About the Xi Jinping Thought Study Group

The aim of the Xi Jinping Thought Study Group of the Institute for Independence Studies is to study and propagate Xi Jinping Thought, that is, Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era, with a view to learning the lessons Xi Jinping Thought which are of universal significance for the understanding of the new era in general and whose study and propagation can consequently contribute powerfully to the vitality of the intellectual, academic and cultural life of this country.

In 2020, the Institute for Independence Studies decided to establish a Xi Jinping Thought Study Group. Its initial project was to compile the materials which are contained in Pathways to Xi Jinping Thought, which was published in 2023. These are reminiscences of veterans of friendship and solidarity with China, and their compilation involved literally hundreds of hours of meetings, interviews and discussions, in person as well as (especially during the Covid lockdown) online and by phone. These activities often resulted in recordings and many pages of transcripts taken for further discussion.

In his forward to this publication, the Institute’s Patron Keith Bennett indicated the aims of the Study Group in the following words:

The socialist countries today constitute the collective leadership of the international working class and progressive movements, and Xi Jinping Thought is, in terms of scale and impact on global affairs, currently the most influential ideology emanating from within those countries. It is consequently a matter of clear and evident significance for socialists in this country, no less than anywhere else in the world, that we explore ways in which progressive people can be drawn into closer study and understanding of this immense ideological resource.

The compilation of these reminiscences gave a powerful impetus to the work of the Study Group, since these long-term friends of China, despite having travelled though the most diverse political and ideological territory over the years and decades, nevertheless each in their own way demonstrated the universal applicability of Xi Jinping Thought in confronting the task of unifying and ideologically arming socialists and other progressive people.

The Study Group now aims to carry forward its work into laying the basis for the organisation of other forms of activity, as detailed in its founding document.