Analysis of the decentralisation of Maoism as applied to historic European political discourse

 The Storming of the Bastille- French Revolution painting by Jean-Baptiste Lallemand (1789).

Something that never ceases to amaze me is how a supposedly people centric and class conscious set of communitarian and socialist economic principles can somehow ironically be responsible for the development of some of the most inegalitarian societies that have existed globally. This can be reflected through observing the case of France at the time of the French Revolution during the mid to late 18th century (and even still, to some degree, in more recent times). This was, arguably, the point in time by which the greatest reconstruction and reformation of the social and political dimension of Europe took place, its ever present and significant imprint continuing to be felt throughout the centuries that followed.  

While Mao presented the need for the “true” people, as in the workers and peasants, to rebuild society, this was achieved through undemocratic and authoritarian means by the preservation of the influence of a Leninist society led by the Bolsheviks being formed to repress and exert influence on the Mensheviks in a feudal society, in which peasants aspired to emulate the bourgeoisie as the ultimate in emancipation and gaining social influence. This seems very much reminiscent of the resultant reduction in democracy and lack of individual and collective liberty amongst the masses in the French Revolution.

It would perhaps also prove to have somewhat acted as the foundation of many contemporary political constructs of the authoritarian hard left tradition, and to have acted as an important source of inspiration for the decentralisation of Maoist ideology that rose in popularity in the second half of the 20th century. These in turn have proven to mirror the French revolution in regard to the methods, thought processes and intentions of many 18th century revolutionaries. However, many of these ideologies have arguably perhaps moved to extreme nationalism, fascism, and other more radical extreme ideals reminiscent to those central to  authoritarian far right leadership. An example of this would be Franco Freda's brand of "Maoism" (which came at the time of the far-right Italian Social Movement in the 1940s, a time at which the Western world was polarised by the ever powerful Soviet union, and the comparatively more democratic American led states at war with each other), which appeared to have been backed by many staunch supporters of Mussolini, and inspired by the rhetoric of the likes of Hitler, Giovanni Gentile, and Nietzsche. With Freda’s advocacy for terrorism considering it to be effective in dismantling existing liberal bourgeois power structures and achieving revolution through the subjugation and manipulation of the Italian people so as to detach them from this society, striking similarities between  sentiments evident amongst far right and neofascist landscape of the time. He put this down to his support for accelerationist principles claiming that one must achieve revolution through the use of violence so as to “hasten the collapse of the government, create disorder, and trigger widespread societal unrest”. These would also prove to be important in directly targeting other opposing communist groups as well as the liberal bourgeoisie, as well as firmly standing against the US who supposedly were responsible for the unwanted social and cultural change observed for Europe that was acting as a source of fear for many ultranationalists and social conservatives, with him echoing many of the antisemitic and anti internationalist sentiments of the Nazis, with little to differentiate his ideals and those of the tradition of Strasserism. He was noted to refer to these changes as “ideological infections” contracted by Europe when it “whored in all the brothels” as an “old hussy” whose womb had “conceived and engendered the bourgeois revolution and the proletarian revolt: whose soul was possessed by the violence of merchants and the rebellion of slaves”. This could thus further undermine the truly socialist and class conscious dimension of his aims in achieving social and economic revolution. As a result, the point of blurring of lines between the authoritarian hard left and the extreme right as applied to Maoist dialect would prove to be hard to notice with many neo-Maoist ideals arguably being closer to the latter than they are to the former (as can be effectively depicted in the political compass I have created shown below).

This could be perhaps illustrated by the depiction of Maoist and hard-left and socially conservative nationalism through Mao-Dadaism, an art movement which rose in popularity in Italy a couple of decades after this era. An early and non-technological movement mirroring present day techno feudalism, this featured the use of art with nihilistic and anti-establishment undertones to reflect on Maoism as an important means of achieving cultural revolution. This would be achieved by “playfully undermining the linguistic and cultural norms of both capitalism and socialism”, so as to ridicule all forms of organised politics and call for revolution. The global sex and drugs culture of this era was implemented into this artistic movement as a means of reflecting on this society that needed reformation.

