Battle for China's Past : Mao and the Cultural Revolution

CONCLUSION
to make democracy come about. The Iraqi situation has demonstrated
that imposition from outside does not work to anyone’s benefit. The
most sensible approach is therefore to induce internal changes in China
so that more accountable and more responsible governance and
government can take root.
The idea of taking root has a metaphorical implication here. For
something to take root it needs to adjust to the environment and to take
in whatever nutrients are available. The Chinese 1949 revolution and
Maoist legacy have become part of the Chinese environment and
cannot simply be discarded. Therefore the most fruitful approach is to
absorb what is already there, including China’s long tradition as well
as its recent socialist heritage. Many lessons can be drawn from these
heritages. Negative lessons can be drawn from the Mao era, so that
violence should be avoided as much as possible and measures should
be taken before violence erupts. Positive lessons – such as popular
democracy; grassroots participation in management and production;
and cheap and locally adopted and traditionally proved healthcare
and education – can also be drawn from the Mao era. The ideas and
practices of Chinese socialist democracy should be made use of. It is
along these lines that we should imagine an alternative model of development
in China. Modernity does not have to be totally Western either
in terms of governance or in terms of production organization and
technology.
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