Opportunism and Self-Criticism: The Jinggangshan Party Congress Resolution of October 1928
A discussion of the concept of opportunism as it developed in the international communist movement, and a close reading of the self-critical portion of the resolution of the Border Area Party Congress...
20 Okt 202229min
“Why Is It that Red Political Power Can Exist in China?” (October 1928)
A close reading of the portion of the resolution of the Border Area Party Congress of October 4 to 6, 1928, which later became a key early text in the Maoist canon. Further reading: Stephen Averill, ...
15 Sep 202241min
The August Defeat (Part 2): The Communists Strike Back (August to November 1928)
The Communists fight to regain lost territory, and ethnic tensions explode among the peasants in the base area. Further reading: Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Bas...
31 Jul 202224min
The August Defeat (Part 1)
The 29th Regiment goes against Mao’s orders and decides to stay in Hunan, with disastrous results for the Communists. Further reading: Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangsh...
24 Jul 202221min
The Yongxin Joint Conference and Mao’s July 4, 1928 Report to the Hunan Provincial Committee
Mao explains his refusal to comply with orders from the Hunan Provincial Committee. Further reading: Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area Stuart Schram, ed., M...
17 Jul 202227min
Clandestine Transcripts of Revolutionary Globalization: The Shining Paths of Late Cultural Revolution Maoism
A talk that I recently delivered at the University of Hamburg, focused on the development of a new socialist political economy late in the Cultural Revolution and how this influenced the Communist Par...
28 Apr 202244min
Nuclear War and Communist Revolution
In light of the Ukraine crisis, a historical look at communist thinking on the connection between a third world war and revolution. Further reading: Sergei N. Goncharov, John W. Lewis, and Xue Litai,...
7 Mar 202230min
The Beginning of the Midyear Crisis (June 1928)
The Hunan Provincial Committee decides that Mao must obey its authority. Further reading: Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area Elizabeth Perry, Anyuan: Mining ...
27 Feb 202226min