This links back to the ironically inegalitarian and anti-socialist nature of many revolutionary movements such as those in France during the period of the French Revolution, which ironically failed to achieve its leftist intentions, and so merely further exacerbated the issues posed by a capitalist society. These continued to become even more ever-prevalent within political systems in today’s modern world, with technocratic authoritarianism, by which technology and the media is used as a means of oppression and manipulation of the population globally aiming to help them to succumb to fascist ideals, as touched upon by Yanis Varoufakis and represented by the US of today after Elon Musk’s influence. This acts as a constant reminder of the importance of a true egalitarian and socially conscious society led by the people in combatting the damage caused by an economically liberal bourgeois society, the influence of which can only be further increased to through corruption of power of the other side under  hard left authoritarian rule.

What I gained from stewarding the counter-protest against Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom protest

With multiple pin badges, leaflets, and other promotional materials in hand, after I animatedly helped encourage people to donate to and join Stand Up to Racism, I set off down the streets of London to steward the counter protest against Tommy Robinson. 

It was through this that I took in what really made London and the UK as a whole. The unity, diversity and solidarity with all groups coming together to bring about change and call for peace was what brought out the best of our nation. These were British values at their finest; in spite of what Tommy Robinson and his supporters thought, we were the ones who could “unite the kingdom” the best. As I marched on, in spite of the pouring rain and the wind blowing, I felt a real sense of warmth. Peace, love, rain (and the savoury smell of the very British delicacy of bacon sandwiches from a street vendor at one point being intermingled with the wet air as we walked past) was London in all its glory.

That was until we spotted the other side of the march. This was the side where garish displays of red, white and blue in the form of St George’s flags, Union Jacks and Israeli flags failed to cover and shield the aggression and violence of their bearers. Not even a right-winger dressed in a Union Jack waistcoat and bow tie cycling past us on an old-fashioned penny farthing bicycle, despite looking like a circus performer, could add any humour to the situation. Bottles and cans (which had ironically previously contained European lager), along with missiles were launched at many on our side. Chants of “Tommy Robinson”, “stop the boats” and IDF rang in our ears and drowned out our feeble voices. Police dived in only to be beaten and attacked by the fascist thugs. It was then that I began to feel scared. We were stewarding a protest against a vile hundred thousand strong army of brutal violence-lusting racists with thick skulls and bloated bellies. Whatever we could do to keep others safe was futile, especially since we were concerned for our own safety. This army was fuelled by anger, fear and hatred, and led by manipulation, group mentality and misinformation . Not a single original thought could be observed amongst that herd, as reflected by their chants, all phrases that they had parroted off from the egocentric paranoic narratives of Robinson and the so-called politician Nigel Farage. Thus no intelligent or socio-politically interesting statement could be uttered by them. While we were there in want of peace and love, all they wanted was to spew hate. It all gave a very sad reflection on the state of society and the lack of alternative means by which one could respond to crises that could be accessed by this demographic. I hope to learn from this experience to further appreciate the importance of community, education of the people on society, and (as well as proving to be a very scary and upsetting experience for me), I admired my bravery and that of many others.

Observations on the crossovers of policing and social class

After much delay, various technical issues and procrastination, this post is finally out for you all to read.

                                                   19th-century artwork of police in London

In modern society globally, and ingrained in many different cultures and political systems, the role of the police is regarded as functioning as extensions of the state and representatives of the law, to maintain social security and ensure that these laws are abided by. This explains the common perception that the presence of the police acts as a symbol of repression and presents class struggle (which, to a considerable extent, it does). However, historically, the police appeared to be a lot more in line with the working classes, advocating solidarity and unionisation within the workforce, and so appearing to take on the image of ambassadors for trade unions and the community in which they live and work. It is through observing these differing perceptions of the police, and their changing attitudes around race and class over time, that their political dimension, and the potential overlaps of this with socialist values, can be further understood, and conclusions can be drawn regarding where they would fit in and the extent of their influence in a society governed by class, image and material wealth, in which the core constructs of race and gender heavily influence this.

