Source: International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, Netherlands

http://www.iisg.nl/exhibitions/chairman/chnintro.html

PLS 339: Asian Politics

Self-criticism Assigment

We have the Marxist-Leninist weapon of criticism and self-criticism.  We can get rid of bad style and keep the good.

  --Mao Zedong

As politics evolved in the People’s Republic of China, it was routine practice for citizens to have to perform “self-criticisms” over their thoughts and political views.   These self-criticisms would most often be done in a group meeting during which peers and group leaders would have the chance to offer further criticism and to “struggle” with an individual to reform his or her beliefs.

Imagine that you are a Chinese student during the height of the Cultural Revolution.  One of your classes will engage in a study meeting in order to rectify incorrect thinking within your unit.  Write a one- to two-page (single space) self-criticism that you will use to participate in the “struggle” meeting.  You will need to acknowledge past errors (in both action and thought). 

This is an unusual assignment—not the typical essay.  Strong self-criticisms will be those that develop a real character for the individual doing the self-criticism.  They will also be informed about how politics operated during the Cultural Revolution (Use the material presented in Son of the Revolution.  You are also free to ask me questions and research the Cultural Revolution independently).  The strongest essays will also really “get inside the head” of a Chinese person undergoing the self-criticism experience and striving to make it through the tumultuous Cultural Revolution.  To the latter end, the strongest self-criticisms will be somewhat strategic, admitting mistaken beliefs about Mao, the Chinese Communist Party, or the course of China’s revolution, without giving away too much for others to use against the author (you don’t want to be singled out as the class rightist!).  Quoting from Mao's Little Red Book (officially known as Quotations from Chairman Mao and available at http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/. It may help to prove your revolutionary credentials.  Try to make clear how Mao's thought has helped you to overcome your past errors through your own individual struggle (therefore, the group doesn't have to be too hard on you). This is one of the few assignments you will write in which heavy use of exclamation points can be appropriate (Mao is leading is into the radiant future! Capitalist roaders must be hunted down and eliminated!)

Last revised: February 23, 2010.

tanp@uncw.edu