Li Xiaotong: The People-Centered Dimension of Chinese Modernization and Its Civilizational Significance

The issue of subjectivity occupies a crucially important position in the theory and practice of modernization, as it directly relates to humanity’s cognition of its own existence and its pursuit of the ultimate goals of modernization. In the process of Western modernization, the rule of capital gradually replaced human subjectivity, obscuring the fundamental needs and value pursuits of people seeking free and well-rounded development. Due to the "reified nature" ^[1] of the logic of capital and its rejection of the people’s subjectivity, individuals fell into crises of existence, social interaction, and common development triggered by alienated relations. Consequently, the ultimate appeal for the free and well-rounded development of the human being was extinguished within a social system dominated by capital. The dilemma of subjectivity in Western modernization provides a more rational, transcendent basis and a sense of modern civilizational significance for our pursuit of establishing the values and practical construction of the people’s subjectivity within Chinese-path modernization. To transcend this dilemma of subjectivity, we must re-examine the problem of subjectivity and the orientation of the subject of value in modernization. In the practice of modernization, human development must be placed at the core, overcoming the predicament of the alienation of subjectivity found in Western modernization to achieve true civilizational progress. The people’s subjectivity in Chinese-path modernization is the unity of the human being as the subject of practice, the subject of evaluation, and the subject of interests. It is precisely because it possesses the people’s subjectivity that Chinese-path modernization has formed a fundamental distinction from Western modernization. Systematically exploring Chinese-path modernization from the perspective of the people’s subjectivity helps us understand the new form of human civilization created by Chinese-path modernization, and possesses important theoretical value and enlightenment for resolving the series of crises triggered by the dilemma of subjectivity in Western modernization.

I. The Connotation of the People’s Subjectivity in Chinese-path Modernization

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Only by adhering to a people-centered philosophy of development and insisting that development is for the people, relies on the people, and its fruits are shared by the people, can there be a correct view of development and modernization." Chinese-path modernization, led by the Communist Party of China, "adheres to the people-centered approach and respects the people’s principal position and pioneering spirit," requiring that everything be for the people and rely on the people, and that the fruits of development be shared by the people. As the practical subjects of social history, the people are the creative force driving modernization and transformation—this reflects "relying on the people" in all things. As the evaluating subjects of value relations, the people are the "graders" of social value—this reflects "everything for the people." As the interest subjects of the fruits of development, the people are the beneficiaries of modernization—this reflects "the fruits of development being shared by the people."

1. The people are the practical subjects of social history

The people are the creative force of Chinese-path modernization; they are the practical subjects creating material, political, spiritual, social, and ecological civilizations, and the decisive force driving the modernization of society. Chinese-path modernization insists that development relies on the people, taking the people, who possess subjective agency, as the principal force and driving power of modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: "Development only has meaning if it is for the people; development only has momentum if it relies on the people." Chinese-path modernization is a process of construction through the subjective practice of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Party; the people are the practical subjects of building Chinese-path modernization. The Report to the 20th CPC National Congress pointed out: "To build a modern socialist country in all respects, we must give full play to the creative power of the hundreds of millions of people." Respecting the people’s principal position and giving full play to the subjective agency of the masses in historical development is the fundamental guarantee for the CPC to carry out the Great Struggle ^[2] and achieve great victories. Relying on the principal strength of the people to promote socialist modernization is a theoretical requirement for a Marxist party in advancing social development, as well as a profound summation of the Party’s historical experience over a century of struggle.

Chinese-path modernization combines individual value creation with the collective value creation of the masses, relying on the aggregation of the people’s interests to amass developmental advantages. Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a huge population. To advance toward socialist modernization as a whole under the national condition of over 1.4 billion people involves unprecedented hardship and complexity. It is necessary to explore modernization paths with national characteristics based on the institutional advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics, giving full play to the subjective agency of the masses to pool the practical synergy for modernization. The people are the practical subjects of social history; the individual value creation of the masses is unified with the holistic value creation of the social community. In the social community of Chinese-path modernization, only by integrating individual value creation into the overall construction of socialist modernization can we pool the practical synergy for development, manifest the socialist institutional advantage of "concentrating resources to accomplish major undertakings," and realize the fundamental unity and high-level integration of individual and common values.

