List of communist ideologies

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Since the time of

and can be split into three broad categories: Marxist-based ideologies, Leninist-based ideologies, and Non-Marxist ideologies, though influence between the different ideologies is found throughout and key theorists may be described as belonging to one or important to multiple ideologies.

Background

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Marxism
Theoretical works Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 The Condition of the Working Class in England The German Ideology The Communist Manifesto The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte Grundrisse Capital Critique of the Gotha Programme Dialectics of Nature The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State What Is to Be Done? The Accumulation of Capital Philosophical Notebooks Terrorism and Communism The State and Revolution Essays on Marx's Theory of Value History and Class Consciousness History of the Russian Revolution Prison Notebooks The Black Jacobins On Practice Theses on the Philosophy of History Dialectic of Enlightenment A Critique of Soviet Economics The Long Revolution Guerrilla Warfare The Wretched of the Earth Reading Capital Monopoly Capital The Society of the Spectacle Pedagogy of the Oppressed Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses Ways of Seeing How Europe Underdeveloped Africa Social Justice and the City Women, Race and Class Marxism and the Oppression of Women Imagined Communities Hegemony and Socialist Strategy The Sublime Object of Ideology Time, Labor and Social Domination The Age of Extremes The Origin of Capitalism Empire Late Victorian Holocausts Change the World Without Taking Power Caliban and the Witch An Introduction to the Three Volumes of Karl Marx's Capital Capitalist Realism How to Blow Up a Pipeline Capital in the Anthropocene
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Common Variants Structural Autonomist Marxism–Leninism Guevarism Maoism Titoism Trotskyism Neo-Gramscianism Regulation school Third-worldist Hegelian Budapest School Frankfurt School Humanist Neue Marx-Lektüre Open Political Praxis School Both Black Classical Communization Feminist Leninism Neo Post Western
Other Variants Analytical Austromarxism Centrist Council communism Eurocommunism Instrumental Marxism–Leninism–Maoism Nkrumaism Orthodox Revisionist Situationist Socialism with Chinese characteristics Wertkritik Workerism
People Marx Engels Morris Lafargue Kautsky Plekhanov Du Bois Connolly Lenin Luxemburg Liebknecht Kollontai Bogdanov Stalin Trotsky Grossman Zinoviev Bloch Lukács Korsch Bukharin Ho Serge Gramsci Galiev Pashukanis Bordiga Benjamin Mao Basu Mariátegui Horkheimer Dutt Brecht Marcuse Kalecki Fromm Cox Lefebvre James Adorno Padmore Sartre Deutscher Beauvoir Sombart Nkrumah Sweezy Emmanuel Hill Bettelheim Draper Jones Hobsbawm Althusser Hinton Williams Freire Mandel Sivanandan Miliband Cabral Thompson Bauman Fanon Kosik Berger Castro Guevara Liebman Heller Guattari Mészáros O'Connor Wallerstein Mies Tronti Debord Amin Hall Nairn Parenti Negri Jameson Dussel Harvey Laclau Bahro Poulantzas Vattimo Badiou Harnecker Altvater Anderson Löwy Vogel Sison Easthope Rancière Berman Przeworski Cohen Therborn Ahmad Losurdo Ture Postone Rodney Bannerji Spivak Newton Sakai Wood Federici Wolff Balibar Eagleton Kurz Hartsock Rowbotham Mouffe Geras Brenner Davis Massey Cleaver Bishop Haraway Panitch Clarke Jessop Davis Wright Fraser Burawoy Holloway Rose Screpanti Tamás Hampton Cano Žižek Berardi Sankara Hennessy McDonnell Douzinas Roediger Foster West Ghandy Marcos Heinrich Prashad Kelley Dean Lordon Linera Fisher Li Coulthard Malm Seymour Toscano Bhattacharya Moufawad-Paul Srnicek Horvat Hamza Saito
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Communist ideologies notable enough in the

