Uninterrupted Revolution or Permanent Revolution?¶
Core Argument¶
In this chapter, the author critically examines Mao Zedong’s theory of New Democracy against the historical trajectory of the Chinese Revolution, arguing that the theory’s prescription of a necessary bourgeois stage, led by a bloc of four classes, was not borne out by events. Six key facts are marshalled to support this claim: the Communist Party and People’s Liberation Army seized power without genuine allies; the state already controlled industry and banking after seizing bureaucratic capital; the national bourgeoisie was weak and dependent on state support; land reform was artificially delayed; the bourgeois stage was extremely brief; and the bourgeoisie’s principal contribution was corruption. The chapter contends that the New Democracy stage was unnecessary, as the transition to a workers’ state could have commenced from 1949.
This analysis is set against Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution, which holds that democratic tasks in backward countries flow directly into socialist revolution because the national bourgeoisie is incapable of completing them. The chapter highlights a crucial distinction: Mao’s “uninterrupted revolution,” despite its name, maintained two separate stages, whereas Trotsky argued that the socialist revolution begins before the democratic one is finished. The chapter concludes that China’s subsequent return to capitalism does not refute permanent revolution; rather, the theory remains relevant for analysing the coming Chinese revolution as a proletarian socialist revolution from the outset.
The theory of permanent revolution is presented as the application of combined and uneven development to democratic revolutions in backward countries during late capitalism. Given China’s majority urban population and advanced industrial base, democratic demands will be enacted in parallel with the first steps towards socialism. The chapter rejects any alliance with the national bourgeoisie, which is integrated into world imperialism. A new proletariat of nearly three hundred million is being forged in struggle, and China’s integration into the world market means it cannot avoid capitalist crises of overproduction. The working class will lead the peasantry. The Chinese bourgeoisie is the ruling class, overlapping substantially with the party and state apparatus, which grants it extensive state support but also makes it difficult for the bourgeois state to accommodate democratic demands. The lack of an established labour aristocracy and the inexperience of the Chinese bourgeoisie mean a revolutionary explosion could occur with little warning. A revolutionary workers’ party is lacking, but proletarian consciousness is rising. Socialists must fight for immediate demands while linking them to socialist transformation through transitional demands.