Mao Zedong's Political Philosophy (Illustrated Edition)

Author: (American) Starr
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This book employs political science analytical methods, starting from the definition of political concepts, to grasp and analyze the theoretical system of Mao Zedong's political thought from nine aspects such as "political education," "political participation," and "political integration," presenting the possibility of examining Mao Zedong's political theory from another perspective. For example, analyzing Mao Zedong's "mass line" within a political science framework and viewing it as a "initiation-effect-feedback" political process demonstrates many unique insights. The method of using Western political theory frameworks to analyze Mao Zedong's political theory has also been criticized by Western scholars, but it still holds positive reference significance for Chinese scholars in broadening their knowledge horizons and constructing problem awareness. This book is translated from the 1979 edition published by Princeton University Press and includes numerous valuable and exquisite illustrations.
The core concept of Mao Zedong's political thought is conflict or contradiction, as well as the changes it brings about. In his political writings, every major political issue he discussed is based on the concepts of conflict and change. In his view, the regular and constant conflicts and changes in all aspects of the political realm are similar to those in nature. Since his epistemology is built on this core concept, he not only regarded his writings as an elaboration of this conflict and change idea but also as an example of it, thereby conforming to the same developmental laws that govern natural and political phenomena. —John Bryan Starr