Written in Red: Mao, Maoism, and the Development of Law
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On October 1, 1949, the Chinese got their chance to experiment with socialism when the revolution headed by Mao Zedong succeeded in taking control of China. This brought about drastic changes to Chinese politics and specifically the laws and legal structure. A new variation of Marxism, Maoism, was crafted by Mao. An amalgamation of traditional Chinese legalism, democratic ideals, and the established principles of Marxism, Maoism would shape the political, legal, and social structure of China for decades to come. In this paper, I seek to analyze recent scholarship regarding the principles constituting Maoism as well as its effect on the legal system of China. This paper is broken into three major sections: the effects of Maoism on law and legal institutions, the rhetoric of Mao regarding law, and the actual effect of Maoist law in practice.
James Hawthorne is a rising senior political science major and Honors College member who will graduate from Lander in December 2020. Originally from Pelzer, SC, James also spent a semester studying abroad in South Korea.