Different communist schools of thought place a greater emphasis on certain aspects of classical Marxism while rejecting or modifying other aspects. Many communist schools of thought have sought to combine Marxian concepts and non-Marxian concepts which has then led to contradictory conclusions.^[12] However, there is a movement toward the recognition that historical materialism and dialectical materialism remains the fundamental aspect of all Marxist communist schools of thought.^[13] The offshoots of Marxism–Leninism are the most well-known of these and have been a driving force in international relations during most of the 20th century.^[14][2]

Marxist communism

Marxism

Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis that views class relations and social conflict using a materialist interpretation of historical development and takes a dialectical view of social transformation.^[15][16][17] It originates from the works of 19th century German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.^[18][1] Classical Marxism is the economic, philosophical and sociological theories expounded by Marx and Engels as contrasted with later developments in Marxism, especially Leninism and Marxism–Leninism.^[19]

Under the capitalist mode of production, this struggle materializes between the minority (the bourgeoisie) who own the means of production and the vast majority of the population (the proletariat) who produce goods and services.^[20] Starting with the concept that social change occurs because of the struggle between different classes^[21] within society who are under contradiction against each other, a Marxist would conclude that capitalism exploits and oppresses the proletariat, therefore capitalism will inevitably lead to a proletarian revolution.^[22] In a socialist society, private property—in the form of the means of production—would be replaced by co-operative ownership.^[23][24] A socialist economy would not base production on the creation of private profits, but on the criteria of satisfying human needs—that is, production would be carried out directly for use. As Friedrich Engels said: "Then the capitalist mode of appropriation, in which the product enslaves first the producer, and then the appropriator, is replaced by the mode of appropriation of the product that is based upon the nature of the modern means of production; upon the one hand, direct social appropriation, as means to the maintenance and extension of production - on the other, direct individual appropriation, as means of subsistence and of enjoyment".^[25]

Marxian economics and its proponents view capitalism as economically unsustainable and incapable of improving the living standards of the population due to its need to compensate for falling rates of profit by cutting employee's wages, social benefits and pursuing military aggression. The socialist system would succeed capitalism as humanity's mode of production through workers' revolution. According to Marxian crisis theory, socialism is not an inevitability, but an economic necessity.^[26]

Orthodox Marxism

Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought that emerged after the death of Marx and which became the official philosophy of the socialist movement as represented in the Second International until World War I in 1914. Orthodox Marxism aims to simplify, codify and systematize Marxist method and theory by clarifying the perceived ambiguities and contradictions of classical Marxism. The philosophy of orthodox Marxism includes the understanding that material development (advances in technology in the productive forces) is the primary agent of change in the structure of society and of human social relations, and that social systems and their relations (e.g. feudalism, capitalism and so on) become contradictory and inefficient as the productive forces develop, which results in some form of social revolution arising in response to the mounting contradictions. This revolutionary change is the vehicle for fundamental society-wide changes and ultimately leads to the emergence of new economic systems.^[27]

As a term, orthodox Marxism refers to the methods of historical materialism and of dialectical materialism and not the normative aspects inherent to classical Marxism, without implying dogmatic adherence to the results of Marx's investigations.^[28] One of the most important historical proponents of Orthodox Marxism was the Czech-Austrian theorist Karl Kautsky.^[29]

Neo-Marxism

Neo-Marxism is a Marxist school of thought originating from 20th-century approaches^[30][31][32] to amend or extend^[33] Marxism and Marxist theory, typically by incorporating elements from other intellectual traditions such as critical theory, psychoanalysis, or existentialism. The Frankfurt School is often described as neo-Marxist.^[34][35]

Leninist-based ideologies

Leninism

Leninism is a political theory for the organisation of a revolutionary

Marxism–Leninism is a political ideology developed by

Stalinism is the means of governing and related policies implemented from

• The theoretical work concerning nationalities as seen in Marxism and the National Question.^[57]
• The notion of socialism in one country.^[58]
• Marxism and Problems of Linguistics.^[59]
• The theory of
  aggravation of class struggle under socialism, a theoretical base supporting the repression of political opponents as necessary.^[60]

