The first two sessions of the International Maoism Symposium were held today at Şişli Theater with the participation of many people. In the first session, Volkan Yaraşır, Jülide Yazıcı, Partizan representative and Noyau D'etudes Marxistes representative from France made presentations.
The first day of the symposium ended with great enthusiasm, with AGEB, Cihan Cinemre and Partizan representative making their presentations in the second session.
Before the symposium, a moment of silence was observed in memory of those who were martyred in the struggle for revolution, socialism and communism, in the person of Mao Zedong. ESP, SMF, Community Centers, Call for the New World, June 17 Democratic Rights Platform, SOLDER, DHP, Union of Struggle, Munzur Environment Association also attended the symposium as listeners.
Then, the first session started with Volkan Yaraşır's presentation titled "Dialectics of the Chinese Revolution and Mao Zedong".
“MAO WAS A LENINIST”
Yaraş mentioned that two great revolutions, the Chinese and the October revolutions, took place and were the source of inspiration for these revolutions. In this context, which focused on the dialectics of the revolution, it was mentioned that Engels stood in an important place and contributed to the construction of dialectics as a method. It was emphasized that dialectical materialism is an epistemological method and a revolutionary tool that helps understand and change the world.
“We see in both Marx and Engels what Mao did in the categorization of contradictions. Mao appears as an identity that makes definitions that concentrate on contradiction. There are similarities and parallel aspects between Lenin and Mao. Lenin is the theorist of moments. It builds the possibilities of the revolution through dialectics. He perceives dialectics as the essence of Marxism. He says the important thing is to change.” Yaraşır said that Mao, like Lenin, was a true Bolshevik and Leninist who looked for the possibility of revolution at every moment. While it was emphasized that what connected Lenin to Marx was the actuality of the revolution, it was also mentioned that what connected Mao to Lenin was the search for the possibility of the revolution.
“With the freezing of the dialectics in the October revolution, we see the new initiative in 1949. Mao plays an important role in this. It determines the course of the revolution among the moments of the Chinese Revolution. He makes moves for the rhythm. It follows the Leninist path. "He makes moves in terms of restructuring the party." Yaraşır said that the theory of contradiction as a dialectical method was first seen in Mao. It was emphasized that Mao, who analyzed the basic contradiction, the chief contradiction, and the uneven development of the contradiction, built the frozen dialectics. “What he is actually trying to do is to make the revolution and to deal with dialectics as a living dialectic. He builds theories in the storm of revolution.” Yaraşır mentioned that they were faced with widespread peasant uprisings at that time. Pointing out that the CCP had become a major workers' party by 1926, Yaraşır said that this changed in the 1930s and then a period of reconstruction entered. “In fact, in this whole process, we see that the party is the collective subject and the contradiction itself, and the theory is being structured and the party is being reshaped.” Yaraşır said, “The framework we call the People's War theory is the most concentrated form of searching for the possibility of revolution. Learning from the masses and mass politics determine the course of the Chinese Revolution.
Mao, the founder of the Chinese Revolution, was a master of dialectics. “The warrior is a communist.” He concluded his presentation with his emphasis:
PARTY AND THE MASSES
Then, Jülide Yazıcı from Theory and Politics started her presentation titled "Leader, Party, Mass Relationship in the Revolution".
“What makes the Chinese Revolution and Mao so special is Mao's thoughts on the masses and the importance he gave to their revolutionization.” Yazıcı emphasized the role of the masses in the Chinese Revolution.
Emphasizing that there was a great effort in revolutionizing the masses, Yazıcı mentioned that the CCP received great mass support in 1953, unlike the Soviets. Stating that there was no decrease in the trust in Mao and the CCP even in times of great famine, Yazıcı said, “The masses' embrace of socialism is so strong that there is no alienation in the masses. When Mao gave the signal for the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, 17 million young people dispersed throughout the country to produce together with the villagers. He is carrying out political activities.” he said.
“If we define loneliness as being deprived of public support, the Chinese revolutionaries were not so lonely when they came to power, compared to the October Revolution. When the October Revolution took place, they were seriously deprived of mass support. The situation of the Chinese revolutionaries was different. "They have had the opportunity to develop serious and strong relations with the people in autonomous regions for a long time." Yazıcı emphasized the unabated support of the masses in the Chinese Revolution.
The role of the CCP in ensuring that the masses participate in production with revolutionary motivation, take initiative, and participate in decision-making mechanisms was touched upon.
