Chinese Marxism (feat. Josef Gregory Mahoney)

Feb 23, 2026

Josef Gregory Mahoney, professor of politics and noted scholar of Chinese Marxism and governance. He explores the plurality of Chinese Marxist thought, Xi’s melding of Marxism with Chinese traditions and ecological values. He traces the Mao-to-Deng transition, factional politics and anti‑corruption, and debates on class, labor precarity and China’s global strategy.

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INSIGHT

Three Worlds Shifted Class Struggle Internationally

After 1968 class struggle domestically was subordinated to international strategy via Mao's Three Worlds: China positioned itself with the Global South against superpowers.
This reframed class struggle as anti-imperialist international solidarity rather than perpetual domestic purges.

INSIGHT

Reform Tradeoffs Prioritized Development Over Labor Protections

Deng's reform and opening prioritized rapid development and trade, accepting worker abuses and inequality as trade-offs to build national capacity and sovereignty.
Mahoney cites Taiwanese firms' labor abuses tolerated to secure capital and strategic economic integration with Taiwan.

ADVICE

Use Anti-Corruption To Rectify Party Factionalism

Preventing factional capture requires periodic party rectification and anti-corruption to restore governance and accountability.
Xi used targeted purges across factional networks and an anti-corruption campaign to dismantle entrenched economic-political interests.

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I am joined by Dr. Josef Gregory Mahoney, Professor of Politics and International Relations at East China Normal University and Concurrent Professor of Marxism with Jiangsu’s top thinktank—the Institute for the Development of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a critical discussion and analysis of Marxism in China and the tradition of Chinese Marxism.

We examine the ideological differences within the Chinese Communist Party from the time of Mao to the present, the main differences between Soviet and Chinese forms of Marxism, the core of Xi Jinping's thought, the impact of the "reform and opening up" period since Deng Xiaoping, to the status of class struggle in contemporary China.

Dr. Josef Gregory Mahoney is Professor of Politics and International Relations and Doctoral Supervisor (政治与国际关系教授、博士生导师) at East China Normal University (ECNU/华东师范大学); Founder and Director of the Center for Ecological Civilization (主任, 政治与国际关系学院生态文明研究中心); Vice Dean for the Institute of Singularity Politics (奇点政治研究院副院长); Associate Editor, US-based Journal of Chinese Political Science (SSCI and ranked first in the field according to JCR); and Co-Editor, ECNU Review. He also serves as a Concurrent Professor of Marxism (马克思主义兼职教授) and Senior Research Fellow (资深研究员) with Jiangsu’s top thinktank—the Institute for the Development of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics (中国特色社会主义发展研究院)—based at Southeast University (东南大学) in Nanjing.

He’s consulted regularly on matters related to governance and international affairs by the China’s central government, the Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu governments, and foreign diplomats. One of China’s most-recognized international key opinion leaders, Dr. Mahoney has more 200 publications and appears frequently on global broadcasts (1000+), including Xinhua, CGTN, CCTV, BBC, RT International and TRT World, and is a regular contributor to China Radio International’s The Beijing Hour and The World Today and RTHK’s Backchat (Hong Kong). He writes, produces and performs high-level documentaries for BRTV, one winning First Prize (一等奖 in the category of International Communication (等奖, 国际传播) per the 第35届中国新闻奖 (2025).

He frequently publishes in the South China Morning Post, China Daily, Beijing Review, and writes for the CPC Central Committee’s foreign policy platform, China Diplomacy, among others. Previously he was a member of the Chinese team that translated Jiang Zemin’s Selected Works into English and subsequently a Senior Researcher with Beijing’s leading think-tank, the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau (中共中央编译局), under the CPC Central Committee.

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