wrong with the British left' (SO8) itself illustrates some of what's wrong with the British left. Take for example his dismissive reference to 'small tendencies such as Labour Briefing, which seek only to act as a pressure Proup within the Labour Briefing supporters might in asking Harry whether Briefing became oniy a pressure group within the Labour Party before, during or after Socialist Outlook worked under its aegis for several years.
More interesting is the implication that Briefing supporters, despite encompassing many people who have broken with small left groups in order Errors in China review Louise Holloway's review of my book on China (SO8) annoyed me greatly. Given our different views of China, political criticism was to be expected. But the reviews criticisms were based on a sloppy reading of the book, and an even sloppier view of Maoism.
For brevity's sake 1'1l only take up a couple of points.
Louise astonished me by saying that she 'can find little evidence' for my claim that 'the civil war was not fought as a guerilla war, but as a set-piece battle against two regular with the mass of the population cators. (lactually wrote 'betuven Any decent history of China will distinguish between the anti-Japanese war (1937-45)
and the Civil War (1945-49) between CCP Guomindang, not as small quentia bands If Louise doesn't know such a basic fact about Chinese histony, why is she waiting about And when she says that she wonders whether Hore sees the revolution in a positive field of activity in the mass movement, are excluded from the enormous responsibility of building 'a mass revolutionary again later when he discusses 'siege-mentality "Leninism'", spontaneism and syndicalism inherent in the traditions of the post-war British 'far left.
The SWP and the Militant are fairly taken to task here. But left out is any discussion of the Tackons of the IMG, a tradition which clearly has major influence in Socialist Outlook it*then Harry asks what's so different about Socialist Outlook?' it would be useful to light, I can only conclude that she didn't read the book.
The third chapter begins 1949 was a genuine revolution, in which a m:ii01-9708 peasant army smashed forever the old ruling classes, broke the power of Western imperialism and laid the basis for a new social order. (p.41)
I did indeed go on to say that it 'made possible the more effiexploitation of the workers and peasants'. And there is no contradiction be tween the two. Inat is the cont mon pattern that bourgeois revolutions in the 'Third World' have followed from the Second World War onwards.
It is one of the great strengths of the theory of bureaucratic state capitalism that it can explain what has happened in Algeria, ndia, China and Cuba in terms of the rise of a new ruling class politically independent imperialism yet tied to the world economy and the disciplines it imposes on them.
For the rest, the review simp ly repeated the old Maoist myth that Mao had a coherent and successful strategy for revolution which relied on organising from its own traditions.
Does this matter? I think it does. Any tendency unable to learn from the lessons of its own traditions is doomed to repeat And if you are going to (correctly) denounce sectarianism on the leit, you must be prepared to practice what you On page 15, however, we see an article headed Greens lurch to the right alongside a picture of Charles Windsor captioned: Prince Charles: friends in high places for the Greens'. Is this the kind of 'united front dialogue that marks Socialist Outlook out as dilferent trom it sec tarian competitors?
Mike Phipps, London peasant rebellions.
That myth was literally fatal in the 1960s and 1970s, when thousands brave revolutionaries died in the attempt to emulate Mao, and the shattering of the myth by events in China since 1978 has played a major part in disorientating the revolutionary left internationally.
It is astonishing to see that myth repeated today in a supposedly Trotskyist paper.
Earlier October Review, a Hong Kong Fourth Internationalist magazine, also reviewed the book. The review made a number of specific criticisms to do with emphasis and omissions, as well as arguins arainst the theory of state capitalism.
Yet it made none of the historical criticisms contained in Louise's review. I suggest that perhaps the October Revicto comrades understand Chinese history better than she does.
Charlie Hore Charlie Hore's book The Road to lenanmen square 15 poin ed by Boomarks and costs 64.95.
Apologies to Charlie Hore for accidentally omitting these details
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