People's History of Ideas Podcast
115 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 4 hours ago - ★★★★★ - 110 ratingsIn this podcast, Matthew Rothwell, author of Transpacific Revolutionaries: The Chinese Revolution in Latin America, explores the global history of ideas related to rebellion and revolution. The main focus of this podcast for the near future will be on the history of the Chinese Revolution, going all the way back to its roots in the initial Chinese reactions to British imperialism during the Opium War of 1839-1842, and then following the development of the revolution and many of the ideas that were products of the revolution through to their transnational diffusion in the late 20th century.
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Episodes
Mao’s Bandit Comrades: Wang Zuo and Yuan Wencai
June 24, 2021 05:00 - 21 minutes - 15 MBThe stories of Wang Zuo and Yuan Wencai before they joined up with Mao Zedong. Further reading: Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area Some names from this episode: Wang Zuo, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong Yuan Wencai, Bandit leader who joined with Mao Zedong Zhu Kongyang, Warlord army officer turned bandit Xie Guannan, Patriarch of the local tyrant Xie family in the area around Maoping Support the Show.
Bandits of the Jinggangshan
June 17, 2021 05:00 - 26 minutes - 18.1 MBA closer look at the phenomenon of banditry in the Jinggang Mountains, because of the importance that banditry and other forms of collective violence had on how the revolutionary movement developed. Further reading: Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area Names from this episode: Qu Qiubai, Named head of new provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency Conference Zhu Kongyang, Warlord army officer turned bandit Support the Show.
Background on Society and Economy in the Jinggang Mountains
June 10, 2021 05:00 - 24 minutes - 17 MBWith particular emphasis on the geographical divisions between valleys and mountainsides, and ethnic divisions between Han and Hakka. Further reading: Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Name from this episode: Zhu Beide, Governor of Jiangxi province Support the Show.
Entering the Jinggangshan: The Sanwan Reorganization of the People’s Army
June 03, 2021 05:00 - 24 minutes - 16.9 MBAs Mao’s troops arrive in the Jinggangshan region, a revolutionary reorganization of the people’s army is begun. Also, a tangent on Mao’s leadership style and nuclear war with a jump 30 years into the future. Further reading: Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949 Stephen Averill, Revolution in the Highlands: China’s Jinggangshan Base Area Mao Zedong, “Speech at a Meeting of the Representatives of 64 Communist and Workers’ Parties” Some names from this epi...
The Autumn Harvest Uprising in Hunan
May 27, 2021 01:00 - 29 minutes - 20.5 MBThe first days of Mao Zedong’s long career of armed struggle. Further reading: Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928 Roy Hofheinz, “The Autumn Harvest Insurrection” Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949 C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928 Elizabeth Perry, Anyuan: Mining China’s Revolutionary Tradition Some names from this episode: Lu Deming, Leader of the Lu Deming Regiment Z...
Planning the Autumn Harvest Uprising in Hunan
May 21, 2021 19:00 - 24 minutes - 17.1 MBMao doesn’t budge on his military line in the face of pressure from the Party Center, and then gets arrested. Further reading: Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928 Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party Roy Hofheinz, “The Autumn Harvest Insurrection” Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of t...
The Autumn Harvest Uprising in Hubei
May 15, 2021 16:00 - 25 minutes - 17.5 MBThe planning and execution of the Autumn Harvest Uprising in southern Hubei province. Further reading: Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928 Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party Roy Hofheinz, “The Autumn Harvest Insurrection” Timothy Cheek’s Introduction to Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, eds., Mao Zedong : A Biography, vol. 1 Some names from this episode: Feng Yuxiang, Christian warlord “Scarlet Rays” Huang, Member ...
The “Tender-Hearted Communist:” Qu Qiubai
May 08, 2021 20:00 - 25 minutes - 17.2 MBBackground on Qu Qiubai before he became Communist leader in 1927. Further reading: Tsi-an Hsia, The Gate of Darkness: Studies on the Leftist Literary Movement Jonathan Spence, The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution Paul Pickowicz, Marxist Literary Thought in China: The Influence of Ch'u Ch'iu-pai Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927 Some names from this episode: Qu Qiubai, Named head of new provisional politburo at August 7, 1927 Emergency Co...
