A ‘democratic moment’: political education in the Chinese liberation struggle

This paper revisits the Chinese experience of liberation struggle, from the 1920s to the 1940s. It begins by justifying an examination of the learning dimension of the Chinese liberation struggle. The early rural political and educational work of the Chinese Communists is then described. The next section of the paper examines the approach to political education that emerged in the Chinese Communist army. The educational process that developed during land reform is then discussed in some detail. The final section of the paper assesses the contemporary significance of the Chinese experience of political education. It is argued that the period of liberation war and land reform in China constituted a ‘democratic moment’, in which a dialectic of cadres (educators) and people (learners) created a participatory and creative process of learning in social action. The elements of this process included: specific, materialist analysis of learners’ culture and social context; strategic and reflective analysis; experiential education; and direct instruction.