Editing Maoism (section)

=== People's war ===
{{see also|People's war}}

Holding that "[[political power grows out of the barrel of a gun]]",<ref>{{Cite web |title=Quotations From Chairman Mao |url=http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch05.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126042155/https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch05.htm |archive-date=26 January 2021 |access-date=1 April 2018 |publisher=Peking Foreign Languages Press}}</ref> Maoism emphasises the "revolutionary struggle of the vast majority of people against the exploiting classes and their state structures", which Mao termed a "[[people's war]]". Mobilizing large parts of rural populations to revolt against established institutions by engaging in [[guerrilla warfare]], Maoist Thought focuses on "surrounding the cities from the countryside".

Maoism views the industrial-rural divide as a major division exploited by capitalism, identifying capitalism as involving industrial urban developed [[First World]] societies ruling over rural developing [[Third World]] societies.<ref>Alexander C. Cook, "Third World Maoism" in A Critical Introduction to Mao. Cambridge, England, UK; New York, New York, USA: Cambridge University, 2011. p. 290.</ref> Maoism identifies peasant insurgencies in particular national contexts as part of a context of world revolution, in which Maoism views the global countryside as overwhelming the global cities.<ref name="Mao. Cambridge 2011. P. 289-290">Alexander C. Cook, "Third World Maoism" in A Critical Introduction to Mao. Cambridge, England, UK; New York, New York, USA, Cambridge University Press, 2011, pp. 289–290.</ref> Due to this [[imperialism]] by the capitalist urban First World toward the rural Third World, Maoism has endorsed [[National liberation (Marxism)|national liberation]] movements in the Third World.<ref name="Mao. Cambridge 2011. P. 289-290" />