Graduation Year

2012

Publication Date

2012

Abstract

The Maoists in both India and Nepal have drawn on Maoist theory to analyze their countries as semi-feudal and semi-colonial, setting the stage for Maoist revolutionary movements. The two movements differ in their historical interpretations of communist revolutions and Marxism—the Nepalese Maoists have come to reject Marxist notions of the state, while the Indian Maoists have uncritically upheld the experience of socialist states and communist revolutions. These differences in historical interpretation are intimately linked with the divergent theoretical and practical orientations of the Maoists in both countries, orientations that have emerged due to distinct material conditions that both revolutionary movements have faced. These Maoist movements show that while a movement can utilize Mao’s philosophy and strategy broadly, each country has particular conditions that a revolutionary movement must confront. The communist revolution in China cannot be repeated identically in any country in the world today, and new theoretical and practical orientations must emerge to update and make Maoism effective in the 21st century.

Disciplines

International and Area Studies

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