The Year 2012
On January 5, the Department of Research on the Sinicization of Marxism within the Institute of Marxism Studies (CASS) held an academic seminar in Beijing titled the "Second Academic Forum on the Sinicization of Marxism: The 'Southern Talks' and New Developments in Socialism with Chinese Characteristics." This event served as the prelude to activities commemorating the 20th anniversary of Comrade Deng Xiaoping’s "Southern Talks" [1]. Ru Xin, former Vice President of CASS, attended and delivered a speech. Hou Huiqin, Party Committee Secretary of the Institute of Marxism Studies, gave the opening address. Jin Minqing, head of the Department of Research on the Sinicization of Marxism, delivered the keynote speech, and Zhao Zhique, former director of the department, presided over the seminar. Attendees and speakers included Fan Jianxin, Vice President of the Institute of Marxism Studies; Li Chongfu, Member of the CASS Academic Division; Xu Chongwen, Honorary Member of the Academic Division; Long Pingping, Director of the Third Editorial Research Office of the Central Literature Research Management Office [2]; Guo Jianning, Dean of the School of Marxism at Peking University; and Qin Xuan, Dean of the School of Marxism at Renmin University of China. More than 60 experts and scholars from units including CASS, the Central Literature Research Management Office, Peking University, and Renmin University of China participated in the meeting.
On January 31, Wang Weiguang, Deputy Secretary of the CASS Party Group and Executive Vice President, issued important instructions regarding the Academy’s work on the Marxism Theory Research and Construction Project (Marxist Project [3]): the Academy’s Marxist Project work must be grasped firmly as a "long-term project, a far-reaching project, a foundational project, and a strategic project."
On the morning of February 14, Li Shenming, Vice President of CASS, visited the Institute of Marxism Studies to announce an appointment: following a deliberative decision by the Academy’s Party Group meeting, Yin Yungong was appointed Director of the CASS Research Center for the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.
On March 7, the Women’s Working Committee of the Institute of Marxism Studies was awarded the title of "Outstanding Women's Organization of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences" by the CASS Women's Working Committee.
On March 30, CASS convened a mobilization and deployment meeting for the 2013 pilot units of the Philosophy and Social Sciences Innovation Project. In accordance with the deployment of the Academy's Party Group and the spirit of this meeting, the Institute of Marxism Studies, acting as a 2013 Innovation Project pilot unit, began organizing the drafting of a proposal in April. Following thorough discussion, the first draft of the Institute’s Innovation Project proposal was submitted to the CASS General Coordination Office for the Innovation Project on May 3. Based on the revisions returned by the Coordination Office, a revised draft was submitted on June 27.
On the afternoon of July 4, the Institute of Marxism Studies held a general assembly of all staff. Gao Quanli, Vice President of CASS, announced the Party Group’s decision on appointments and removals: Comrade Deng Chundong was appointed Party Committee Secretary and Vice President of the Institute of Marxism Studies; Comrade Hou Huiqin, for reasons of age, would no longer serve in those positions. The meeting was presided over by Cheng Enfu, and Zhang Guanzi, Director of the Bureau of Personnel and Education, attended the meeting.
On September 12, the Institute of Marxism Studies held its 71st "Academic Lecture on Chinese and Foreign Marxism." Gao Xiang, Deputy Secretary-General of CASS and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Social Sciences in China, delivered an academic report titled "Marxism and Contemporary Trends of Thought." Cheng Enfu presided over the meeting, which was attended by all personnel of the Institute. Gao Xiang evaluated several major contemporary domestic social trends of thought, such as neoliberalism, historical nihilism [4], cultural conservatism (the so-called "National Studies fever" [5]), democratic socialism, postmodernism, and nationalism. He pointed out several negative tendencies in current academic research, such as a lack of theoretical originality (lagging behind the Party’s theoretical innovation and the development of social practice; he argued that the focus should be on opposing "Western dogmatism"), fragmentation in academic research (manifested as substituting the whole with the specific, the process with the temporary, and the essence with quantification), impetuousness in academic style, and the decoupling of theory from practice. Addressing these issues, Gao Xiang further identified directions for effort in academic research: namely, strengthening the construction of foundational disciplines, enhancing interdisciplinary exchange, intensifying academic dialogue between China and the West, and integrating theory with practice. Following the report, Gao Xiang answered questions from the attendees.
From September 22 to 23, the "First National Forum on Marxist Economics, the Sixth National Seminar on Mathematical Analysis of Modern Political Economy, and the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Founding of the Journal Haipai Economics" was held in Shanghai. The forum was co-hosted by the CASS Division of Marxist Studies, the Institute of Marxism Studies, and the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. Li Jie, Vice President of CASS; Liu Guoguang, Special Consultant to CASS; Cheng Enfu, President of the CASS Institute of Marxism Studies; Li Qi, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Propaganda Department; Wang Hongwei, Vice President of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics; and economists Wu Xuangong, Hu Jun, and Yan Pengfei attended and delivered speeches. More than 100 experts and scholars from dozens of universities and research institutions across the country conducted discussions focused on themes such as the "academic discourse system of economics with Chinese characteristics," "mathematical analysis of political economy," "contemporary socialist economic theory," and "contemporary capitalist economic theory."