Maoism is the Marxist–Leninist trend of communism associated with

After Mao's death and his replacement by Deng Xiaoping, the international Maoist movement diverged. One sector accepted the new leadership in China whereas a second renounced the new leadership and reaffirmed their commitment to Mao's legacy and a third renounced Maoism altogether and aligned with Albania.^[94]

Deng Xiaoping Theory

Drawing inspiration from Lenin's New Economic Policy,

As reformist communism and a branch of Maoism, Dengism is often criticized by traditional Maoists. Dengists believe that isolated in our current international order and with an extremely underdeveloped economy it is first and foremost necessary to bridge the gap between China and Western capitalism as quickly as possible in order for socialism to be successful (see the theory of primary stage of socialism). In order to encourage and promote the advancement of productivity by creating competition and innovation, Dengist thought promotes the idea that the PRC needs to introduce certain market elements in a socialist country. Dengists still believe that China needs public ownership of land, banks, raw materials and strategic central industries so a democratically elected government can make decisions on how to use them for the benefit of the country as a whole instead of the land owners, but at the same time private ownership is allowed and encouraged in industries of finished goods and services.^[97][98][99] According to the Dengist theory, private owners in those industries are not a bourgeoisie. Because in accordance with Marxist theory, bourgeois owns land and raw materials. In Dengist theory, private company owners are called civil run enterprises.^[100]

China was the first country that adopted this belief. It boosted its economy and achieved the Chinese economic miracle.^[101] It has increased the Chinese GDP growth rate to over 8% per year for thirty years and China now has the second highest GDP in the world. Due to the influence of Dengism, Vietnam and Laos have also adopted similar beliefs and policies, allowing Laos to increase its real GDP growth rate to 8.3%.^[102] Cuba is also starting to embrace such ideas. Dengists take a very strong position against any form of personality cults which appeared in the Soviet Union during Stalin's rule and the current North Korea.^[103][104]

Marxism–Leninism–Maoism

Marxism–Leninism–Maoism is a political philosophy that builds upon Marxism–Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. It was first formalised by the Peruvian communist party Shining Path in 1988.^[105]

The synthesis of Marxism–Leninism–Maoism did not occur during the life of Mao. From the 1960s, groups that called themselves Maoist, or which upheld Marxism–Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought, were not unified around a common understanding of Maoism and had instead their own particular interpretations of the political, philosophical, economical and military works of Mao. Maoism as a unified, coherent stage of Marxism was not synthesized until the late 1980s through the experience of the people's war waged by the Shining Path. This led the Shining Path to posit Maoism as the newest development of Marxism in 1988.^[105]

Since then, it has grown and developed significantly and has served as an animating force of revolutionary movements in countries such as Brazil,^[106] Colombia, Ecuador, India,^[107] Nepal^[108] and the Philippines and has also led to efforts being undertaken towards the constitution or reconstitution of communist parties in countries such as Austria, France, Germany, Sweden and the United States.^[109][110]

Prachanda Path

Marxism–Leninism–Maoism–Prachanda Path is the ideological line of the

Other Maoist-based tendencies include Maoism–Third Worldism,^[114] New Democracy in the Philippines,^[115] and Naxalism, an ongoing Maoist-based insurgency in India.^[116]

People's Multiparty Democracy (Madanism)

People's Multiparty Democracy (

Xi Jinping Thought,^[123][124] is an ideological doctrine based on the writings, speeches and policies of Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping.^[125][126] According to the CCP, Xi Jinping Thought "builds on and further enriches" previous party ideologies and has also been called as the "Marxism of contemporary China and of the 21st century".^[127] It consists of 14-point fundamental principles, which were announced together with Xi Jinping Thought.^[128][129]

Hoxhaism

Hoxhaism is an anti-revisionist Marxist-Leninist variant that appeared after the

Titoism is described as the post-World War II policies and practices associated with Josip Broz Tito during the Cold War,^[135] characterized by an opposition to the Soviet Union.^[136]

Elements of Titoism are characterized by policies and practices based on the principle that in each country, the means of attaining ultimate communist goals must be dictated by the conditions of that particular country rather than by a pattern set in another country.