Chinese-path modernization relies on the strength of the people to drive social transformation. Chinese-path modernization is the common cause of all the people. In the practice of modernization, it is necessary to rely on the people to promote the construction of a modern economic system and create the social material forces for achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It is necessary to give full play to whole-process people’s democracy to ensure the scientific and democratic nature of the Party’s major policies; to give play to the people’s pioneering spirit to promote the development of advanced socialist culture, providing cultural support for modernization; to rely on the masses to move forward the building of a socialist harmonious society, constructing a social order defined by fairness, justice, honesty, brotherly love, vitality, stability, and order; and to promote the harmony between humanity and nature, giving play to the masses’ role as historical subjects in building a Beautiful China. The realistic advancement and temporal expansion of Chinese-path modernization require relying on the creative practice of the people to drive history forward. This is a process of social transformation that discards the old to establish the new and brings forth the fresh from the stale, embodying the pioneering spirit and active role of the people as practical subjects in the practice of Chinese-path modernization.

2. The people are the evaluating subjects of value relations

The question of value involves not only the relationship of needs between subject and object, but also the evaluation of that value relationship. Value evaluation is a concrete historical process. Since different subjects have differences in class attributes and interest requirements, their value evaluations of the same object will yield diverse differences or contradictions. However, this does not mean that value evaluation lacks any scientific criteria. The fundamental interests of the masses represent the holistic interests of social development and human liberation; they represent the developmental trends of the socio-historical process. Only by conforming to the fundamental interests of the masses and establishing the people as the subjects of value evaluation can we promote the scientific and just development of things according to the scales of both truth and morality. "The times are the paper-setter, we are the examinees, and the people are the graders." ^[3] The definition of the people as the practical subjects of social history determines that they, based on certain measurement standards (their own interests or needs), evaluate and measure the object of value, thereby determining the quality of the results, the magnitude of the value, and the general trend of value activities. That development is for the people and that the people possess the subjectivity to evaluate value are important defining characteristics of Chinese-path modernization. "Taking whether the people support, approve, are happy with, or agree to something as the fundamental criterion for measuring the merits of all work ensures our Party always possesses an inexhaustible source of strength."

From the perspective of historical materialism, the masses are the subjective force driving historical development, which determines their role as the supreme scale for evaluating and measuring value relations. The masses are the principal subjects creating advanced productive forces and advanced culture, and their fundamental interests and needs possess scientific, advanced, and just characteristics. The needs of people in modern society for a better life are comprehensive, rich, multi-layered, and in a state of dynamic development. Simultaneously, the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development reflected in the principal contradiction in Chinese society ^[4] restricts the realization of the essential needs of human modernization. Only by firmly maintaining the people’s standpoint, remaining true to our original aspiration and founding mission, and making the people the subjects of their own developmental needs and value evaluations during modernization, can we ensure the socialist attribute of the criteria for value evaluation. This allows us to provide a scientific value scale and orientation for the well-rounded development of the person and the realization of a better life while historically resolving the principal contradiction of society.

The status of the people as the subject of value evaluation is formed based on the fundamental interests and needs of the masses. Chinese-path modernization insists that development is for the people. The nature, purpose, and original aspiration and founding mission of the Party determine that Chinese-path modernization is a process of social progress centered on the modernization of the person. In the New Era, the essential need for the modernization of the person is prominently manifested in the people’s pursuit of a better life. The Report to the 20th CPC National Congress requires that we "insist on regarding the realization of the people’s yearning for a better life as the starting point and ultimate goal of modernization." To advance Chinese-path modernization, we must establish basic standards and scales for evaluating all things based on the interests, needs, and ideal pursuits of the people as the subject, "with the fundamental goal of meeting the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life." To advance Chinese-path modernization, we must always stand on the side of the masses, regarding their fundamental interests and needs as the highest value scale, achieving the unity of the people's value creation and value evaluation.

