Cultural Examination and Construction of Ideological Security
News Report:
Recently, the seventh session of the "21st Century Marxism Grand Lecture Hall" was held in Beijing. Han震 (Han Zhen), Director of the Academic Committee and Professor of the School of Philosophy at Beijing Normal University, was invited to deliver a keynote lecture titled "Cultural Scrutiny and Construction of Ideological Security."
Han first expounded on the importance of ideological work, subsequently providing a deep interpretation of the issues surrounding the scrutiny and construction of ideological security from a cultural perspective. On November 18, 2021, a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee emphasized that political security must be placed in the primary position, and that the security of national political power, system security, and ideological security must be firmly maintained. Han argued that these three "securities" are actually interdependent: political power is maintained through systems and ideology, which determines the extreme importance of ideological work.
From the perspective of the international public opinion landscape, the current pattern of "the West is strong and we are weak" has not yet truly changed. China's image in the world is still largely "sculpted by others" rather than "self-sculpted," and it sometimes finds itself in a situation where "one has the truth but cannot speak it, or speaks it but it does not spread." Domestically, many people still harbor latent psychological states such as "cultural inferiority" and "fawning over the foreign" [1]. They lack cultural consciousness, autonomy, and self-improvement, while historical nihilism exists within the ideological field [2].
Han analyzed the reasons for the shaking of cultural self-confidence from historical, social, cultural, and external perspectives. Historically, the relative decline of modern China created a gap with the then-rising Western civilization, leading to the severe influence of "Eurocentrism." Furthermore, after the drastic changes in Eastern Europe [3], socialism went into a low ebb, and political ideology fell into a passive state. Socially, after Reform and Opening-up, learning Western advanced technology and management experience created a certain psychological mindset and an inferiority complex; as China’s social structure underwent significant changes, it presented a pattern of social differentiation, diversified interests, and diverse ideas. Culturally, the demand for innovation in the knowledge economy has strengthened critical thinking, while many social problems and moral anomie have caused ideological confusion among the people. Externally, Western countries have conducted a "encirclement and suppression" of socialist ideology and disparaged non-Western cultures, making China the "Other" that causes fear in the West. Developed Western countries have extensive experience in manipulating values and hold dominance over discourse and the power to set agendas. Additionally, there is the influence of religious revival and religious radicalism.
Han stated that the Party Central Committee attaches great importance to ideological work, always upholding the guiding position of Marxism and vigorously promoting the construction of the "Three Great Systems" [4] of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics, providing a fundamental guarantee for ideological work. Our Party's understanding and mastery of the laws of governance by a Communist party, the laws of socialist construction, and the laws of the development of human society have continuously deepened. This has opened up new frontiers for the theoretical and practical development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The world-renowned achievements of socialism with Chinese characteristics have continuously strengthened confidence in our path, theory, system, and culture, providing powerful support for ideological work. The profound and extensive fine traditional Chinese culture formed over millennia, along with the revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture forged by the Party leading the people through the processes of revolution, construction, and reform, provide a deep well of strength for ideological work. A series of regular understandings and successful experiences formed over a long period provide an important foundation for ideological work to uphold the fundamentals and break new ground. All of these constitute favorable conditions for doing ideological work well.
The event was chaired by Lin Jianhua, Vice President of the Institute of Marxism Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). It was hosted by the Division of Marxist Studies of CASS and organized by the Institute of Marxism Studies.
(Author: Zhang Yaning)