Before state-led policing was developed in the UK and became accepted as the primary effective means by which the existing social order could be preserved, the military had greater social influence and community presence, taking on many of the same roles as the police. This was before the time of Robert Peel's establishment of the Metropolitan Police, in the form it is known today, in 1829, and the Bow Street Runners in 1748 (the main alternative to the military of this time, consisting of a group of non-uniformed people with the roles of preventing and investigating crimes, and deciding on further actions regarding criminals) which functioned as the first forms of conventional policing (n.d.). The individuals who were involved in policing through these organisations were primarily working class and advocates for trade unions. While the position of the police in historic and present society seems to appear as something of a means of preserving existing class structures, maintaining order and hierarchy, thus making it appear contradictory to refer to them as representing socialist and working class values, they can be seen as significantly greater representatives of these values than the systems featuring the military before their introduction in society did (Reiner, 1978). Because of this, this supposed transition to a more socialist means of maintaining social security that Reiner describes here, when emphasising the unionisation of the police, however, is all very much relative. This is especially true considering that unionisation is not necessarily purely an overtly leftist principle, with many authoritarian centrists, right-wing libertarians, anarcho-capitalists and neoliberals potentially seeming like key advocates for unionism (Figg, 2025). This could be through using them as a means of further promoting free trade, fulfilling their own personal interests within the workplace (especially for economically right-wing people who are employed in a profession that could be seen as very working class), as well as those who had used unions as a means of training and developing solidarity within military groups (with many joining the military appearing to very much perpetuate ideals that completely oppose leftist principles). This is reflected in Reiner's description of the police membership in trade unions as having been derived from reasoning from a "diametrically opposed angle", and adds that trade unions are in many ways synonymous with class consciousness, referencing Lockwood's view of them as "the main vehicle of working class consciousness", so would, therefore, very much conflict with many common perceptions of the police.

Moreover, the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the regions in which the police would operate are also crucial in observing the primary roles of the police, the way they are regarded by their communities, as well as the image that they wish to portray. This would mean that they would become hugely susceptible to globalisation and cultural and demographic change, such as loss of jobs, migration, changes in lifestyle and inequalities, in which the differing interests of communities would often fail to be satisfied (Larsson et al, 2025), in which “conflicts between and within diaspora groups become enacted anew in a different configuration”. This can be reflected with widespread anti-migrant protests by many on the far right, as well as alternative protests by those aiming to counter this, along with the recent increasing intensity of geopolitical conflicts between nations such as India and Pakistan in relation to issues regarding Kashmir. This would present an opportunity for globalisation to reflect the changes observed in the general attitudes of the police, as well as perhaps indicate the increasing homogeneity of the ways they operate, and their role in society from a political perspective. This sentiment is echoed by Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian media sociologist, who refers to the world as being something of a global village. This idea presents for, not only the metaphorical distance between nations to be reduced as a result of increasing  communication and ability to collaborate on international affairs through time-space compression brought about by globalisation and infrastructural development, but also for greater homogeneity to be observed globally in relation to governance, security and positions on law enforcement. This has become clearly apparent when observing the increasing popularity of policing very much akin to that in the Western world becoming globally prominent. Equally , it is important to note another factor to consider when evaluating the political standing of the police and how integral they might be in a leftist society is the cultural and demographic characteristics of them as an institution, as well as specifically those members of the police who historically participated in trade union activism during the Industrial Revolution. At this time, while policing was (and still very much remains to be today) a field in which primarily white males were employed in, it was likely mainly the black police who engaged in these activities considering that the rising agitation and reactionary police activities became of “racist appeal to whites”, as well as that mostly black rank and file police used these unionist actions as a means of challenging intradepartmental racism and police brutality (Ray, 1977).

Furthermore, there is also clear evidence on the major emphasis of capitalist principles in acting as the foundations of policing globally, with private financial means of funding the police and controlling their employees being commonplace. This can be observed with the Industrial Revolution in the UK, in which an efficient workforce and effective management in the policing sector was very important at this time. This would be achieved through the private financing of the police by the Bank of England, as well as the Bank of England benefitting themselves through employing solicitors to help investigate cases of fraud and forgery, who were assisted by the police. Many other institutions around this time including insurance companies and private railway developers began to follow suit and employ private in-house investigators, surveyors and assessors to respond to the demands of a nation undergoing rapid economic development and industrial growth (Godfrey and Cox, 2016). This was an era of mass privatisation and rising international trade with many companies employing private police inspectors to oversee their operations. Moreover, this influence extended to the police themselves in that the police force became increasingly divided into several smaller private branches at the time of Queen Victoria’s succession in 1837. This was the point at which policing appeared quite clearly a truly capitalist occupation that was built upon capitalist and right wing principles.