Bourgeois liberalization () is a term used by the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

to refer to either the prevalent political orientation of Western representative democracy or mainstream

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

. The late 1980s saw the first major usage of the term when a number of campaigns, such as Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign, against bourgeois liberalism were initiated lasting until the early 1990s. The term is in active use in Chinese politics, with the Communist Party's Constitution stating party objectives include "combat ngbourgeois liberalization" in line with the

four cardinal principles The Four Cardinal Principles () were stated by Deng Xiaoping in March 1979, during the early phase of Reform and Opening-up, and are the four issues for which debate was not allowed within the People's Republic of China. The Four Cardinal Princi ...

. According to the Chinese Communist Party, the concept of bourgeois liberalization was first proposed by

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...

, the

paramount leader Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often hol ...

of China, in early 1980s. Deng Xiaoping claimed that liberalization would destroy political stability, making it difficult for development to take place. He defined the idea of liberalization as "inherently capitalist", dismissing the existence of liberalization of proletariat or socialism, and claim the idea of liberalization is to try to turn them toward capitalism, thus need to be opposed on the ground of realpolitik. Due to the 1986 Chinese student demonstrations,

Hu Yaobang Hu Yaobang (; 20 November 1915 – 15 April 1989) was a high-ranking official of the People's Republic of China. He held the top office of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1981 to 1987, first as Chairman from 1981 to 1982, then as Gen ...

, then

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount lead ...

and a leading reformist, was forced to resign from his post by Deng Xiaoping in early 1987. Left-wing conservatives such as Deng Liqun and

Hu Qiaomu Hu Qiaomu (4 June 191228 September 1992) was a Chinese sociologist, Marxist philosopher and politician. Hu Qiaomu is a controversial figure for opposing the reform and opening up era of economic reform that followed the death of Mao Zedong ...

, under the support of

Chen Yun Chen Yun (, pronounced ; 13 June 1905 – 10 April 1995) was one of the most influential leaders of the People's Republic of China during the 1980s and 1990s and one of the major architects and important policy makers for the Reform and ...

and

Li Xiannian Li Xiannian (pronounced ; 23 June 1909 – 21 June 1992) was a Chinese Communist military and political leader, President of the People's Republic of China (''de jure'' head of state) from 1983 to 1988 under Paramount Leader Deng Xiaoping and t ...

(and even Deng himself), continued to launch the "Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization Campaign" in 1987. However,

Zhao Ziyang Zhao Ziyang ( zh, 赵紫阳; pronounced , 17 October 1919 – 17 January 2005) was a Chinese politician. He was the third premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 19 ...

, then Premier of China, successor to Hu as General Secretary and a leading reformist as well, eventually convinced Deng that the left-wing conservatives took advantage of the campaign to oppose the

Reform and Opening-up The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of Ch ...

program. In the end, Deng agreed to terminate the campaign in mid-1987 and supported the on-going political forms. In 2018, the Communist Party under general secretary

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...

revised regulations on Party disciplinary action, expelling members from the Party if they openly adhere to bourgeois liberalization online.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourgeois Liberalism Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party Chinese words and phrases Bourgeoisie Liu Shaoqi

See also

References