The divergences between maoism and classical marxist thought

This essay seeks to evaluate the differences between Maoist ideology and classical Marxist thought. Although Mao himself never denied his Marxist roots, a few significant deviations can be identified that, this essay suggests, have their origin in Mao's focus on practical realisation. While Marx undeniably provided the far more coherent theoretical framework for a proletarian revolution, this framework turned out to be practically useless whenever the ground conditions (such as an industrialised society with a conscious proletariate) were not met. Since all successfull revolutions of the 20th century took place in societies where according to classical Marxism they should not have, Maoism as an ideological and revolutionary guideline that actually worked in unfavourable conditions of underdevelopment and dependency became far more appealing.