3. The people are the interest subjects of the fruits of development

Chinese-path modernization relies on the masses to create the fruits of material and spiritual civilization, and it also enhances the universal benefit of modernization results based on the collectivist principle of fairness and justice, ensuring that modernization continues to meet the needs for the free and well-rounded development of the person. Chinese-path modernization insists that the fruits of development are shared by the people, and is committed to achieving common prosperity and the free and well-rounded development of the person. The people are the principal force in building Chinese-path modernization and the sharers of its results; this embodies the unity of the people as subjects of both joint construction and shared benefits. "The Chinese people living in our great motherland and great era share the opportunity for a brilliant life, share the opportunity to see their dreams come true, and share the opportunity to grow and progress together with the motherland and the times." The pursuit of sharing seeks the maximum degree of social fairness and justice, manifesting a distinct people's standpoint. Marxism is the science of human liberation. In the process of advancing Chinese-path modernization, the status of the people as the value subjects of development is reflected not only in the sharing of material wealth but also in the universal realization of social public rights and the improvement of the level of free and well-rounded human development. The ultimate goal of development is to promote the free and well-rounded development of the person, taking the fulfillment of the people’s growing needs for a better life as a major goal of social development—this is precisely a profound manifestation of Marx’s philosophical thought on "human liberation." Compared with Western modernization, Chinese-path modernization pays more attention to the comprehensive developmental needs of the people, taking the fulfillment of the people’s needs for an improved life—which are broad in scope and high in requirement—as the goal of social struggle. This allows for better satisfaction of the people’s requirements in economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological civilization, providing broader space for the free and well-rounded development of the person. At the same time, it unswervingly pursues common prosperity, narrowing the income gap within a reasonable range and degree to ensure the equal economic status of laborers. Chinese-path modernization requires that material civilization and spiritual civilization be coordinated; it must both raise the people’s material standards of living and constantly enrich the people’s spiritual world during the modernization process, promoting the holistic and coordinated development of Chinese-path modernization.

In short, the people are not only active contributors to social production and construction but should also become the main beneficiaries of shared developmental results. Achieving the sharing of developmental results by all the people is a key step in the transition from "dependence on things" to the "well-rounded development of the person." ^[5] Marx’s social ideal of the "association of free individuals" also needs to be realized through this path of shared results and common progress.

II. Characteristics of the People’s Subjectivity in Chinese-path Modernization

Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of the person; that is, it adheres to a human-centered logic centered on the modernization of the person as its essence. It transcends the "one-dimensional" modernization model of "things" dominated by the logic of capital. Based on the fundamental characteristics of Chinese-path modernization, it promotes a people-centered practice of modernization and points toward a value orientation aimed at the free and well-rounded development of the person. Therefore, Chinese-path modernization fully demonstrates the characteristics of the people's subjectivity.

1. The human-centered logic with the modernization of the person as its essence

Social modernization in its true sense is closely linked to the developmental process of the human subject and the depth of its value realization. The logic of capital inherent in capitalist modernization allows the logic of the growth of "things" to obscure the essential needs of human modernization; the contradiction between the appreciation of capital and the devaluation of humans hides the possibility of the simultaneous advancement of human liberation and social modernization. "The modernization of the person is an indispensable factor in the modernization of a country. It is not a byproduct after the conclusion of the modernization process, but a prerequisite for the long-term development and success of modernization institutions and the economy." ^[6] Marxism holds that capitalist relations of production and exchange place human social existence beneath the value hierarchy of isolated, closed individuals. It constructs relations between people as a class opposition of exploitation and oppression, and alienates the relationship between humanity and nature into one of dominance and subordination, leading to the fragmentation of the unity of multiple subjects in the modern world and the opposition between humanity and nature.

