Catalogo

This book, the collective work of scholars and researchers from the Academy of Marxism, of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a shortened version of the Annual Report on the Development of International Communist Movements (2019-2020) published in June 2020 by Social Sciences Academic Press (China). Two senior researchers from the CASS Academy of Marxism edited and coordinated the work: Xin Xiangyang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice-President of the Academy of Marxism, and Pan Jin’e, Director of the Research Department on International Communist Movements. The translation from Chinese is by two other CASS researchers: Li Kaixuan, from the Academy of Marx- ism, and Liu Xinxin, editor of Studies in Contemporary Chinese History.

The volume addresses both general issues common to all communist movements in the world and issues relating to individual areas. Among the general issues, the authors attach great importance to the way the communist and workers’ movements examine its own his- tory also in order to properly address future strategies. The year 2019 marked an important centenary, the founding of the Comintern, to which a number of international conferences were dedicated. Also very significant – especially for the history of the world’s largest communist party, the CPC – are the 100th anniversary of the May 4th Movement and the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC.

Possible directions for communist movements in the face of the ongoing changes in the balance of power between the two systems are outlined (Chapter 5). Ample space is reserved for the socialist countries: the PRC, Vietnam, North Korea, Laos, Cuba, with their specificities and respective development strategies. Several chapters are devoted to the communist and workers’ parties in capitalist countries, both in the core and peripheral capitalist countries. The picture that emerges is not univocal, marked by advances and developments in some areas and setbacks and failures in others. The research of the CASS Marxists aims to provide a realistic picture of the forces in the field, “seeking truth in facts”. The book is a valuable internationalist tool for communist parties and movements around the world, providing elements of knowledge and reflection useful for developing the most appropriate policies, with the awareness that every communist in every region of the world is part of an overall movement heading, in the winding path of world history, towards socialism.

We also plan to publish soon the next 2020-2021 Report.