http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/communism Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Mon, 27 Apr 2026 22:57:48 -0400 Mon, 27 Apr 2026 22:57:48 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1888/sisters-in-solidarity-the-fight-for-feminism-in-modern-day-china By Ashley Tan - Feminism has grown to be a complex, multifaceted topic of conversation in China. It has witnessed a series of peaks and troughs that have both advanced and regressed the women’s movement since Mao’s era. This paper aims to evaluate the extent to which feminism in modern day China has been curtailed by the state, and the reasons underpinning this phenomenon. It concludes that the state’s adoption of certain state laws, initiatives and fostering of a culture that normalises working women rather than portraying them as misfits or anomalies have created a more equalised environment... Fri, 12 Mar 2021 09:12 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1888/sisters-in-solidarity-the-fight-for-feminism-in-modern-day-china http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1542/reinterpreting-the-treatment-of-the-rural-population-by-perus-shining-path By Auston Stiefer - The Peruvian Communist Party (PCP) was founded as the Peruvian Socialist Party in 1928 by José Carlos Mariátegui after his analysis of the “semifeudal” Peruvian economic state, which did not strictly follow Marx’s socialist model.1 Just over 30 years later, the PCP began to radically transform under the teaching of Maoist thought by Abimael Guzmán, a philosophy professor at the National University of Haumanga and future leader of the party.2 Over the next two decades, the PCP renamed the Sendero Lumnioso (“Shining Path”) drew upon Mariá... Wed, 22 Feb 2017 11:33 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1542/reinterpreting-the-treatment-of-the-rural-population-by-perus-shining-path http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/782/on-freedom-and-progress-comparing-marx-and-mill By Frank Wang - This essay compares Karl Marx’s and J.S. Mill’s understandings of freedom and their analyses of the impediments to its realization. First, this essay argues that the two philosophers share the same premise that progress is possible and that mankind has the capacity to drive it. Second, this essay argues that while their conceptions of freedom differ, both see freedom as an end in itself. Then, the essay argues that while their views on what is necessary for progress differ, they share an understanding of human nature’s basic tendancy for self-cultivation. What distinguishes them... Mon, 04 Nov 2013 08:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/782/on-freedom-and-progress-comparing-marx-and-mill http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/731/the-soviet-nationality-policy-in-central-asia By Salvatore J. Freni - The Soviet nationality policy for Central Asia in the early twentieth century was an acceleration of the processes of modernization that the Russian Empire had already begun. However, building socialism in a region where no working class existed and intellectuals based their knowledge primarily on religious texts presented inherent challenges. The primary means of identification for an individual lay within a particular tribe, valley, or oasis rather than in the Western concepts of ‘nationality’ or ‘ethnicity.’ Expanding over an enormous territory and inhabited by a multitude... Tue, 26 Mar 2013 08:24 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/731/the-soviet-nationality-policy-in-central-asia http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/722/causes-of-violent-conflict-in-the-caucasus-since-the-collapse-of-communism By Salvatore J. Freni - Nonetheless, the Abkhaz retained the highest proportion of positions in their local government over all other ethnicities in Abkhazia. Like Abkhazia, Adyghea was named after its local Adyghe or Circassian ethnic group, but does not make up a majority there and their ethnic-brethren are also found in Karachai-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria (Rezvani 2008). Neither Adyghea nor the other territories where Circassians are present erupted in conflict, despite significant mobilization based on Circassian identity. The lack of demands for separatism among the Circassians could have to do with the dispersed... Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:10 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/722/causes-of-violent-conflict-in-the-caucasus-since-the-collapse-of-communism http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/600/comparing-the-tsarist-russian-and-soviet-empires By Magdalena Noga - Compared to other empires throughout history, the USSR was an exception. The rulers of the Soviet Union viewed empire and imperialism in ideological terms as ‘the highest and final stage of capitalism’.[1] By this Leninist definition, the Soviet Union did not identify itself as an empire, and instead, its leaders vehemently denounced imperialism that was carried out by its enemies and competitors: the capitalist states. Despite its own anguish over being identified as an empire, the Soviet Union indeed was one. While the meaning of ‘empire’ has shifted over time, for the... Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:14 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/600/comparing-the-tsarist-russian-and-soviet-empires http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/262/lenins-new-economic-policy-coverage-of-the-policy-by-the-new-york-times By Melissa Aaronberg - When Lenin ushered in the New Economic Policy in August 1921, many Bolsheviks and their sympathizers lost faith in the Soviet government. Throughout August to September 1921, The New York Times’ Walter Duranty vacillated between recognizing the Soviet regime as a legitimate authority, and foreseeing its imminent collapse. While Russia was in the midst of a devastating famine, Duranty was at times critical of the Soviet leadership’s actions leading up to and after the New Economic Policy’s arrival. Although not a communist in 1921, Duranty’s reports on the New Economic Policy... Mon, 28 Jun 2010 07:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/262/lenins-new-economic-policy-coverage-of-the-policy-by-the-new-york-times http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1670/lenins-new-economic-policy-what-it-was-and-how-it-changed-the-soviet-union By Helene M. Glaza - After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917,  Vladimir Lenin and his party found themselves contemplating what would be appropriate for Russia’s economy which, at this time, was suffering from social challenges. Before the Revolution, there were basically only three classes of people: Peasants, Nobles, and Romanovs. Although certain reforms had been made, the peasants were still treated poorly and taken advantage of by the nobles. At the same time, World War One was taking place which not only negatively effected Russia’s economy but also had a great effect on Russian society as well... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:47 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1670/lenins-new-economic-policy-what-it-was-and-how-it-changed-the-soviet-union http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1684/stalin-and-the-drive-to-industrialize-the-soviet-union By Joshua R. Keefe - According to Marxist theory, only through a modern industrialized economy could a true proletariat class be developed as Marx makes no mention of a peasant class. Marxist theory aside, the need to industrialize was also a pragmatic matter of self-defense. Stalin, either as a result of paranoia or a simple distrust of the capitalist West, assumed his country would have to fight for its survival. He presented the need to industrialize as a life or death struggle. “Do you want our socialist fatherland to be beaten and to lose its independence?” he asked in a famous February, 1931 speech... Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:31 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1684/stalin-and-the-drive-to-industrialize-the-soviet-union