Actually, I remember them making an incorrect explanation of Marxism (specifically the part of it hating religion) in “The Battle of China’s Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution”, which is not a stance Marxists would take, so I doubt that they are Maoist: They seem more like a spicy liberal than anything.
Religion and minority cultures: with a special focus on Tibet
As indicated above, modernity and the Enlightenment project have been attacking Chinese tradition for more than a century. As in any country, religious beliefs are an important part of tradition that has been under attack by modernity. On top of and as part of modernity,
an important part of the Enlightenment project has been the Marxist ideology, which is known to have been hostile to religion.
Well, for starters, why wouldn’t Marxism be hostile to institutional religion, which was historically associated and often aligned with many a ruling class?
Secondly, this is more or less a criticism of enlightenment, not solely Marxism
Just to note, on this section, he doesn’t follow the western liberal narrative the GPCR tried to remove religion and tradition - a lot of that effort was mainly by Tibetan rebels over-correcting rather than by foreign Han Red Guards, loyalist or rebel. So, yeah, spicy liberal might fit or be stretching it
I will admit however, even in his later book, that his criticism of Deng as a capitalist roader and the post-Mao SWCC, may not hold up, but to call him liberal based on his explanation of enlightenment having anti-religious tendencies is weird.
It might be the quote, but I do not have the book anymore, so I am not sure (also it says “hostile to religion”, not specifically institutional religion).
Actually, I remember them making an incorrect explanation of Marxism (specifically the part of it hating religion) in “The Battle of China’s Past: Mao and the Cultural Revolution”, which is not a stance Marxists would take, so I doubt that they are Maoist: They seem more like a spicy liberal than anything.
Specifically on this one?
Well, for starters, why wouldn’t Marxism be hostile to institutional religion, which was historically associated and often aligned with many a ruling class?
Secondly, this is more or less a criticism of enlightenment, not solely Marxism
Just to note, on this section, he doesn’t follow the western liberal narrative the GPCR tried to remove religion and tradition - a lot of that effort was mainly by Tibetan rebels over-correcting rather than by foreign Han Red Guards, loyalist or rebel. So, yeah, spicy liberal might fit or be stretching it
I will admit however, even in his later book, that his criticism of Deng as a capitalist roader and the post-Mao SWCC, may not hold up, but to call him liberal based on his explanation of enlightenment having anti-religious tendencies is weird.
It might be the quote, but I do not have the book anymore, so I am not sure (also it says “hostile to religion”, not specifically institutional religion).