J. Moufawad-Paul
Joshua Moufawad-Paul | |
---|---|
Education | Political Philosophy, Maoism |
Notable ideas | Continuity and rupture |
Joshua Moufawad-Paul is a Canadian academic and writer from Toronto, Canada. He is a professor of philosophy at York University. A Maoist philosopher, Moufawad-Paul has written several works on the topic and regularly posts on his blog M-L-M Mayhem which focuses on his conception of the philosophy of Maoism.[1][2]
In 2020, Moufawad-Paul received media attention when he started a petition in response to publisher Rowman & Littlefield's planned "Problems in Anti-Colonialism" series. The petition urged the publisher to withdraw Bruce Gilley's book The Last Imperialist: Sir Alan Burns’ Epic Defense of the British Empire, claiming the book endorsed a "white nationalist perspective" and that the publisher was giving academic credibility to "settler-colonial propaganda". Gilley had earlier written a controversial essay entitled The Case for Colonialism.[3][4] While some critics accused Moufawad-Paul of censorship and "cancel culture", the publisher ultimately scrapped the series,[5] and Gilley's own book was published by Regnery Gateway instead.[6]
Continuity and Rupture
This section of a poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "J. Moufawad-Paul" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2019) |
Continuity and Rupture: Philosophy in the Maoist Terrain is a 2016 book written by J. Moufawad-Paul. The book provides a philosophical analysis of the theoretical foundation of Maoism, the Marxist school of thought developed by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong. Moufawad-Paul argues that the political ideology of Maoism, despite being formulated in the 1960s, only achieved full theoretical maturity in 1988 in Peru.[7][8]
Synopsis
The book is introduced as an attempt by Moufawad-Paul to reclaim
The Terrain of Maoism-qua-Maoism
Moufawad-Paul premises his work on five axioms, which are introduced in chapter one:
- The distinction between "Mao Zedong Thought" and "Marxism–Leninism–Maoism" (what he calls "Maoism-qua-Maoism")
- Maoism, as a political ideology began in 1988 with the formation of Shining Path, the first self-labelled Maoist party that conceived Maoism as a "third stage" of revolutionary science
- Historical Materialism is a science due to its ability to explain historical phenomenon
- Maoism as a third stage of revolutionary science that is both a continuity and rupture from Marxism-Leninism
- To understand Maoism, one must understand the theoretical limitations of Marxism-Leninism.
Science's Dogmatic Shadow
In the second chapter, Moufawad-Paul introduces his argument that Marxism, in contrast to contemporary intellectual consensus, is not simply a philosophy, but a science, specifically Marx's theory of historical materialism.
The General Limits of Marxism-Leninism
In the third chapter, Moufawad-Paul discusses the inherent contradictions within the ideology of standard Marxism-Leninism. According to Moufawad-Paul, within a Marxist-Leninist
A New Anti-Revisionism
In this chapter Moufawad-Paul defends the concept of
Maoism or Trotskyism
Continuity and Rupture contains an additional essay titled "Maoism or Trotskyism" which evaluates Maoism and Trotskyism as derivative forms of Leninism and their mutual claim to be the continuation of the Leninist political philosophy that led the October Revolution.
Reception
J. Moufawad-Paul's work received a positive reception among Marxist critics.
Historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and social activist Gabriel Kuhn both provide positive reviews of the book in the cover section.
Hamayon Rastgar in Marx and Philosophy gave a positive review of the book, writing, "Moufawad-Paul makes an appealing case for a return to the revolutionary kernel of communism through understanding the most contemporary stage of the development of the ideology and science of revolution, namely Maoism."[9]
J. Moufawad-Paul's work received a negative reception among some circles of Maoist activists in the United States.[10]
Publications
- The Communist Necessity (Montreal: Kersplebedeb, 2014)
- Zero Books, 2016)
- Austerity Apparatus (Montreal: Kersplebedeb, 2017)
- Methods Devour Themselves (with Zero Books, 2018)
- Demarcation and Demystification (Winchester: Zero Books, 2019)
- Critique of Maoist Reason (Paris: Foreign Languages Press, 2020)
- Politics In Command: A Taxonomy of Economism (Paris: Foreign Languages Press, 2022)
References
- ^ "Joshua Moufawad-Paul - York University - Academia.edu". Yorku.academia.edu. York University. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ "J. Moufawad-Paul -- Zero Books -- Author Profile". Zero Books. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ "The Case for Colonialism", Bruce Gilley, Academic Questions, June 2018, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 167–185.
- ^ "Author Asks Journal to Pull Pro-Colonial Essay". Inside Higher Ed. September 22, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
- ^ Bridge, Mark (October 9, 2020). "Bruce Gilley's biography of imperialist Sir Alan Burns cancelled after petition". The Times (London). Retrieved October 9, 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-68451-217-1.
- ISBN 9781785354762. Archived from the originalon July 14, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
- ^ Rastgar, Hamayon (December 21, 2016). "Joshua Moufawad-Paul / Continuity and Rupture: Philosophy in the Maoist Terrain". Marx & Philosophy Review of Books. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- ^ "'Continuity and Rupture: Philosophy in the Maoist Terrain' reviewed by Hamayon Rastgar". marxandphilosophy.org.uk. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
- ^ ""Maoism" from Below : On the right opportunist, revisionist, and liquidationist, theory of J. Moufawad Paul". Struggle Sessions. July 27, 2018.
External links
- Quotations related to J. Moufawad-Paul at Wikiquote