“Maoism is all about winning the revolution”: An interview with Fred Engst on the past and present of China and beyond
A “red diaper baby,” a Red Guard, a worker, an academic, and an activist… Fred Engst (Chinese name: 阳和平 Yang Heping) has an extraordinary life story. Born in Beijing in 1952 to American parents who had joined the Chinese Revolution, he grew up on a state-owned farm in Xi’an and participated in the Cultural Revolution as a Red Guard. He later spent five years working at the Guanghua Timber Factory. After moving to the United States in the mid-1970s, Engst continued working as a laborer while pursuing his education, eventually earning a Ph.D. in economics from Rutgers University. He returned permanently to China in 2007 and currently teaches econometrics at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. In this interview conducted by Onurcan Ülker, Engst draws on his remarkable personal and political experiences to discuss capitalist restoration, imperialism, the Cultural Revolution, and the continuing relevance of Maoism.