“THEY MEET IN A RURAL STRUGGLE AGAINST REVISIONISM”
Following Yazıcı, the Partizan representative made a presentation with the title "One Master, One Revolution, Three Leaders: Mao Zedong, Gonzalo, Mazumdar and İbrahim Kaypakkaya".
First of all, the Partisan representative touched upon the importance of the symposium and emphasized the importance of the Chinese Revolution. Stating that he would examine the relationship of the Chinese Revolution with other revolutions as a method, the Partizan representative said that the Commune was the first experience of the violent seizure of power. Partizan representative, who said that the Communards went on to conquer the sky despite their defeat, mentioned that the October Revolution developed in the continuation of this stage, and then the CCP influenced China in a short time. While it was mentioned that the Chinese Revolution had some unique characteristics, it was emphasized that we encountered an advanced idea in the form of party-army-front.
Emphasizing that the Chinese Revolution is a new democratic revolution due to the socio-economic structure of China, the Partizan representative mentioned that one of the basic points in the issue of people's war is the taking of power piece by piece.
When these processes of the Chinese Revolution were examined, it was emphasized that it had a two-stage effect and emerged as a fight against revisionism, and it was mentioned that the leaders played an active role in developing the revolution against the revisionists and organizing the communist parties against it. While it was said that every struggle started against revisionism internally, it was emphasized that the leaders were fed by a common ground and that this ground was the bond they established with communism. It was mentioned that this could be seen in İbrahim Kaypakkaya's discussions with the Şafak revisionists. While it was said that the same principles that constitute the basic ideological and political line of the 11 Principles were also present in Mazumdar, it was emphasized that Gonzalo was quite advanced in the fight against revisionism. It was pointed out that revisionism also had an approach that ignored Chairman Mao's contributions, and a call was made for an improved struggle against revisionism.
After the Partisan representative, the Noyau D'etudes Marxistes representative took the floor to make his presentation.
“THE ONLY IDEOLOGY THAT IS COMPLETELY READY FOR THE REVOLUTIONARY WAVE IS MAOISM”
“Chairman Mao was the main leader of the democratic revolution in China, one of the greatest victories of the World Proletarian Revolution. He then led the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in the construction of socialism and the dictatorship of the proletariat.” The speaker said that Mao guided the Party on the path of discovering the unique laws of the revolution in China by strictly adhering to the universal principles of Marxism-Leninism.
While it is emphasized that Mao developed Marxism-Leninism in three basic components, “One of the border lines between revisionists and Marxists regarding the history of Maoism and Chairman Mao is the problem of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Revisionists always praise the Democratic Revolution and condemn the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. And in a sense, they are right to hate it: It was a revolution against them! Against the new bourgeoisie within the Party that will lead the revolution to capitalism!” It was said.
Then, touching on how capitalism was restored in China, the representative of France said, “It is easy for bourgeois historians and revisionists to spread the idea that after the death of the President, socialism was recognized as having failed and Deng Xiaoping emerged as the only 'real savior'. But this is all nonsense.” he said.
“MAOISTS DO NOT GIVE UP FIGHTING FOR REVOLUTION”
While the success of socialism and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was supported by many examples, the speaker made the following remarks about the situation of the international communist movement:
“We can count many countries in Latin America and Asia where true communists, Marxist-Leninist-Maoists, did not give up fighting for the revolution and moved forward under this flag.
“The deep crisis of the old imperialist state, which evokes the general crisis of imperialism in imperialist countries, has caused the rise of class struggle in the last 15 years. As a result, a new generation of revolutionaries embrace Maoism to reform Communist Parties.
“Those who sell the revolution in oppressed countries for a handful of dollars end up becoming agents of imperialism, like Prachanda in Nepal or the Right Opportunist Line in Peru. In imperialist countries, they would be like the US Avakian, who called to vote for the senile butcher Joe Biden in 2020.”
“BOMB THE BOURGEOIS HEADQUARTERS”
The first session ended after the presentation from France and the second session started with the presentation of the AGEB speaker. The AGEB speaker, who made a presentation with the title "Conditions of Capitalism and the Inevitability of Revolution in Socialism", emphasized that the struggle of classes is fundamental in the history of society divided into classes. It was mentioned that the proletariat handled its liberation by leading revolutions from the Paris Commune to today, built and lost socialism, and capitalism was built instead. It was emphasized that Chairman Mao also touched upon this problem and concentrated on the issue of power as the alignment against revisionism began. While it was mentioned that there were periods when the approach that classes no longer existed in socialism was adopted, it was said that classes did not disappear in the construction of socialism, and Chairman Mao also touched on this.