It became the only country in the Balkans to resist pressure from Moscow to join the Warsaw Pact and remained "socialist, but independent" right up until the collapse of Soviet socialism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Throughout his time in office, Josip Broz Tito and party leadership took pride in Yugoslavia's independence from the Soviet Bloc,[150] with Yugoslavia never accepting full membership of the Comecon and his open rejection of many aspects of Stalinism as the most obvious manifestations of this.^[151]

Although himself not a communist, Muammar Gaddafi's Third International Theory was heavily influenced by Titoism.^[152]

Ho Chi Minh Thought

Ho Chi Minh Thought (Vietnamese: Tư tưởng Hồ Chí Minh) is a political philosophy that builds upon Marxism–Leninism and the ideology of Ho Chi Minh. It was developed and codified by the Communist Party of Vietnam and formalised in 1991.^[153][154] The term is used to cover political theories and policies considered as representing a form of Marxism–Leninism that has been adapted to Vietnamese circumstances and history.^[155] Whilst the ideology is named after the Vietnamese revolutionary and President, it does not necessarily reflect the personal ideologies of Ho Chi Minh but rather the official ideology of the Communist Party of Vietnam.^{[156][157][158]}

As with Maoism, the core of Ho Chi Minh Thought is the belief that the peasantry is the revolutionary vanguard in pre-industrial societies rather than the proletariat.^[159] Ho Chi Minh Thought is rooted in:^[160]

• Marxism-Leninism^[161]
• Traditional Vietnamese ideology and culture[162]
• Eastern cultural thought: Confucianism and Buddhism^[163][164]
• Western ideologies, specifically French and American political philosophy^[164]
• Ho Chi Minh's personal morality

Castroism

Castroism refers to the politics followed and enacted by the

Guevarism is a theory of communist revolution and a

Sankarism is a description of the policies enacted and positions held by the government of

There is a strong political dissonance between the movements in modern Burkina Faso which ascribe to Sankara's political legacy and ideals, a fact which the Burkinabé opposition politician Bénéwendé Stanislas Sankara (no relation) described in 2001 as being "due to a lack of definition of the concept."^[184] The "Sankarists" range from communists and socialists^[185] to nationalists and populists.^[186] The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) of South Africa, founded in 2013 by Julius Malema, claim to take significant inspiration from Sankara in terms of both style and ideology.^[186]

Khrushchevism

Khrushchevism was a form of Marxism–Leninism which consisted of the theories and policies of Nikita Khrushchev and his administration in the Soviet Union,^{[187][188][189]} through de-Stalinisation,^[190] liberal tolerance of some cultural dissent and deviance, and a more welcoming international relations policy and attitude towards foreigners.^[191]

Kadarism

Kadarism (

Kadarism came from a background of Imre Nagy's "Reform Communism" (1955–1956), where he argues that Marxism is a "science that cannot remain static but must develop and become more perfect".^[195] Official policy employed different methods of administering the collectives in Hungarian society, leaving the pace of mechanization up to each separately.^[196] Additionally, rather than enforcing the system of compulsory crop deliveries and of workdays credit the collectivizers used monthly cash wages.^[196] Later in the 1960s, cooperatives were permitted to enter into related and then general auxiliary businesses such as food processing, light industry and service industry.^[196]

Husakism

Husakism (

Kaysone Phomvihane Thought (Lao: ແນວຄິດ ໄກສອນ ພົມວິຫານ) builds upon Marxism–Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought with the political philosophy developed by Kaysone Phomvihane, the first leader of the Communist Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP). It was formalised by the LPRP at its 10th National Congress in 2016.^[201]

