REDS – Die Roten > China (E) | China (D)
Published as a pamphlet by the Socialist Workers Party (Britain) in November 1987.
Transcribed and marked up Einde O’Callaghan for REDS – Die Roten.
The Chinese Revolution was one of the most momentous events of the 20th century. For a quarter of the human race it seemed to open the way to eradicate the roots of poverty and famine, to build a better society.
But whose revolution was it? Few socialists today look to China for inspiration. The illusions of “Maoism” have been systematically shattered. The Cultural Revolution has been revealed as a major disaster. Today China is becoming more and more part of the world system it once seemed to want to overthrow.
Beneath the hopes of the millions and the rhetoric of their leaders, was the “socialist” nature of the Chinese state ever more than a myth? In this pamphlet Charlie Hore looks at the past and the present in order to set out what the Chinese experience has to offer for socialists.
Introduction
1949 and the Road to Power
The New Society
The Cultural Revolution
China since Mao
Conclusions
A Note on the Romanisation of Chinese Names
Glossary of Chinese Names
Suggested Further Reading
Last updated on 6.3.2002