Army or Militia? Mao and the Politburo Diverge on Military Policy for the Autumn Harvest Uprising
April 24, 2021 16:00 - 26 minutes - 18 MBMao takes a critical position on the military line pursued by the Comintern and the Politburo. Also, the issue of scapegoating individuals as a way of dealing with repudiated party policies. Further reading: Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928 C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928 Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan ...
The Decisive Turn to Overthrowing the Guomindang: The 7 August 1927 Emergency Conference
April 17, 2021 17:00 - 28 minutes - 19.3 MBThe new policy of mass uprisings against the Guomindang is decided upon, and Mao’s comments at the meeting stand out for their epistemology. Further reading: Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928 C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928 Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July ...
The Nanchang Uprising (August 1, 1927)
February 17, 2021 21:00 - 28 minutes - 19.4 MBThe mutiny that founded the Chinese Red Army. Further reading: Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Marcia Ristaino, China’s Art of Revolution: The Mobilization of Discontent, 1927 and 1928 Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De] Chang Kuo-t’ao [Zhang Guotao], The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party ...
The End of the United Front (June to July 1927)
February 08, 2021 01:00 - 21 minutes - 15.1 MBAs the Wuhan regime collapses, so does the united front. Soviet advisors leave China, Chinese Communists go underground. The purge strikes Wuhan. Further reading: C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928 Anna Louise Strong, China’s Millions Vera Vladimirovna Vishnyakova-Akimova, Two Years in Revolutionary China, 1925-1927 C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 Tony Saich, The Rise to Powe...
“Like Taking a Bath in a Toilet” (May and June 1927)
January 29, 2021 23:00 - 26 minutes - 17.9 MBThe Comintern’s guidance falls short in response to the ongoing massacre of peasants. Further reading: C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928 Donald Jordan, The Northern Expedition: China’s National Revolution of 1926-1928 Alexander Pantsov, The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Revolution, 1919-1927 Some names from this episode: Tang Shengzhi, Hunan warlord who sided with the National Revolutionary Army and contested leadership with Chiang Kai-shek Ye Ting, Communist...
Mao Tries to Legislate a Peasant Revolution: The Wuhan Land Commission (April to May 1927)
January 23, 2021 17:00 - 29 minutes - 20.4 MBMao’s experience on the Wuhan Guomindang Left government’s Land Commission, with some comparative remarks on land reform in Communist thought. Further reading: Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927 C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928 Lynne Viola, The Best Sons of the Fatherland: Workers in the Vanguard of Soviet Collectivizat...
“An Example of the Chinese Tenant-Peasant’s Life”
January 23, 2021 17:00 - 20 minutes - 13.9 MBThis episode is an appendix to episode 51, and consists of a booklet written by Mao Zedong describing the life of a tenant-peasant in Hunan. This episode should help you to concretely picture peasant life in Hunan during the period we have been discussing in the podcast, while also giving a short example of Mao Zedong’s practice of social investigation. Most of this is Mao running down the income and expenditures of a tenant-peasant, and just the last few minutes of this recording are Mao g...
The Fifth Party Congress and the ‘Better Fewer but Better’ Approach to Summing up a Massacre
January 18, 2021 18:00 - 27 minutes - 19.2 MBThe Fifth Party Congress of the Communist Party (April 29 to May 9, 1927) decides that the united front is better without Chiang Kai-shek. Further reading: Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927 Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927 C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928 Some names from this episode: M. N...
Rivers of Blood in the Streets of Shanghai: The Massacre of the Communists by the Guomindang Right
January 07, 2021 06:00 - 24 minutes - 17.1 MBChiang Kai-shek’s April 12, 1927 coup against the Communists. Further reading: Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927 Elizabeth Perry, Shanghai on Strike: The Politics of Chinese Labor Maurice Meisner, Li Ta-chao and the Origins of Chinese Marxism Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930 Some names from this episode: Wang Shouhua, President of the General Labor Union Du...
The Third Armed Uprising in Shanghai
December 17, 2020 06:00 - 23 minutes - 15.8 MBOn March 21-22, 1927, Shanghai fell to a combination of general strike, armed uprising, and the advance of the National Revolutionary Army. Further reading: Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927 Some names from this episode: Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party Li Qiushi, Delegate to the Fifth Communist Party Congress known for being very handsome Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the Guomindang Henk Sneevliet, alias ...