Other Marxist-based ideologies

Libertarian Marxism

Libertarian Marxism is a broad scope of

Left communism, or the communist left, is a position held by the

Although she lived before left communism became a distinct tendency, Luxemburg has been heavily influential for most left communists, both politically and theoretically. Proponents of left communism have included Herman Gorter, Antonie Pannekoek, Otto Rühle, Karl Korsch, Amadeo Bordiga and Paul Mattick.^[204] Later prominent theorists are shared with other tendencies such as Antonio Negri, a founding theorist of the autonomist tendency.^[228] Prominent left communist groups existing today include the International Communist Current and the Internationalist Communist Tendency.^[229] Specific currents that can be labelled part of left communism include Bordigism, Luxemburgism, and Communization.^[230]

Ultra-leftism

The term ultra-leftism in English, when used among Marxist groups, is often a pejorative for certain types of positions on the

The French ultra-gauche, has a stronger meaning in that language and is used to define a movement that still exists today: a branch of left communism developed from theorists such as Bordiga, Rühle, Pannekoek, Gorter, and Mattick, and continuing with more recent writers, such as Jacques Camatte and Gilles Dauvé. This standpoint includes two main traditions, a Dutch-German tradition including Rühle, Pannekoek, Gorter, and Mattick, and an Italian tradition following Bordiga. These traditions came together in the 1960s French ultra-gauche.^[233][234]

Autonomism

Autonomism is a Marxist-based

Western Marxism is a current of

Eurocommunism was a revisionist trend in the 1970s and 1980s within various western European communist parties^[145] which said they had developed a theory and practice of social transformation more relevant for western Europe. During the Cold War, they sought to undermine the influence of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in western Europe. It was especially prominent in France, Italy and Spain.^[252][145]

Since the early 1970s, the term Eurocommunism was used to refer to the ideology of moderate, reformist communist parties in western Europe, where they emphasised the importance of democracy and personal freedoms.^[145] These parties did not support the Soviet Union and denounced its policies. Such parties were politically active and electorally significant in France, Italy and Spain.^[253]

Luxemburgism

Luxemburgism is a specific revolutionary theory within Marxism and communism-based on the writings of Rosa Luxemburg.

Council communism is a movement originating from Germany and the Netherlands in the 1920s.

De Leonism is a form of Marxism developed by the American activist Daniel De Leon.^[274] De Leon was an early leader of the first socialist political party in the United States, the Socialist Labor Party of America.^[275] De Leon combined the rising theories of syndicalism in his time with orthodox Marxism.^{[276][277][278]}

De Leonism lies outside the Leninist tradition of communism. The highly decentralized and democratic nature of the proposed De Leonist government is in contrast to the democratic centralism of Marxism–Leninism and what they see as the dictatorial nature of the Soviet Union.^[279] The success of the De Leonist plan depends on achieving majority support among the people both in the workplaces and at the polls,^[280][281] in contrast to the Leninist notion that a small vanguard party should lead the working class to carry out the revolution. De Leonism believes that the revolution will be brought about through revolutionary industrial action, organised through industrial unionism, and that the political efforts of a workers party should be subservient to the industrial action of the union.^[281] De Leon and other De Leonist writers have issued frequent polemics against democratic socialist movements—especially the Socialist Party of America—and consider them to be reformist or bourgeois socialist. De Leonism spread with the idea of industrial unionism to various countries including Ireland (via James Connolly), the UK, and South Africa.^[282][283]

De Leonists have traditionally refrained from any activity or alliances viewed by them as trying to reform capitalism,^[281] though the Socialist Labor Party in De Leon's time was active during strikes.^{[citation needed]}

Situationism

The Situationist International was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of

Essential to situationist theory was the concept of the spectacle,^[286][288] a unified critique of advanced capitalism of which a primary concern was the progressively increasing tendency towards the expression and mediation of social relations through objects.^[284][289] The situationists believed that the shift from individual expression through directly lived experiences, or the first-hand fulfillment of authentic desires, to individual expression by proxy through the exchange or consumption of commodities, or passive second-hand alienation,^[289] inflicted significant and far-reaching damage to the quality of human life for both individuals and society.^[284] Another important concept of situationist theory was the primary means of counteracting the spectacle; the construction of situations, moments of life deliberately constructed for the purpose of reawakening and pursuing authentic desires, experiencing the feeling of life and adventure, and the liberation of everyday life.^[284][290]

