Abolishing Illiteracy and Upgrading Culture: Adult Education and Revolutionary Hegemony in Socialist Laos

ABSTRACT

This article examines the monopolisation of political space by the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party, before and after 1975. Together with coercive measures, the Marxist-Leninist regime consolidated rule by establishing and disseminating new concepts of state power, social responsibility and socialist subjectivity, which formed the basis of a radical form of revolutionary hegemony. The Party propagated a new rhetoric of rule through mandated activities including village meetings, co-operatives and a much expanded but poor-quality mass education system. This article examines the system of adult education, where the Party sought to eradicate illiteracy and “upgrade culture” among economically productive 15 to 45-year-olds. Motivated by both politics and pedagogy, the Party imported this system from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the 1960s before institutionalising it after 1975. The resulting organisational structure fanned the rhetoric of rule across the national territory in an extensive manner that reached the illiterate “masses” in large numbers. Even where the programme encountered material shortages and apathy, mandated participation in adult education propagated the vocabulary and grammatical structure of socialist Laos, providing a codebook for how to participate in socialist society.     

寺村塬革命委员会有关史实考辨

关于寺村塬革命委员会成立的时间、正式名称均存在两种说法。本文认为，寺村塬革命委员会成立的时间应为1932年4月上旬，正式名称应为“正宁县革命委员会”。     

中国共产党革命精神的逻辑理路

革命精神是党的思想理论的重要组成部分,是中国共产党在革命、建设和改革等伟大实践中所留下的优良传统和精神财富。中国共产党革命精神呈现出不同的精神形态,既包括革命、建设和改革等实践的历时性形态,又包括党带领人民为民族复兴而奋斗历程中的共时性形态。在新的征程上,要继续发扬具有新时代特点的开拓精神、奉献精神、自我净化精神、奋斗精神、创新精神等革命精神,不断向着为民族谋复兴、为人民谋幸福、为世界做贡献的伟大梦想砥砺前行。     

试析知识分子在创建井冈山革命根据地中的重要作用

参加井冈山斗争的人员数以万计,但起核心作用的是由226名知识分子所组成的精英群体,他们在井冈山根据地的党的建设、军事斗争、政权建设、教育、文化、卫生等事业的发展中作出了重要而特殊的贡献,为中国革命事业的进一步发展探索并积累了宝贵的经验。     

Ferrets in the Caribbean: Britain,Grenada and the Curious Case of the Armoured Cars

Abstract

When the Marxist-Leninist New Jewel Movement seized power in Grenada in March 1979 they set about securing and defending their ‘revolution’ against the threat of a countercoup organised by the deposed Prime Minister Eric Gairy. Military aid was quick to arrive from expected allies, namely Cuba and Guyana. Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop also requested arms from Britain and the United States. The People’s Revolutionary Government’s (PRG’s) ties to Cuba and evasiveness over election plans ruled out the US providing any support. Britain remained more open-minded about the PRG’s intentions. Using recently declassified British government documents, this article will examine London’s deliberations over supplying armoured cars to Grenada. It argues that Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials focused on the bigger picture of steering the PRG away from Cuba at the cost of considering how the sale of the armoured cars to the PRG would appear to a wider audience and that the PRG’s increasingly authoritarian behaviour ultimately vetoed the sale.     

Coming in from the Cold: Grenada and Cuba since 1983

Abstract

The Grenada Revolution’s radical course was stamped by the bold turn to Cuba in April 1979. Cuban commitment to Maurice Bishop’s regime was crucial to its consolidation. In 1983 counter-revolution and invasion ruptured Grenada–Cuba ties and damaged Havana’s relations with Caribbean Community states. Since the demise of the Cold War, Havana’s survival strategy has prioritised regional integration and cooperation in the Americas. In the Anglophone Caribbean, Grenada has been at the centre of this rapprochement since 1993. Despite Washington’s disapproval, Grenada champions expanded ties with socialist Cuba. The rekindled alliance brings tangible mutual benefits and validates the strategy of South–South cooperation advocated by Maurice Bishop’s People’s Revolutionary Government and New Jewel Movement.     

中央革命根据地创建的历史启示

1929年初至1931年秋，红军在毛泽东、朱德的领导下，从井冈山转战赣南、闽西，采取一系列符合实际的行之有效的方针政策，开辟农村革命根据地，发展壮大红军，为中央革命根据地的正式建立奠定了坚实的基础。中央革命根据地得以创建、巩固和发展的经验和做法对我们今天党和军队的建设仍有很多启示。     

菲律宾、日本和韩国反美军基地社会运动比较研究

美国驻在海外他国的军事基地，一直以来是国际政治中的焦点所在，本文试从美国军事基地驻在国民众反基地的社会运动视角入手，研究其对美军基地的存废的影响程度。通过对菲律宾、日本和韩国3国反基地社会运动的组织、过程以及绩效的比较，以获得对反基地社会运动的作用与不足的更为深入的认识。     

井冈山根据地的“三月失败”与共产国际的关系

井冈山根据地"三月失败"的教训是深刻的。长期以来,由于档案资料的缺乏,研究者在谈到"三月失败"时,只是一般地介绍"三月失败"的情况,或将责任归到周鲁和中共湘南特委身上。实际上,"三月失败"的根源在共产国际的错误指示和国际代表的错误指导。     

江西地方红军与东固革命根据地

东固建立了赣西最早的地方革命武装和第二块赤色区域。江西红军独立第二、四团是创建东固革命根据地的重要支柱,对救援红四军做出了突出贡献。东固“秘密割据”的形式,丰富了毛泽东“工农武装割据”思想。独立二、四团的发展,扩大和巩固了以东固为中心的赣西赤色割据区域。