encountered this radical criticism. Some groups intentionally dissolved when they realized they could not honestly respond to these new problematics; other groups simply chose the path of denial, often lapsing into vulgar materialism, followed by dishonest back-pedaling, confused responses, and a shabby process of theoretical tinkering.

These questions were those raised by the struggles of minorities, specifically questions regarding race, gender, sexuality, and an entire host of identity-based concerns. Although numerous Marxist-Leninist organizations at the centers of capitalism, specifically in the United States, initially proved themselves capable of answering, in a limited but still important fashion, the question of race and racism (and although world-historical revolutions provided these organizations with a general understanding of the importance of women’s liberation) these struggles would still prove to be a stumbling block for the historical materialism of Marxism-Leninism.

The problem of race and racism was most often refracted through the lens of the national question (important when discussing colonialism and perhaps the material basis that was, in the final instance, responsible for racialization and thus racism1) but still limited in its application. The problem of women’s emancipation was often considered solved by statements made by Marx/Lenin/Mao and institutional practices of revolutionary societies, and though these statements and practices were historically important, they were not enough to allow those anti-revisionists as a whole to grasp the problematic(s) raised by the feminist movement. Indeed, it was quite common for anti-revisionist organizations, along with Trotskyists, to dismiss feminism as petty-bourgeois. Most significant in challenging Marxism-Leninism, however, were the questions of sexuality and sex identity, queer and trans demands,2 that often produced chauvinist practices in organizations that were otherwise revolutionary.

Take, for example, the RCP-USA’s inability to understand the queer question (let alone the trans question) and the backwards behavior that this inability produced. Despite the Stonewall Rebellion, despite decades where queer persons were targeted by the forces of reaction, the RCP-USA maintained a chauvinist position when it came to this identity that, despite being veiled in revolutionary language, was no different in practice than the position of bourgeois society: gays and lesbians were treated as aberrant, their sexuality dismissed as “bourgeois decadence”, and queer members of the RCP-USA were directed towards bizarre re-education practices that were ultimately the same as fundamentalist Christian anti-gay programs.

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