When Marx and Engels studied the relationship between the emancipation of humanity and the overall process of world modernization, they pointed out: "The degree to which every individual is liberated is determined by the degree to which history is completely transformed into world history." The modernization of the person provides the subjective impetus for the unfolding of world modernization and the world history of universal interaction; in this process, it also points toward the ultimate liberation and free and comprehensive development of human beings themselves. The modernization of the person and the modernization of society are essentially unified. Through social practice, human beings transform the objective world and drive social modernization. The fundamental purpose of this is to satisfy the value-demands of their own survival and development—this is, in fact, a true return to the inner essence of the human being. The continuous expansion of social modernization provides the necessary conditions for human survival and development, promoting the realization of the modernization of the person and their free and comprehensive development. The key distinction between socialist modernization and capitalist modernization lies in overcoming the logic of reification ^[7] at the expense of the person, and placing the free and comprehensive development and collective liberation of humanity at the core of modernization. The essence of modernization is the modernization of the person; the person is both the driving force of modern development and its ultimate goal.

General Secretary Xi Jinping has explicitly pointed out: "The essence of modernization is the modernization of the person." Chinese-path modernization embodies a human-centered logic that takes the modernization of the person as its essence. "What development ultimately requires is a change in the quality of the person. Such a change is a prerequisite and a means for achieving greater development, and at the same time, it is one of the great goals of the development process itself." Chinese-path modernization has always constructed its theory and advanced its practice around the value of human survival and development, transcending the capital-logic of Western modernization. Chinese-path modernization treats all resource elements and social relations as objective conditions for advancing the modernization of the person. It transcends the inverted subject-object relationship between things and people, or capital and people, found in Western modernization. It achieves the "positive supersession ^[8] of private property as the appropriation of human life... the positive supersession of all alienation," thereby detaching the person from the shackles of various alienated social relations and realizing the true return of the person to their social essence. To advance the modernization of the person through Chinese-path modernization, one must "understand and grasp the various types of capital existing in our society and their roles from a historical, developmental, and dialectical perspective." Capital is an important factor of production in the development of the socialist market economy. It is necessary to regulate and reasonably guide capital according to the law to ensure its healthy development, prevent the disorderly expansion of capital and the restriction of the free and comprehensive development of the person by capital-logic. Guided by the value-concepts of the modernization of the person, we must incorporate the instrumental rationality ^[9] of capital in promoting social production into the subjective logic of the value-rationality of promoting the modernization of the person. Therefore, Chinese-path modernization liberates the person from the state of the "one-dimensional man," ^[10] the state of dehumanization, and the phenomena of alienation triggered by capital-logic. It overcomes the fragmentation caused by capital-logic that leads to social polarization and class antagonism. On the basis of the scientific utilization of capital, it combines the value-rationality of realizing the modernization of the person with the instrumental rationality of capital in promoting social development, fully demonstrating the human-centered logic of Chinese-path modernization in its pursuit of the modernization of the person.

2. A People-Centered Practical Mode of Modernization

Chinese-path modernization is the "modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement ^[11] in coordination, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development." This embodies a practical mode of constructing modernization centered on the people.

Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of a huge population. The national condition of over 1.4 billion people characterizes the arduousness and complexity of comprehensively advancing modernization. To promote common prosperity for all and realize the free and comprehensive development of the person, we must maintain historical resolve and move forward steadily. Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of common prosperity for all; it upholds the principal position of the people, relies on high-quality development, constructs a fair and just order of distribution, and enhances the universality of the fruits of modernization. Modernization characterized by common prosperity for all guarantees the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "National construction is the collective cause of all the people, and the process of national development is also a process in which all the people share the results." The development of the path of Chinese-path modernization must "promote the well-rounded development of the person and social equity and justice, so that all residents share the fruits of modernization." Chinese-path modernization insists on the people sharing the fruits of development. This requires increasing the "shareability" of the developmental achievements of Chinese-path modernization, seeking the fair benefit and just distribution of social material wealth, spiritual wealth, and various resources. This realizes common prosperity for all and provides a realistic foundation for the free and comprehensive development of the person.

Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement in coordination. This coordination promotes the people's material abundance and spiritual-intellectual wealth. The Western path of modernization "at one pole is accumulation of wealth, it is at the same time, at the opposite pole, i.e., on the side of the class that produces its own product as capital, accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation." The accelerated accumulation of social material wealth triggered a spiritual decline akin to "commodity fetishism." Chinese-path modernization must not only construct a modern economic system and mode of production to create material wealth that satisfies the common prosperity of the people, but also strengthen socialist cultural-ethical advancement. This enriches the people's spiritual world and forms advanced culture, ethical orders, and moral qualities that conform to socialist principles and the requirements of modern society, advancing the free and comprehensive development of the person through the coordination of material and cultural-ethical civilizations. Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. This provides the people with a natural environment characterized by ecological health and sustainable development. The relationship between humanity and nature is not one of conquest and being conquered; "humanity and nature form a life community; we must respect, adapt to, and protect nature." A healthy and beautiful ecological environment is a necessary condition for the sustainable development of Chinese-path modernization and an important support for meeting the people's needs for a better life. We must coordinate the relationship between social development and ecological protection from the perspective of the holistic relationship between humanity and nature. Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of following the path of peaceful development, dedicated to satisfying the public interests of the common progress of humanity and modern development. The international governance order constructed by Western modernization is a hegemonic order of capital rule, which has filled the world with upheaval, conflict, and uncertainty. There exists an antagonistic contradiction between the interests of capital rule and the common developmental interests of all humanity. Chinese-path modernization upholds the common values of all humanity, actively constructs a community with a shared future for humanity, emphasizes the construction of a just and reasonable international order, and adheres to the global governance concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. Proceeding from the collective and long-term interests of the people of the world, it seeks universal interaction and win-win cooperation, and firmly maintains world peace and development.

3. The Value Orientation of Taking the Free and Comprehensive Development of the Person as the Ultimate Goal

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The ultimate goal of modernization is to achieve the free and comprehensive development of the person." This is a core proposition of Marxism. From the perspective of historical materialism, the free and comprehensive development of the person is the inevitable result of the realistic unfolding of the modernization of the person and the true return of the human essence. It represents the value-transcendence by socialist modernization over the "alienated," "reified," and "one-dimensional" person of Western modernization. The comprehensive advancement of Chinese-path modernization provides the necessary material resources, spiritual culture, social relations, and community support for the free and comprehensive development of the person. By establishing this development as the fundamental purpose of the pursuit of modernization, Chinese-path modernization highlights its value-advantage in reshaping the subjectivity of the person.

In the Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx and Engels made a scientific conception of the person in the communist society that transcends the capitalist community: "In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." The person is a social, realistic being. The free and comprehensive development of the person relies on social modernization to provide historical conditions, seeking the essential unity of the development of each and the development of all within a "true community." Marxism holds that the free and comprehensive development of the person relies on the association of free individuals. This form of social community overcomes external constraints on the labor, physical, and mental development of the person, enabling this free development to become a realistic subjective activity. Regarding the scope of the "person," the "person" in this context refers to all people in a universal sense, rather than specific individuals defined by class. This development is based on the progress and common development of human society. In a "true community," through universal interaction and social practice, people construct a relationship of mutual promotion and fulfillment. The free development of each is intrinsically unified with the free development of all.

From the perspective of human subjectivity, "his own life is an object for him. Only because of that is his activity free activity." Only by breaking through the alienated relationship described by Lukács ^[12]—where "a man's own activity, his own labour, becomes something objective and independent of him, something that controls him by virtue of an autonomy alien to man"—and by escaping the shackles of the inverted relationship between the "thing" of capital and human development, can a person construct the needs for subjective comprehensive development through conscious, realistic activity. Only then can they break through the constraints of capital-alienation and achieve the goal of well-rounded development.