It was mentioned that the slogan "Bomb the bourgeois headquarters" is an example for the working class and laborers of the world today.
“THE GOAL WAS TO DISTURB THE WORKERS-PEASANTS ALLIANCE”
After the AGEB speaker, Cihan Cinemre made a presentation titled "Return to Capitalism in Chinese Agriculture". Cinemre said that the speakers so far had talked about the revolution and now he will explain the aspects of the counter-revolution and said, “The Marxist concept of revolutionism is actually about eliminating the distinction between the countryside and the city created by the bourgeoisie. "That's what Mao was trying to do." he said.
Mentioning that the workers' and peasants' alliance disappeared especially in China after 1978, Cinemre said that the counter-revolution in China could be mentioned due to the breakdown of this alliance. Stating that the most important aspect of this is the impotence of the peasants and the disintegration of the peasant collective, Cinemre talked about international liberalization. The change in the production pattern of Chinese agriculture, the production of products for international trade rather than agriculture for the local Chinese people, and its relationship with capitalism were touched upon. Cinemre, talking about the proletarianization of the peasants since capitalism is more related to the change of power in the party, said: "It is possible to talk about a liberalization guided by local officials appointed by the party." he said.
It was emphasized that the peasants who were separated from their villages put pressure on the urban working class as the villagers migrated to the cities after the collapse of the collective farming system, and it was mentioned that socialist planning disappeared after 1978 and the city developed against the village. In the 2000s, it was emphasized that Chinese agriculture was based on large land ownership due to increasing mechanization in scale. Cinemre mentioned that liberal policies were taken after Mao's death and that capitalist production relations thus began to be established.
“WOMEN WERE EVERYWHERE”
Following Cihan Cinemre's presentation on agriculture, the Partizan representative made a presentation with the title "Leading Women in the Revolution and the Communist Party in the Context of BPKD".
"While the communist movement has created many female pioneers within itself, it has failed to represent them to the people of the world." Partisan representative emphasized that the issue of women's liberation is a universal and specific problem in every country. The speaker stated that while discussing women in the BPKD, they thought that the process leading to the BPKD should also be specifically examined, and started his presentation by telling about the All China Democratic Women's Federation, which was established in 1949.
While mentioning that one of the main sources of the connection of the women masses to the Party is the relationship of trust, it was said that the educational activities reinforced this relationship of trust and enabled women to understand the dialectics of the revolution and the Party. The speaker stated that the reality of liberation in revolution is not a dream in China and that he will give two examples for this, and cited women named Liu Hu-lan and Pasang as examples.
Emphasizing that women's position and duties in BPKD did not occur suddenly, the speaker stated that this process was knitted step by step and was formed as a result of a tremendous effort and awareness. It was mentioned that women are everywhere, in every field, from the village committees in the regions to the Central Committee, from maritime to aviation, from neighborhood factories to the construction site.
“Women were now a very important factor in developing the revolution, and the oppressed's knowledge of the revolution had never been so devastating.” The speaker explained the roles of women in the revolution with examples.
The speaker also touched upon the two-line struggle during the BPKD period, saying that since the beginning of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, women and the rest of the Chinese people have gone to war to dismantle the two bourgeois headquarters headed by Liu Shao-chi and Lin Biao. While the revisionist line was attacking all areas, the communist line's fight against it was getting stronger.” he said.
The speaker stated that in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, the women's struggle within the proletarian movement confronted the women's struggle within the bourgeois movement and that all kinds of misogyny can be defeated only when the horizon of the proletarian movement is achieved. Maoist women pioneers Meral, who exhibited the rarest examples of women's freedom struggle in Turkey Yakar, Kamile Öztürk, Barbara Anna Kistler, Ayfer Celep, Sefagül Kesgin, Nurşen Arslan, Hatayi Balcı We commemorate comrades Fadime Çakıl. In their person, we promise that we will hold tighter to the science of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism for the unity of working women.” He ended his presentation by saying.
Tomorrow, Maoists from India, Brazil, Germany and Turkey will make their presentations at the International Maoism Symposium.
(ISTANBUL)