The situationists recognized that capitalism had changed since Marx's formative writings, but maintained that his analysis of the capitalist mode of production remained fundamentally correct; they rearticulated and expanded upon several classical Marxist concepts, such as his theory of alienation.^[284] In their expanded interpretation of Marxist theory, the situationists asserted that the misery of social alienation and commodity fetishism were no longer limited to the fundamental components of capitalist society,^[289][291] but had now in advanced capitalism spread themselves to every aspect of life and culture.^[284] They rejected the idea that advanced capitalism's apparent successes—such as technological advancement, increased productive capacity, and a raised general quality of life when compared to previous systems, such as feudalism—could ever outweigh the social dysfunction and degradation of everyday life that it simultaneously inflicted.^[284]

Impossibilism

Impossibilism is a Marxist theory that stresses the limited value of political, economic, and social reforms under capitalism. As a doctrine, impossibilism views the pursuit of such reforms as counterproductive to the goal of achieving socialism as they stabilize, and therefore strengthen, support for capitalism. Impossibilism holds that reforms to capitalism are irrelevant or outright counter-productive to the goal of achieving socialism and should not be a major focus of socialist politics.^[292]

Impossibilists insist that socialists should primarily or solely focus on structural changes (sometimes termed "revolutionary changes") to society as opposed to advancing social reforms. Impossibilists argue that spontaneous revolutionary action is the only viable method of instituting the structural changes necessary for the construction of socialism; impossibilism is thus held in contrast to reformist socialist parties that aim to rally support for socialism through the implementation of popular social reforms (such as a welfare state).^[293][294] It is also held in contrast to those who believe that socialism can emerge through gradual economic reforms implemented by an elected social democratic political party, as well as being held in contrast to possibilism, where socialists who followed possibilism sounded and acted little different from non-socialist reformers in practice.^[295][293]

Marxist feminism

Marxist feminism is a philosophical variant of feminism that incorporates and extends Marxist theory, focusing on the dismantling of capitalism as a way to liberate women. Marxist feminism analyzes the ways in which women are exploited through capitalism and the individual ownership of private property,

According to Marxist theory, in capitalist societies the individual is shaped by class relations[299]—that is people's capacities, needs and interests are seen to be determined by the mode of production that characterises the society they inhabit.^[300] Marxist feminists see gender inequality as determined ultimately by the capitalist mode of production, with gender oppression and women's subordination seen as class oppression^[301] which is maintained (like racism) because it serves the interests of capital and the ruling class.^[297] Because of its foundation in historical materialism, Marxist feminism is similar to socialist feminism and, to a greater degree, materialist feminism. The latter two place greater emphasis on what they consider the "reductionist limitations"^[302] of Marxist theory but, as Martha E. Gimenez notes in her exploration of the differences between Marxist and materialist feminism, "clear lines of theoretical demarcation between and within these two umbrella terms are somewhat difficult to establish."^[302]

Marxist humanism

Marxist humanism is an international body of thought and political action rooted in an interpretation of Marx's earlier writings. It is an investigation into "what human nature consists of and what sort of society would be most conducive to human thriving"^[303] from a critical perspective rooted in Marxist philosophy. Marxist humanists argue that Marx himself was concerned with investigating similar questions.^[304]

Marxist humanism was born in 1932 with the publication of Marx's Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 and reached a degree of prominence in the 1950s and 1960s. Marxist humanists contend that there is continuity between the early philosophical writings of Marx, in which he develops his theory of alienation, and the structural description of capitalist society found in his later works such as Das Kapital.^[305][306] They hold that it is necessary to grasp Marx's philosophical foundations to understand his later works properly.^[307] Marxist humanism was opposed by Louis Althusser's "antihumanism", who qualified it as a revisionist movement.^[308]

Non-Marxist communism

The most widely held forms of communist theory are derived from Marxism, but non-Marxist versions of communism also exist.^[309]

