Global Maoism: Radical Protest and China’s Shadow Diplomacy in the Late 20th Century?

HIST 1967 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

While the period of the Cultural Revolution in some ways isolated China internationally it also inspired large numbers of activists in Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, and the United States. The export of “Maoism” or “Mao Zedong Thought” was actively promoted by the Chinese Communist Party and inspired the creation of countless new Marxist-Leninist Parties, informal political associations, and sometimes political violence.   

At the same time, China supported decolonial movements in the Global South. This led to networks connecting students, disillusioned Soviet-style communists, Chinese and Albanian diplomats, Civil War combatants in Southern Africa, and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. This course looks at “Global Maoism” not simply as a “left history” but as an episode of the Global Cold War, paying particular attention to the entanglements of activism, foreign policy, and Cold War conflict.

Course Notes

This course can be used to meet either the "Beyond North America" History Concentration requirement or a seminar requirement.