Explorations and Recent Developments in the Unification of the International Maoist Movement

Abstract

The Maoist movement constitutes an important component of the international communist movement. Since the 1980s, Maoist parties worldwide have engaged in multiple rounds of efforts toward unification, forming a certain tendency of convergence, and giving rise to two major organizations. In December 2022, the International Communist League was proclaimed, representing the most recent outcome of decades-long efforts to unite international Maoist forces. Guided by Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as its ideological basis and action program, the League argues that contemporary imperialism is mired in a general crisis, with the intensification of the world’s three principal contradictions serving as its root cause. It advocates strengthening unity among Maoist parties to overcome the fragmented situation of the international communist movement. In the more than two years since its establishment, the League has achieved significant progress in coordinating Maoist parties, organizing solidarity campaigns, launching a series of commemorations and demonstrations, and issuing joint declarations. These practices have built a new international platform for the development of the Maoist movement, promoted unity among Maoist parties worldwide, and enriched the contemporary international communist movement. However, constrained by inherent limitations of some Maoist parties, the League has also revealed problems such as dogmatism and sectarianism, failing thus far to elevate the international Maoist movement to a qualitatively higher stage. Kennedy and Lim, 2018). However, it is also recognized that there are several anomalies in this semi-official scenario. On one hand, it is assumed, in accordance with historical experience, that trade and technological wars serve as vehicles to win markets and, therefore, profits for a rival power, but in this case the so-called Corporate America has mostly manifested its skepticism and frank disagreement with the actions of its government (see Mitchell, 2020). This suggests that, for USA corporations, especially those more globalized, China is not a rival, but a trading partner, so that, at least from the point of view of their immediate interests, the conflict seems strange to them.