Discuss the following quote in detail identifying the author and explaining any unusual terms. Put the excerpt into your own words, and offer a thoughtful response.

“Mao is essentially a universalist or “internationalist” in his revolutionary utopian aspirations, whereas nationalism as a strategy in his revolutionary schema is always subjugated to Mao’s overall vision of the “emancipation of all mankind.” The integration of Marxism with nationalism that characterizes Mao’s Marxism is conditioned by [...] its radical reinvention of a national culture sundered from [...] traditional values.” 

     Being neither purely capitalistic or socialistic, post modern nor modern and with it’s extremely hegemonic background in several different ideologies, China is the epitome of hybrid cultures causing a great contradiction (and possible obstacle) for globalization. Kang delves into the history of China to understand how through reform the country has molded it’s own set of values and ideologies by which its nationalism is defined. To do this he decides to start with Mao Zedong, one of Chinas most famous, active leaders, the history of China, its economic reforms and most importantly it’s ideologies and hegemonic nature. 

“Mao is essentially a universalist or “internationalist” in his revolutionary utopian aspirations, whereas nationalism as a strategy in his revolutionary schema is always subjugated to Mao’s overall vision of the “emancipation of all mankind.” The integration of Marxism with nationalism that characterizes Mao’s Marxism is conditioned by [...] its radical reinvention of a national culture sundered from [...] traditional values.” 

     In the latter quote by Liu Kang, the utopia of Mao Zedongs perceived reality is explained. Contradictory as it may seem, referring to universalism, nationalism and marxism in two sentances, Kang clarifies Zedong’s beliefs and rationalizes his thought process and actions. Universalism refers to any concept that applies to all persons and/or things for all times and in all situations regarding either religion, theology, philosophy or politics. It predominantely has roots in religion being the belief that all persons and creatures in the world are related to God or another divine being and will be reconciled to God. Internationalism can be described as having a desire for world people and having an appreciation for the many diverse cultures of the universe. Kang mentions nationalism because of Mao’s unrelenting search for an alternative modernity. As history has been unfolding, it has become evident that China’s response to culturally imperalistic threats lies in nationalism. Mao Zedong was a firm believer in Marxism and the communist ideals and chose the communist values and structure as the new ideological hegemony for the Chinese revolution. He wanted to establish a new national culture and to do so he decided to, “Put marxism into practice only when it is integrated with the specific characteristics of our nation and acquires a definite national form” that way a hybridization is procured and the previous ideological hegemony of confucianism can be obliterated without an excessive amount of societal shock (or less than there would have been had no other gradational measures been considered.) Essentially, Kang wanted to point out that Mao was well rounded and did have a relatively open mind…”Contrary to the claims that nationalism is a “great failure” or “anomaly” in Marxist theory, Mao effectively erected a Chinese marxism integrated with nationalism in his project for an alternative modernity” (Kang 170). Although he did tweak Karl Marx’s beliefs slightly to fit his own, Mao had an incredible amount of faith in communism and put it second to none on his political agenda. That’s why, referring back to the quote, when Kang touches on the emancipation of all mankind he points out that despite his eagerness, Zedong seemed to always put nationalism on the back burner whilst keeping establishing communism the main target.

     Mao’s Marxism is a hybrid of the reconstruction of a national cultural identity with the economic and political reformation of Karl Marx’s communistic values. Mao Zedong is one of the worlds most recognized political leaders because of his ingenuity and conceptuality. Kang wanted to point out specifically the importance of his personal nature and beliefs (in being an internationalist and universalist) that caused him to originate such a hybridization of a concept normal though to be black and white.