The free development and the comprehensive development of the person are intrinsically unified. The free development referred to in Marxism is a breakthrough against the relations of capital-alienation and the subservience to things (reification). Unlike the liberalism of spontaneous order discussed by Hayek, the free development of the person is the orderly unfolding of subjective will and free, conscious activity based on respecting the laws of social development. The comprehensive development of the person is built on the comprehensive development of their labor capacity. The perfection of comprehensive qualities—including the moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor ^[13] domains—is the condition for promoting the continuous advancement of the free and comprehensive development of the person toward higher stages. Chinese-path modernization breaks through the constraints of capital-alienation. Within its essential requirements of pursuing common prosperity for all, developing whole-process people's democracy, enriching the people's spiritual world, and promoting harmony between humanity and nature, it points out the path for realization. The value orientation of taking the free and comprehensive development of the person as the ultimate goal fully reflects the socialist attribute of Chinese-path modernization and the Marxist standpoint of achieving human liberation. It combines the instrumental rationality of social modernization in promoting resource abundance with the value-orientation of the free and comprehensive development of the person, providing the historical conditions for the ultimate liberation of humanity within the unity of the development of each and all.

III. The Civilizational Significance of the People's Subjectivity in Chinese-path Modernization

Chinese-path modernization employs a social governance pattern of "joint contribution, joint governance, and shared benefits" to fully mobilize the initiative of the people as subjects in socialist modernization. It enhances the universality of the fruits of modernization, transcends the capital-centric logic of Western modernization with the modernization of the person at its core, and achieves global governance guided by the common values of humanity. By promoting the symbiosis of diverse global civilizations, it profoundly demonstrates the civilizational significance of the people's subjectivity.

1. Enhancing the Universality of the Fruits of Modernization through the People's "Joint Contribution, Joint Governance, and Shared Benefits"

The social governance pattern of Chinese-path modernization takes the masses of the people as its core, emphasizing the harmonious unity of the people’s subjective vitality and social order. It aims to give full play to the advantages of the socialist system, stimulating the subjective initiative of the masses to participate in modernization and social governance, while ensuring that the value principles of scientific socialism serve as guidance to promote the benefits of modernization development reaching the broad masses. Therefore, the development of Chinese-path modernization "must improve the social governance system based on collaboration, participation, and common interests; achieve positive interaction between government governance, social regulation, and resident autonomy; and build a social governance community in which everyone is responsible, everyone does their part, and everyone benefits." We must fully promote the unity of subjective initiative and orderly justice, effectively mobilizing the ideological vitality and practical kinetic energy of the people as subjects in constructing Chinese-path modernization. Simultaneously, we must place greater emphasis on fairness and justice in the modern social order, realizing the internal unity of subjective participation and subjective sharing. The pioneering development of the cause of Chinese-path modernization relies fundamentally on the diverse creative ideas and practical kinetic energy of the people as subjects, thereby converging the greatest subjective momentum for constructing Chinese-path modernization. This builds a fair, reasonable, smooth-communicating, and stable interest distribution and value-sharing pattern for the realization of the shared value principles of modernization, providing support for the realization of the community of the "association of free individuals" ^[14] characterized by free and well-rounded development. Subjective co-construction and co-governance are dialectically unified with the sharing of subjective values. Only by fully stimulating the enthusiasm and agency of the people as subjects to participate in Chinese-path modernization, and by continuously providing corresponding practical fields, institutional support, and resource guarantees for their creativity, can the people’s subjectivity of Chinese-path modernization—which distinguishes it from Western modernization—be manifested.

The people’s subjectivity concerns the fundamental stand of "whom to serve." Chinese-path modernization advocates for all people to jointly enjoy all the fruits brought about by the modernization process. There is an essential unity between development relying on the people and the fruits being shared by the people, which promotes the harmonious unity of co-construction, co-governance, and sharing. Under the structural framework of Chinese-path modernization, the core force driving development is the broad masses of the people, rather than a special class representing special interests. Once the fundamental stand of being people-centered is abandoned, modernization may fall into the value trap dominated by capital. The broad masses of the people are the practical subjects of Chinese-path modernization and should also become the universal beneficiaries of modernization's development, promoting the organic unity of self-development and social development. As a form of value justice, the people's subjectivity in Chinese-path modernization is committed to achieving the just distribution of social wealth, political rights, and cultural resources, pushing the fruits of Chinese-path modernization to benefit all people more fairly and satisfying the people’s growing needs for a better life. The broad masses are not only the practical subjects of construction but should also become the universal beneficiaries and the subjects of a modernization characterized by co-construction, co-governance, and sharing.