The Split in the Guomindang: The Left Government in Wuhan and the Military Headquarters in Nanchang Develop Irreconcilable Differences (January to March 1927)
December 03, 2020 06:00 - 23 minutes - 16.3 MBThe question of what sort of revolution the Nationalist revolution will be creates a fundamental division within the Guomindang. Further reading: C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 C. Martin Wilbur, The Nationalist Revolution in China, 1923-1928 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927 Alexander Pantsov, The Bolsheviks and the Chinese...
Summation, Red Terror, and Frustration: The Aftermath of the Second Armed Uprising in Shanghai (February and March 1927)
November 12, 2020 06:00 - 25 minutes - 17.4 MBSummations of the Second Uprising on several different levels; the continuing inability of the Shanghai Regional Committee of the Communist Party to control the ‘dog-beating’ squads; and some thoughts on the problem of the inevitability of errors being made in revolutionary armed struggle and Mao’s thinking on that problem. Further reading: Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927 C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and ...
The Second Armed Uprising in Shanghai (February 1927)
November 05, 2020 06:00 - 25 minutes - 17.5 MBWhere we continue to follow the insurrectionary journey of the Shanghai Communists. Further reading: Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927 C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 Some names from this episode: Chen Duxiu, General Secretary of the Communist Party Sun Chuanfang, Leader of warlord coalition in China’s southeast Zhang Zongchang, Shandong warlord Li Baozhang, the commander of t...
From Dog-Beating Squads to the First Armed Uprising: The Shanghai Communists’ Steep Learning Curve in Developing Armed Struggle (1922 to 1926)
October 29, 2020 05:00 - 23 minutes - 16.4 MBThe bumpy road that the Communist Party took in Shanghai as it developed its capacity to deploy organized violence as a political tactic. Further reading: Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927 Some names from this episode: Wang Shouhua, Leading Communist labor organizer in Shanghai Yu Xiaqing, Leader of a nationalist faction of Shanghai’s merchant class Niu Yongjian, Veteran Nationalist operative who came to Shanghai in 1926 Sun Chuanfang, Leader of warlord coalitio...
When Peasant Revolution Meets the Theory of the Productive Forces: The Communist Debate on Unity with the Nationalist Left
October 22, 2020 05:00 - 23 minutes - 16.3 MBThe tension between maintaining the united front and mobilizing the peasants for revolution finds expression in a crucial debate over strategy at the end of 1926. Further reading: C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927 Some names from th...
More Mass Movements, More Problems: The Aggressive Line of the Guangdong Comrades
October 15, 2020 05:00 - 25 minutes - 17.4 MBDebate breaks out within the Communist Party and the Comintern over how to assess the balance of forces and relate to the developing revolutionary situation engendered by the mass movements in Hunan and Hubei in late 1926. Further reading: C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 Tony Saich, The Rise to Power of the Chinese Communist Party Arif Dirlik, “Mass Movements and the Left Kuomintang” Steve Smith, A Road I...
Revolution in the Countryside: The Peasant Movement in Hunan in the Wake of the Northern Expedition
October 08, 2020 05:00 - 32 minutes - 22.1 MBMass upheaval in Hunan and elsewhere after people are liberated from warlord rule. Further reading: C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 Yokoyama Suguru, “The Peasant Movement in Hunan” Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927 A name from this episode: Wu Peifu, Northern warlord Support the Show.
The Northern Expedition Begins: Attempts at Merging the Mass Movement with Regular Warfare
October 01, 2020 05:00 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MBExamining the role of both organized and unorganized mass support for the Northern Expedition in its first phase, the offensive from Guangdong to Wuhan from May to October 1926. Further reading: Donald Jordan, The Northern Expedition: China's National Revolution of 1926-1928 C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 Some names from this episode: Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid...
Mao in 1926: War in Hunan, Coup in Guangzhou, Polemicizing for the Peasant Movement
September 24, 2020 05:00 - 27 minutes - 18.9 MBMao's political activity and intellectual development during the first nine months of 1926. Further Reading: Gerald Berkley, “The Canton Peasant Movement Training Institute” Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927 Yokoyama Suguru, “The Peasant Movement in Hunan” Philip C. C. Huang, “Mao Tse-Tung and the Middle Peasants, 1925-1928” Angus McDonald, “The Hunan Peasant Movement Its Urban Origins” Some names from this e...
