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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Theory of National Struggle, (simplified Chinese: 民族斗争理论; traditional Chinese: 民族鬥爭理論; pinyin: Mínzú Dòuzhēng Lilùn), or “Ethnic Struggle,” refers to one of Mao Zedong’s political theories on the application of Marxism in China. This theory is also Mao Zedong's remedy to the "National Question" in Marxist theory. As a subset of the general philosophy of Mao Zedong Thought, the theory of national struggle addresses the question of how classical Marxist-Leninist ideas of political economy should intersect with China’s particular need for constructing a multi-ethnic national sovereignty without abandoning the universality of Marxism-Leninism. The gist of Mao’s theory is that Chinese communists should treat the question of national and ethnic liberation in China as a subset of the larger socialist project of class conflict.[1] In strategic terms, this means that the key to constructing a multiethnic Chinese nation-state is to mobilize and transform “backward” ethnic minorities into modern subjects of proletariat class consciousness under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). [2]
Mao’s political theory of “Nation Struggle” works in tandem with his theory of history, "New Democracy".[3] In formulating the history of Modern China as a series of social, political, economic, and cultural transformations marked by a national process of class awakening reacting against encroachments by Western and Japanese colonial aggressions, Mao argues that a “national struggle” to restore Chinese sovereignty was the first vital step in constructing a multi-ethnic regime of proletariat dictatorship.[4] In doing so, Mao prioritizes the creation of a united front against foreign aggressions as the larger struggle of the Chinese Revolution, one that involves the simultaneous cultivation of a united national identity amongst different ethnic minority groups and the transformation of "feudal-minded" ethnic minority populations into modern proletariat subjects.[5]
The amalgamation of Mao's two separate theories of revolution signifies his theoretical departure from the general doctrine of Marxism-Leninism in Soviet Union and in Europe, which strictly held the economic-determinist ideal that base determines superstructure.[6] Mao's theories not only addressed the primacy of nationalism in revolutionary mobilization, but also casted doubts on the classical Marxist notion of historical inevitability because Mao argued that a nation-wide class consciousness could not be awaken in China unless cultivated by party leadership.[7] Moreover, by conflating the notions of “ethnicity” and “nationality,” Mao justified the CCP’s geopolitical claim over the former territories and ethnic minority subjects of the Multi-ethic Qing Empire.[8] Since Mao came to power in the communist establishment during the Yan’an period, Mao’s theory of “national struggle” became the guiding principle of ethnic and national liberation strategy of the Chinese Communist Party until his death in 1976.