What are the main differences between Marxism, Leninism, Maoism, etc.

[Fourth Internationalist]

Hi! I'm a relatively new communist. However, I am unsure of what various forms of communism actually are. One thing that I really don't understand is what is Leninism and Maoism compared to plain Marxism. I've got an okay understanding of council communism an anarchism. Then there's left communism and Luxemburgism, which, to me, seem very similar.

If there's any good website that also has tons of information that you know of, please post it here!

[Robespierres Neck]

They're basically an extension of theories and practices, applied to Marxism. Leninism is a branch of Marxism, Maoism is a branch of Marxism-Leninism. Left communism and Luxemburgism reject Lenin's theories (like 'vanguardism').

I suggest browsing around for a while, there's many different threads on this subject. You could always browse the groups and look through the threads of different tendencies.

This might help you understand Marxism-Leninism better:
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1924/foundations-leninism/index.htm

Also, welcome to the boards!

[Caj]

Left communism and Luxemburgism reject Lenin's theories (like 'vanguardism').

This isn't (necessarily) true. All left communists and Luxemburgists are, at the very least, pro-Bolshevik in an historical sense and recognize Lenin's theories as appropriate for Russia's material conditions. Some left communists (like me) even consider themselves Leninists.


Then there's left communism and Luxemburgism, which, to me, seem very similar.

Most left communists are influenced by Luxemburg, but she died before left communism became an identifiable tendency.

[JPSartre12]

Answering your question could probably take several books, comrade :lol: Butttt I'd say check the Revolutionary Left Dictionary under the "Learning" section.

http://www.revleft.com/vb/revolutionary-left-dictionary-t22628/index.html

That can give you a nice overview to get you started :thumbup1:

[jookyle]

They're basically an extension of theories and practices, applied to Marxism. Leninism is a branch of Marxism, Maoism is a branch of Marxism-Leninism. Left communism and Luxemburgism reject Lenin's theories (like 'vanguardism').

I suggest browsing around for a while, there's many different threads on this subject. You could always browse the groups and look through the threads of different tendencies.

This might help you understand Marxism-Leninism better:
http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1924/foundations-leninism/index.htm

Also, welcome to the boards!

Leninism, is an extension of Marxism theorized by Valdmir Lenin. The most notable contributions of his theory include the role of the vanguard party, the role of the state in the transition and lower stages of communism, and international organization.

Left-Communism, in general, does not reject the notion of a vanguard party. The council communists do, but most other's do not. This is exemplified in Paul Matticks work "Anti-Bolshevik Communism". Most other left communists support a vanguard party(Bordiga wrote several works on it) and are left communists because of their rejection of working with unions or within parliaments and, in a more historical sense, did not want to be under the control of Moscow. Luxemburg also did not reject Lenin's theories and supported him and Bolsheviks, she was simply critical of some of their policies.

Maoism, is an anti-imperialist programme for the third world which borrows some rhetoric from socialism. But, because of some key components, such as the "New Democracy" concept, breaks away from basic socialist principal.

[Caj]

Left-Communism, in general, does not reject the notion of a vanguard party. The council communists do, but most other's do not. This is exemplified in Paul Matticks work "Anti-Bolshevik Communism".

Council communism generally isn't considered a part of the left communist tradition. It emerged from the degeneration of the German-Dutch current of left communism in the 1920s.

[Geiseric]

Marxism, as in plain marxism, existed in the late 1800s as an extension of the principles laid out by Marx, Engels, Bebel, and many other revolutionary european theorists. It culminated in the 1st international, and from there it extended worldwide. The 2nd international had the goal, and succeeded, at building workers parties through europe.

Leninism differed from the degenerated 2nd international, who became as we see in modern "socialist" parties reformist and outright hostile to independent working class actions against capitalism, and against WW1 in particular.

Stalinism formed once the russian revolution was isolated by imperialist reaction, the result of scarcity due to the absence of the german aid that was supposed to come from the failed 1919 revolution in germany. SioC was an attempt to win the bureaucracy some living time, buying peace with imperialist states by forcing the communist parties to take political stances that benefited the bourgeoisie.

[Sheepy]

I forgot who here said this but: "Maoism is pretty much a form of Stalinism where all the rice fields are put right next to airports and trainstations to fool foreigners into thinking you're feeding your people."

Maoism is really nothing more than a joke where no one laughs.

[ind_com]

Hi! I'm a relatively new communist. However, I am unsure of what various forms of communism actually are. One thing that I really don't understand is what is Leninism and Maoism compared to plain Marxism. I've got an okay understanding of council communism an anarchism. Then there's left communism and Luxemburgism, which, to me, seem very similar.

If there's any good website that also has tons of information that you know of, please post it here!

Maoism is a qualitative development of Marxism-Leninism, consolidated mostly in the last two decades. Some points that distinguish Maoism from all other leftist tendencies are as follows:

1) Maoism acknowledges that the objective conditions for proletarian revolutions exist in all countries. So anyone arguing that the time is not ripe to organize for revolution is seen as a counter-revolutionary by Maoists.

2) Maoism acknowledges the necessity for every revolution to be a violent seizure of power by the working classes. So anyone organizing for a revolution that keeps the military side unaddressed is seen as a pseudo-communist or saboteur by Maoists.

3) Maoism defines socialism as a society where the working class wields state power. Therefore Maoists push for establishing socialism as soon as possible in a given region, which is an even stronger programme than Lenin's theory of socialism in one country.

4) Maoism recognizes the existence of class-struggle in a socialist country as well as inside the communist party. Hence Maoists subordinate the vanguard party and army to the revolutionary masses and rely on the masses to filter reactionaries from these two revolutionary apparatuses, by making continuous revolutions inside a socialist society.

5) Maoism emphasizes on the point that any kind of oppression can lead to capitalist restoration. Therefore Maoists fight the class war as well as wars against discrimination on the basis of caste, race, religion, sex and sexual orientation.

6) As a very recent extension of their military theory, Maoists call for people's wars in all the countries, including imperialist ones. Leninist insurrectionism is seen as an incomplete strategy, and in the post-1917 period, as an excuse of social democrats to postpone the revolution indefinitely by relying on a revolt by the imperialist and reactionary armies. Hence the newly emerging Maoist parties in the imperialist countries uphold the launching of people's wars and establishment of working class-power in proletarian areas and workplaces, to create guerrilla zones, as their central programme,

[Robespierres Neck]

Apologies for my mistakes. I should have worded it different. I've read Luxemburg and I'm aware of her criticism to Lenin's approach, as well as her admiration. I don't know too much about left communism, aside from Bordiga, Luxemburg, and what Lenin has written about it.