Spreading Peasant Revolution Across Guangdong, and Beyond: The Guangzhou Peasant Movement Training Institute
September 17, 2020 05:00 - 26 minutes - 18.2 MBHow the Communist Party took the formula of "Haifeng + armed self-defense" and set out to organize the peasants of Guangdong, and beyond. Further Reading: Pang Yong-pil, “Peng Pai: From Landlord to Revolutionary” Yuan Gao, “Revolutionary Rural Politics: The Peasant Movement in Guangdong and Its Social-Historical Background, 1922–1926” Robert Marks, Rural Revolution in South China: Peasants and the Making of History in Haifeng County, 1570-1930 Roy Hofheinz, The Broken Wave: The Chinese Comm...
The Beginning of the Peasant Movement in Guangdong Province: How the Communist Party Got a Mass Base of Peasant Support in Spite of Itself
September 10, 2020 05:00 - 22 minutes - 15.5 MBPeng Pai and the beginning of the peasant movement in Guangdong Province. Further Reading: Pang Yong-pil, “Peng Pai: From Landlord to Revolutionary” Yuan Gao, “Revolutionary Rural Politics: The Peasant Movement in Guangdong and Its Social-Historical Background, 1922–1926” Robert Marks, Rural Revolution in South China: Peasants and the Making of History in Haifeng County, 1570-1930 Roy Hofheinz, The Broken Wave: The Chinese Communist Peasant Movement, 1922-1928 Fernando Galbiati, P’eng P'ai ...
The March 1926 Zhongshan Gunboat Incident: Coup and Countercoup in the Pearl River Delta
September 03, 2020 05:00 - 21 minutes - 14.9 MBTensions come to a head between Chiang Kai-shek, Wang Jingwei and General Kuibyshev, as a Soviet plot backfires spectacularly. Further Reading: C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 Wu Tien-wei, “Chiang Kai-shek's March Twentieth Coup d'Etat of 1926” Barbara Tuchman, Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945 Some names from this episode: Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet missio...
From Quaker Peace Activist to Maoist Revolutionary: An Oral History of Personal Transformation from a 1971 American Delegation to China
August 27, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 66.1 MBAn oral history interview with Monica Shay (née Newbold, aka Kathryn) about her experience in China in 1971-72. Some names from this episode: William Hinton, author of Fanshen and other books on China Jiang Qing, leading radical during Cultural Revolution and wife of Mao Zedong Revolutionary Union (RU), pro-China communist group in the US in early 1970s Dazhai, model agricultural commune Support the Show.
Bonus: New China Song by Prairie Fire
August 24, 2020 05:00 - 7 minutes - 5.28 MBThe song "New China" by the band Prairie Fire, from the 1976 album Break the Chains. This song will be referenced in our next episode. Support the Show.
The Beginning of Maoism: Mao Zedong’s “Analysis of All the Classes in Chinese Society”
August 20, 2020 05:00 - 26 minutes - 18 MBMao’s first major statement on the need for a strategic reorientation toward mobilizing the peasantry. The chart cited in the episode is now on the podcast website (as of 8-24-20): https://peopleshistoryofideas.com/episode-33-the-beginning-of-maoism-mao-zedongs-analysis-of-all-the-classes-in-chinese-society/. Further Reading: Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927 Philip C. C. Huang, “Mao Tse-Tung and the Middle P...
Propaganda, Criticism and Corruption: Mao as Propagandist and Disciplinarian (October 1925 to early 1926)
August 13, 2020 05:00 - 23 minutes - 16.1 MBMao as acting head of propaganda for the Guomindang. Further Reading: C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927 Some names from this episode: Wang Jingwei, Leader of Guomindang government in Guangdong in late 1925 and early 1926 Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent and head of Soviet mission to aid the G...