Primitive communism

Primitive communism is a way of describing the

Some of Marx's contemporaries espoused similar ideas, but differed in their views of how to reach to a classless society. Following the split between those associated with Marx and

Bundism was a secular

Bundism opposed Zionism,^[333] arguing that emigration to Palestine was a form of escapism. Bundism focused on culture, rather than a state or a place, as the glue of Jewish "nationalism."^[334] In this they borrowed extensively from the Austro-Marxist school.^[335] It also promoted the use of Yiddish as a Jewish national language and to some extent opposed the Zionist project of reviving Hebrew.^[336][337] Bundism was as an influential strain that found a place in the socialist and communist movements of other countries as far away as South Africa.^[338]

Religious communism

Religious communism is a form of communism that incorporates religious principles. Scholars have used the term to describe a variety of social or religious movements throughout history that have favored the common ownership of property.^[339][340]

Christian communism

Christian communism is a form of religious communism centered on Christianity. It is a theological and political theory based upon the view that the teachings of Jesus Christ urge Christians to support communism as the ideal social system.^{[341][342][343]} Christian communists trace the origins of their practice to teachings in the New Testament, such as this one from Acts of the Apostles at chapter 2 and verses 42, 44 and 45:^{[344][345][346]}

42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and in fellowship [...] 44. And all that believed were together, and had all things in common; 45. And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. (King James Version)

Christian communism can be seen as a radical form of Christian socialism and because many Christian communists have formed independent stateless communes in the past, there is also a link between Christian communism and Christian anarchism. Christian communists may or may not agree with various parts of Marxism.^[347] Christian communists also share some of the political goals of Marxists, for example replacing capitalism with socialism, which should in turn be followed by communism at a later point in the future. However, Christian communists sometimes disagree with Marxists (and particularly with Leninists) on the way a socialist or communist society should be organized.^[348]

Various communistic Christian communities and movements have included the

Researchers have commented on the communistic nature of the society built by the Qarmatians^[356] around Al-Ahsa from the 9th to 10th centuries.^{[357][358][359]}

Islamic Marxism attempts to apply Marxist economic, political, and social teachings within an Islamic framework. An affinity between Marxist and Islamic ideals of social justice has led some Muslims to embrace their own forms of Marxism since the 1940s. Islamic Marxists believe that Islam meets the needs of society and can accommodate or guide the social changes Marxism hopes to accomplish. Islamic Marxists are also dismissive of traditional Marxist views on materialism and religion.^[360]

Neozapatismo

Neozapatismo is generally held to be based on anarchism,

Subcomandante Marcos has offered some clues as to the origins of neozapatismo. For example, he states:

Zapatismo was not Marxist-Leninist, but it was also Marxist-Leninist. It was not university Marxism, it was not the Marxism of concrete analysis, it was not the history of Mexico, it was not the fundamentalist and millenarian indigenous thought and it was not the indigenous resistance. It was a mixture of all of this, a cocktail which was mixed in the mountain and crystallized in the combat force of the EZLN…^[364]

In 1998, Michael Löwy identified five "threads" of what he referred to as the Zapatismo "carpet":^[365]

1. Guevarism
2. The legacy of Emiliano Zapata
3. Liberation theology
4. The Mayan culture
5. The democratic demands made by Mexican civil society.

Juche

In 1992, Juche replaced Marxism-Leninism in the revised North Korean constitution as the official state ideology. Juche is claimed to be based on Marxism-Leninism, with Kim Jong Il stating, "the world outlook of the materialistic dialectics is the premise for the Juche philosophy."^[366] Though many critics point out the lack of Marxist-Leninist theory within the writings and practice of Juche in North Korea.^[367] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 (North Korea's greatest economic benefactor), all reference to Marxism-Leninism was dropped in the revised 1992 constitution.^[368] The establishment of the Songun doctrine in the mid-1990s then formally designated the military, not the proletariat or working class, as the main revolutionary force in North Korea.^[369]

