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The Sorry State of Political Theory Instruction

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Halfway through my lecture on the history of US-China foreign relations yesterday, I come to the topic of the Sino-Soviet split. I reel off a few causes (geopolitical tensions, pushy Chinese, condescending Russians, border disputes, Khruschev’s dismissal of Stalin), then briefly mention the fundamental ideological dispute between the Soviet Union and China. Thinking that this might be a good opportunity for some student participation, I suggest that the Maoist variant of Marxist theory, as reflected in policy by the Great Leap Forward, maintains that political will precedes material conditions. I then ask this question:

How does Maoist theory differ from the standard Marxist understanding of the relationship between material and ideas?

This is a softball question. I’ve already explained the basic tenets of Maoism. My students are almost all junior and senior political science undergraduates. The response?

Silence.

I am appalled. I call on two of the smartest students in the class. Neither can give the correct answer.

Who is at fault here? Me? I think not. The students? Yes, of course, but they should not shoulder all of the responsibility. Rather, I blame unnamed political theory instructors at the University of Washington who should have spent more time explaining the German Ideology to their students.

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