Strike, Assassination and War: The Revolution/Counter-Revolution Dialectic in Guangdong in the Second Half of 1925
August 06, 2020 05:00 - 25 minutes - 17.9 MBThe Hong Kong strike, the assassination of Liao Zhongkai, and the Second Eastern Expedition. Further Reading: C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 John Erickson, The Soviet High Command: A Military-Political History, 1918-1941 Some names from this episode: Chiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun Yatsen Deng Zhongxia, Communist labor leader, involved in Hong Kong strike Wang Jin...
Guangdong Spring 1925: Revolutionary Warfare Erupts and Workers Shut Down Hong Kong
July 30, 2020 05:00 - 24 minutes - 17 MBThe National Revolutionary Army battles the warlords for supremacy in Guangdong, while the British and French escalate tensions by massacring supporters of a strike which shut down Hong Kong. Further Reading: C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 Some names from this episode: Chiang Kai-shek, Japan-trained military officer, close confidant of Sun Yatsen Vasily Blyukher, Soviet general who led military mission ...
The Soviet Military Alliance with the Guomindang, and the Creation of the National Revolutionary Army
July 23, 2020 05:00 - 24 minutes - 17 MBThe first year of the Soviet military alliance with the Guomindang, including the creation of the Whampoa Military Academy, the formation of the National Revolutionary Army, and the crushing of the Merchant Corps. Further Reading: C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 John Erickson, The Soviet High Command: A Military-Political History, 1918-1941 Some names from this episode: Mikhail Borodin, Comintern agent a...
Peasant Revolution?: An Exhausted Mao Rediscovers His Roots
July 16, 2020 05:00 - 28 minutes - 19.5 MBMao gets sick of all the BS in Shanghai and returns to his hometown of Shaoshan, where he discovers a militant peasantry. Further Reading: Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2: National Revolution and Social Revolution, December 1920-June 1927 Yokoyama Suguru, “The Peasant Movement in Hunan” Some names from this episode: Li Lisan, Communist leader of the Shanghai General Labor Union Liu Shaoqi, Communist leader just below Li Lisan in the Shanghai General Labor Union Liu Hua, Uni...
Gonzalo in the Middle Kingdom: What Abimael Guzmán Tells Us in His Three Discussions of His Two Trips to China
July 09, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 47.2 MBA podcast version of a recently published article which discusses what the leader of Peru's Shining Path, Abimael Guzmán, has to say about the time he spent in Maoist China. The article can be read on the podcast website. Support the Show.
The May 30 Movement: The Chinese People’s Uprising Against the British and Japanese in 1925
July 02, 2020 05:00 - 28 minutes - 19.3 MBWorkers, students and merchants in Shanghai take on the British authorities of the International Settlement and Japanese mill owners after protesters are massacred. Further Reading: Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927 Some names from this episode: Li Lisan, Communist leader of the Shanghai General Labor Union Zhang Xueliang, son of Zhang Zuolin, occupied Shanghai’s Chinese city Zhang Zuolin, northern warlord Gregory Voitinsky, Comintern representative in China in ...
Lenin’s Ideas on Revolutionary Situations and the Situation in the United States Today
June 25, 2020 05:00 - 24 minutes - 17.2 MBIn response to a listener request, we consider the situation in the United States today in light of historical thinking on the question of revolutionary situations. Further reading: Lenin, The Collapse of the Second International (chapter two) Lenin, Letters from Afar Lenin, “Marxism and Insurrection” Support the Show.
Back to the Labor Front!: The Japanese Mills Strike of 1925
June 18, 2020 05:00 - 20 minutes - 14.1 MBThe Communist Party tries to figure out how to put the workers in the lead of the nationalist revolution, and has some initial success. Further Reading: Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927 Some names from this episode: Deng Zhongxia, Leading Communist labor organizer Li Dazhao, Co-founder of the Communist Party, often credited as China’s first Marxist Li Lisan, Leading Communist labor organizer Chen Duxiu, Chen Duxiu, General secretary of the Communist Party Grego...
The Proletarian Nation vs. The Theory of the Productive Forces
June 11, 2020 05:00 - 27 minutes - 18.7 MBThe thinking of Chinese Communism’s two founders, Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu, diverges as revolutionary experience is gained. Further Reading: Maurice Meisner, Li Ta-Chao and the Origins of Chinese Marxism Some names from this episode: Li Dazhao, Co-founder of the Communist Party, often credited as China’s first Marxist Chen Duxiu, Co-founder and first general secretary of the Communist Party Zhang Guotao, Communist leader and opponent of ‘united front from within’ with Guomindang Support t...