On this basis, the people’s subjectivity in Chinese-path modernization helps to coordinate diverse developmental interest relations based on the fundamental interests of common development. it cultivates common values and a shared consciousness for modernization, providing the conditions for co-construction, co-governance, sharing, and interest distribution, thereby "allowing the fruits of modernization to benefit all people more and more fairly, and making more obvious substantive progress in promoting common prosperity for all." From the logical perspective of materialist dialectics, social existence determines social consciousness. In the process of Chinese-path modernization, the extensive participation of the people helps cultivate common values and a public spirit consistent with modernization. Simultaneously, social consciousness exerts an active counter-reaction on social existence. The development of the theory of the people's subjectivity provides a value orientation of fairness and justice for the extensive participation and diverse practices of the people in Chinese-path modernization, promoting the continuous enhancement of its practical kinetic energy.

2. Taking the modernization of the human person as the core to transcend the Western logic of modernization centered on the supremacy of capital

Within the structural process of the logic of capital, the ontology of labor is gradually dissolved, and labor itself is regarded as a means to achieve the valorization of capital. Workers lose their subjectivity and are placed in a position dominated by the capital valorization chain. The entire society is dominated by the logic of capital, and the subjective value of human existence and development is profoundly suppressed. A vital hallmark distinguishing Chinese-path modernization from capitalist modernization is the insistence on the subjective status of the people rather than a special class, replacing the one-dimensional modernization of capital valorization with the modernization of the human person, and distinguishing itself from a modernize order of resource monopoly through the sharing of developmental interests. Marx revealed the laws of socio-historical development, transcended the limitations of the idealist view of history, and emphasized the historical agency of the people as subjects based on following objective laws, believing that the masses are the decisive force for transforming history, advancing social revolution, and realizing communism. The continuous progress of social history will inevitably promote the historical establishment of the people's subjective status. Insisting on the people's subjective status is a vital hallmark distinguishing Marxism from non-Marxism; likewise, insisting on the modernization of the human person as the core is a salient feature distinguishing Chinese-path modernization from Western modernization. The path of Chinese-path modernization does not follow the Western exploitative path dominated by the logic of capital, but rather relies on the masses to achieve the modern transformation of socio-economic models, political structures, and cultural forms. It adheres to the people's subjective status, the modernization of the human person, and free and well-rounded development, ensuring that the material and spiritual fruits of modernization universally benefit the masses and that the modern political order is continuously improved toward fairness and justice.

In the perspective of historical materialism, social development and human progress are mutually reinforcing and complementary processes. In the Economic Manuscripts of 1857–1858 (Grundrisse), Marx explored the differences between modern and previous societies regarding the definition of the human being, arguing that in ancient society, the human being "appears as the aim of production," whereas in the modern world, "production appears as the aim of mankind," and the human being "does not reproduce himself in one specificity, but produces his totality." The modernization of the human person aims to achieve the free and well-rounded development of individuals, breaking through the limitations imposed by economic conditions and social systems on individual legitimate freedom and comprehensive development. The historical and civilizational significance of modern society lies in establishing a system of production and exchange with the human being as the historical subject. However, the modernization model constructed by the West is essentially a system of social exchange led by the expansion of "things" (Waren) under the logic of capital. It represents the interests of capital achieving valorization through exploitation and oppression, drowning the modern needs of human subjects for free and well-rounded development in a capitalist order of "reification" ^[15] and "alienation." From the standpoint of evaluating social history, "whether it has a positive promotional significance for human liberation or a negative obstructive effect is the fundamental value line we must follow to judge all concepts and principles of social development," and it is also an important basis for testing the scientificity and justice of a modernized civilization.

