Communism and China : Ideology in Flux

These essays and articles, written by Benjamin Schwartz over a span of some thirteen years, and including an introductory essay written especially for this book, have been gathered together “in an effort to wrestle with aspects of the protean evolution of Communist China both in terms of its relation to ’world communism’ and in terms of its internal developments.” In the course of his introductory essay, the author reconsiders and restates some of the assumptions and concerns that underlie the articles. He does not attempt to defend every opinion expressed, nor does he attempt to rewrite them in terms of hindsight. The focus of the book is on the ideas, attitudes, and policies of leading decision-making individuals and groups in Peking and in the Communist world. Schwartz concludes that “the general tendency has been toward the disintegration of Marxist-Leninist ideology; that ideology has continued to play a significant role even in the course of its disintegration; and that the disintegration is itself a fact with enormous consequences. China’s future political, intellectual, and spiritual development remains open.”