Friends Close, Enemies Closer: The United Front in Action
June 04, 2020 05:00 - 23 minutes - 16 MBAs both the Guomindang and the Communist Party benefit from their collaboration, tensions build. Further reading: Tony Saich, The Origins of the First United Front in China Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai, 1920-1927 Alexander Pantsov, The Bolsheviks and the Chinese Revolution, 1919-1927 C. Martin Wilbur and Julie Lien-ying How, Missionaries of Revolution: Soviet Advisers and Nationalist China, 1920-1927 Arif Dirlik, “Mass Movements and the Left Kuomintang” Some names fro...
The Road Is Tortuous: The Chinese Revolution and the End of the Global Sixties
May 28, 2020 05:00 - 42 minutes - 29.3 MBA podcast version of a recently published article which argues that the rightward turn of Chinese politics in the 1970s was a key contributing factor in ending the revolutionary era of the long and global 1960s and ushering in the neoliberal age of reaction which followed. The article can be read on the podcast website. Support the Show.
The Loneliest United Front: The Chinese Communist Party in 1923
May 21, 2020 11:00 - 22 minutes - 15.8 MBThe Communist Party of China tries to find a way to implement the united front with the Guomindang in 1923, but ultimately has to wait for the Soviet-Guomindang alliance to mature. Further reading: Tony Saich, The Origins of the First United Front in China Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 2 Some names from this episode: Sun Zhongshan/Sun Yatsen, leader of the Guomindang Wang Jingwei, leader of Guomindang left-wing, later president of Japanese puppet state in China Cao Kun, no...
Communist Unionizing and the Genesis of the United Front with the Guomindang
May 14, 2020 14:00 - 25 minutes - 17.2 MBThe Communist Party begins its labor organizing drive, and the Comintern pushes for a united front with the Guomindang. Further reading: Elizabeth Perry, Shanghai on Strike Tony Saich, The Origins of the First United Front in China Steve Smith, A Road Is Made: Communism in Shanghai 1920-1927 Some names from this episode: Henk Sneevliet, alias Maring, Dutch Communist and Comintern leader in China beginning in 1921 Zhang Guotao, emerged from founding congress as an important Communist leade...
Workers' Revolution or Nationalist United Front? Early Strategic Decisions of the Chinese Communist Party
May 07, 2020 23:00 - 24 minutes - 16.6 MBThe early divergence in strategic thinking and revolutionary priorities between the CCP and the Comintern. Further reading: Tony Saich, The Origins of the First United Front in China Some names from this episode: Chen Gongbo, Founding Chinese Communist who studied at Columbia and later joined the Japanese puppet regime Henk Sneevliet, alias Maring, Dutch Communist and Comintern leader in China beginning in 1921 Sun Zhongshan/Sun Yat-sen, leader of the Guomindang Georgii Chicherin, People’...
Demarcation and Organization: The Chinese Communist Party is Founded
April 30, 2020 13:00 - 22 minutes - 15.6 MBPolemics with non-revolutionary Marxists and anarchists, and then the party congress in July 1921. Further reading: Arif Dirlik, The Origins of Chinese Communism Some names from this episode: Chen Duxiu, editor of New Youth and leader of Shanghai Communist nucleus Gregory Voitinsky, Leader of Comintern delegation to China in 1920 Karl Kautsky, Second International theorist of economic determinist Marxism Li Dazhao, Beijing-based revolutionary Marxist leader Zhang Dongsun, Exponent of a non...
From Russia with Organizational Expertise: The Comintern Comes to China
April 24, 2020 01:00 - 24 minutes - 17 MBGregory Voitinsky comes to China and helps get the ball rolling to found the Communist Party. Also, a few words on commodity fetishism as the keystone of Marx's Capital and how this leads to Lenin's innovations in conceptualizing communist party formations. Some names from this episode: Gregory Voitinsky, Comintern organizer who arrived in China in March 1920 Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu, two of the key figures in founding the Chinese Communist Party (their background is discussed in past episo...