The people's subjectivity of Chinese-path modernization transcends the Western logic of the supremacy of capital. It requires the full realization of the development of the people's interests, practical abilities, values, and subjective relationships within the historical process of modernization. This allows the people to break free from the domination of capital and the constraints of reification. In the historical process where individual free time is continuously enriched, needs for a better life are constantly met, and spiritual wealth and practical abilities grow, they pursue the social exchange model of the "association of free individuals." General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Human beings are, in essence, cultural beings, not 'reified' beings; they are active, well-rounded beings, not rigid, 'one-dimensional' ^[16] beings." The people's subjectivity of Chinese-path modernization profoundly reflects a path oriented toward the ultimate goal of the free and well-rounded development of the human person, promoting the coordinated advancement of human modernization and social modernization. It demands transcending the capitalist logic of "reification" and "alienation," re-establishing the subjective status of the person in modern society, and, while adhering to the mainstream goal of human modernization, rationally guiding, regulating, and managing capital so that social material and spiritual development continuously satisfy the needs of free and well-rounded human development.

3. Global governance guided by the common values of all humanity manifests the symbiosis of diverse civilizations

In modern society, the phenomena of heterogeneity and value fragmentation have brought unprecedented value challenges and pluralistic conflicts. This indicates that the value order of pre-modern society has gradually decayed, while the common values and normative order of modern society are not yet perfected. "The rupture between tradition and modernity has severed the ties between individuals and their original value systems; meanwhile, new value systems have not yet formed, causing universal 'individual existential anxiety' in social life." We must face the diversity and differences of modern society and reflect on the following: in the face of unprecedented alienation and fragmentation, how do we maintain a universal order of exchange and common life? What common values should guide global governance and the universal process of world modernization?

Modernization is the core concept marking the progress of human civilization since the beginning of the modern era. The pursuit of modernization in material production, political systems, and ideology is the common value aspiration of human society. Today, the global technological revolution changes with each passing day, the process of economic globalization is accelerating, and human production, lifestyle, global governance systems, and the world economic structure are undergoing profound transformations. On one hand, the theme of the times—peace and development—has not changed. The trend of humanity moving toward universal exchange and achieving common development remains the mainstream. A large number of emerging markets and developing countries have gained opportunities for rapid development, and there is broad space for cooperation and development worldwide. On the other hand, anti-globalization phenomena such as unilateralism, hegemonism, populism, and protectionism are on the rise. Western powers continuously initiate external economic sanctions, cultural infiltration, and political interference, posing many challenges to the process of world modernization. In fact, modernization possesses both the universal laws of human social development and the particularities of modernization in different regions and civilizations. The contemporary prominence of Western modern maladies has exposed the failure of its modernization governance. Different countries and regions should explore modernization models that reflect the actual conditions of their own economic base and superstructure, based on the universal laws of socio-historical development and on the foundation of the modern economic system built by humanity.

How to seek the greatest common denominator for the modernization of humanity, embrace the pluralistic differences of civilizations, and promote the intermingling and common prosperity of diverse civilizations on the basis of ensuring universal stability in public life has become a major issue facing all of humanity in the modern world. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the CPC and World Political Parties Summit: "Countries vary in history, culture, institution, and level of development, but the people of all countries pursue the common values of all humanity, namely, peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom." At the level of global governance, the common values of all humanity profoundly reflect the subjective concerns of all people to independently explore modernization paths under the background of peaceful development, the structural considerations of building a fair and just global exchange model, and the political pursuit of core rights to democracy and freedom in modern civilization. In the historical process of promoting the symbiosis and mutual reinforcement of diverse civilizations, it profoundly manifests the world-historical significance of the common development of all humanity. Chinese-path modernization combines the universal laws of modernization with the country’s unique institutional attributes, basic national conditions, and actual historical stage. By insisting on global governance guided by the common values of all humanity, it highlights the diverse civilizations of humanity advancing modernization and has created a new form of human civilization. From the perspective of world history, the path of Chinese-path modernization has broken the old path of Western modernization characterized by the supremacy of capital, materialism, the gap between rich and poor, and exploitative expansion. It has shattered the myth that "modernization equals Westernization." It is not only committed to the overall realization of the strategic goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation but also provides beneficial theoretical reference and practical models for the people of the world to independently explore their own paths to modernization.

Source: Marxism Studies (《马克思主义研究》), Issue 11, 2024. Web Editor: Jing Mu (静穆)