ABSTRACT
A major feature of Maoist ideology is emphasis on changing the objective world through will and struggle. In many respects the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 was only a beginning. The idea of “continuing revolution” has been frequently articulated in various movements to mobilize and transform Chinese society. The Marxist image of society is one of coercion and struggle. According to Karl Marx, societies evolve through various stages, activated by a dialectical process. Dialectical materialism specifies that economic relationships are the basis of social organization, that societies change as material basis is transformed, and that consciousness is a reflection of the changing material base of society. Closely related to value of will and struggle in Maoist ideology is value of self-reliance. Mao’s ideas clearly reflect the nature of social reality in China. In the absence of an advanced industrial base or a large proletariat, Mao saw that revolution in China had to be based on peasantry.
