Global Maoism: Radical Protest and China’s Shadow Diplomacy in the Late 20th Century?

Harvard FAS

While the period of the Cultural Revolution in some ways isolated China internationally it also inspired large numbers of activists in Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, and the United States. The export of “Maoism” or “Mao Zedong Thought” was actively promoted by the Chinese Communist Party and inspired the creation of countless new Marxist-Leninist Parties, informal political associations, and sometimes political violence. At the same time, China supported decolonial movements…