In the 1965 speech "On Socialist Construction in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the South Korean Revolution" given on 14 April 1965, Kim Il Sung outlined the three fundamental principles of Juche:^[370]

1. Political independence (Korean: 자주; RR: jaju; MR: chaju)
2. Economic self-sufficiency (Korean: 자립; RR: jarip; MR: charip)
3. Military self-reliance (Korean: 자위; RR: jawi; MR: chawi)

According to Kim Jong Il's On the Juche Idea, the application of Juche in state policy entails the following:^[371]

1. The people must have independence (chajusong) in thought and politics, economic
   self-sufficiency
   , and self-reliance in defense.
2. Policy must reflect the will and aspirations of the masses and employ them fully in revolution and construction.
3. Methods of revolution and construction must be suitable to the situation of the country.
4. The most important work of revolution and construction is molding people ideologically as communists and mobilizing them to constructive action.

Nkrumaism

Nkrumaism is a pan-African socialist theory which aims to adapt Marxist–Leninist theory to the social context of the African continent. Nkrumah defined his belief system as "the ideology of a New Africa, independent and absolutely free from imperialism, organized on a continental scale, founded upon the conception of one and united Africa, drawing its strength from modern science and technology and from the traditional African belief that the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all."^[372] Important influences on Nkrumah's work were different sources from within Africa, the canon of Western philosophy, the works of Marx, Lenin, and black intellectuals in North America and Europe, like Marcus Garvey, George Padmore, C. L. R. James, W. E. B. Du Bois and Father Divine.^[373] Aside from the Marxist–Leninist framework, this blending of ideas largely only took bits and pieces of other philosophical systems and even its use of traditional African cultural concepts were often stretched to fit into the larger theory.^[374][375] While a major focus of the ideology was ending colonial relationships on the African continent, many of the ideas were utopian, diverting the scientific nature of the Marxist political analysis which it claims to support.^[374]

Like other African political ideologies at the time, the central focus of Nkrumaism was on decolonization across Africa. Nkrumah rejected the idealized view of pre-colonial African societies that were classless or non-hierarchical, but accepted that Africa had a spirit of communalism and humanism. Nkrumaism then argued that a return to these values through socialist political structures would both heal the disruption caused by colonial structures and allow further development of African societies.^[376] The pan-African aspects of Nkrumah's ideology were justified by a claim that all African societies had a community of economic life and that in contradiction to the neocolonial structures that replaced formal colonies, only African unity would create real autonomy.^[377][378] While Nkrumah believed in the materialism and economic determinism of Marxism, he argued that focusing on the economic system was only appropriate after achieving independence throughout Africa and that the political struggle was the first order in colonial and neocolonial contexts.^[379]

New Left

The New Left was a broad political movement mainly in the 1960s and 1970s consisting of activists in the

According to the political theorist Alan Johnson, there has been a revival of serious interest in communism in the 21st century led by Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou.^[386] Other leading theorists are Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri, Gianni Vattimo, Alessandro Russo, Judith Balso, Jodi Dean, Michael Lebowitz, and Paul Cockshott, as well as Alberto Toscano, translator of Alain Badiou, Terry Eagleton, Eduard Limonov, Bruno Bosteels and Peter Hallward.^[387] In 2009, many of these advocates contributed to the three-day conference "The Idea of Communism" in London that drew a substantial paying audience.

Theoretical publications, some published by Verso Books, include The Idea of Communism, edited by Costas Douzinas and Žižek;^[388] Badiou's The Communist Hypothesis; and Bosteels's The Actuality of Communism.^[387] The defining common ground is the contention that "the crises of contemporary liberal capitalist societies—ecological degradation, financial turmoil, the loss of trust in the political class, exploding inequality—are systemic, interlinked, not amenable to legislative reform, and require "revolutionary" solutions".^[386][388]

Other non-communist thinkers and theorists have also had an effect on communist theory and the new generation of communists in the 21st century, such as the economist Guy Standing and the anthropologist and anarchist David Graeber.^[387]

See also

Notes