ABSTRACT
Marxists in Asia confronted numerous theoretical and practical difficulties applying Marxism to the problems of revolution and socialist construction in the varied social contexts of Asia. These social contexts were so different from the European context analysed by Marx in the mid-to late nineteenth century that it would appear, at first glance, that Marx’s ideas could have had little relevance to aspiring revolutionaries in Asia during the first half of the twentieth century. Yet it is one of the great ironies in the history of the Marxist tradition that Marxism has had a greater political impact in Asia than any other region of the globe, including Europe itself. In parts of Asia as diverse as Russia, China, North Korea, vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, political parties claiming an ideological allegiance to Marxism have formed governments after successful revolutions or wars of national liberation. In other parts of Asia – Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, India, the Philippines – Marxist parties and movements have had a very significant impact on the political and intellectual history of their countries, but without being able to form national government. Marxism’s impact in Asia has been profound. It is therefore quite impossible to understand the history of the region without an understanding of how the ideas of a German intellectual who lived entirely in the nineteenth century could have attracted and mobilized countless millions of people in Asia. But to understand this connection – between the ideas of Marx and the thought and policies of Marxists in Asia – is no easy matter. To do so requires a consideration of how Marxists in Asia were able to extract apparently relevant forms of social analysis and revolutionary strategies from Marx’s voluminous and not always consistent writings. It requires too an appreciation that, for many Marxists in Asia, the ideas of Marx contained a kernel of truth that had universal relevance, and which transcended the historical period and social context in which Marx himself lived and which he studied. What might this universal element of Marx’s thought be, and how did influential Marxists in Asia, such as China’s Mao Zedong and vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh, employ it to advance revolution and socialist construction in their own countries?
