Cui Weihang: Transforming the Party's Innovative Theory in the New Era into an Analytical Framework for Philosophy and Social Sciences
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping, standing on the grand practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, has profoundly grasped historical laws, the general trends of the times, and the aspirations of the people. He has proposed a series of major propositions characterized by high recognizability, theoretical originality, and practical guidance. These contain a series of identifying concepts, original ideological viewpoints, and fundamental theoretical achievements. Not only have they elevated our Party’s understanding of what kind of great modern socialist power to build and how to build it to a new level, but they also profoundly answer the "question of the times": "What is wrong with the world, and what should we do?" Systematically organizing, deeply refining, and effectively transforming these identifying concepts, original ideological viewpoints, and fundamental theoretical achievements—organically integrating them into academic research and disciplinary development to transform them into analytical frameworks for various disciplines in the philosophy and social sciences—is a key issue that current academic circles must deeply consider and strive to resolve.
Identifying Concepts: Promoting the Effective Transformation from Political Discourse to Academic Categories
Identifying concepts are the most distinct and recognizable core terms within a theoretical system, carrying specific value positions, historical logic, and practical orientations. Transforming the identifying concepts of the Party’s innovative theories in the New Era from political discourse into academic categories constitutes a revolution in terminology. For example, Chinese-path modernization is not merely a description of a developmental path; it contains a critical transcendence of Western modernization models. Whole-process people's democracy breaks through the periodic and fragmented limitations of Western representative democracy, emphasizing an integrated chain of democratic elections, consultations, decision-making, management, and oversight, thereby reflecting the essential requirement that the people are masters of the country. The key to transforming the identifying concepts of the Party's innovative theories into academic categories for the philosophy and social sciences lies in their creative elaboration in a rigorous, systematic, and profound manner.
First, one must organize and clarify core concepts, defining their connotative boundaries, historical progression, theoretical premises, and practical foundations, while also distinguishing their relationships with related concepts. Taking Chinese-path modernization as an example: at the philosophical level, one can explore its ontological presuppositions, such as the harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature [1], and the relationship between individual development and collective interests; from an economic perspective, one can analyze its institutional arrangements and growth mechanisms; and at the sociological level, one can explore its social structural characteristics and governance logic, studying contents such as the "olive-shaped" [2] income distribution structure and urban-rural integrated development. Only by explaining these concrete contents thoroughly can a concept avoid becoming vacuous.
Second, these concepts must be embedded into disciplinary theoretical frameworks and transformed into academic topics that can be specifically researched, analyzed, and compared. For instance, political science can subdivide whole-process people's democracy into dimensions such as the breadth of people’s participation, the depth of policy formulation, and the effectiveness of oversight mechanisms, thereby constructing an indicator system to evaluate the quality of democracy. Legal studies can refine important academic topics from the construction of a Law-based China, such as "good law and functional governance" [3], the equal emphasis on procedural and substantive justice, and the organic unity of the Party's leadership and the rule of law.
Finally, these academic categories must be returned to real-world problems to demonstrate their explanatory power and vitality in specific contexts. For example, as many developing countries currently explore paths to modernization, Chinese-path modernization provides a solution distinct from Western models. In the new environment where digital technology profoundly reshapes public life, the concept of whole-process people's democracy can provide direction for value guidance and institutional construction in emerging fields such as algorithmic governance, platform responsibility, and citizens' digital rights.
Original Ideological Viewpoints: Promoting the Systematic Leap from Value Guidance to Methodological Consciousness
Original ideological viewpoints are the soul of theoretical innovation; their core lies in the keen capture, profound insight, and systematic explanation of major issues of the times. They are by no means simple conceptual recombinations, but are based on the heights of history and the era to accurately grasp and profoundly reveal the laws of social evolution. Taking the "Two Combinations" [4] as an example, it not only deepens the essential understanding of the internal laws of the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism, but also profoundly reveals the cultural roots and theoretical consciousness of Chinese-path modernization, providing methodological guidance for research in philosophy and social sciences. Similarly, the original proposition that "Green waters and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains" [5] has, through the reconstruction of the relationship between humanity and nature, completely transcended the development view of "GDP-supremacy," establishing a new paradigm of high-quality development characterized by ecological priority and green transition.
The key to effectively transforming these original ideological viewpoints into analytical frameworks for specific disciplines lies in achieving a profound leap from value and policy identification to methodological internalization. Researchers must not only understand and identify with these ideological viewpoints and value orientations but also internalize them as perspectives for examining problems, scientific tools for analyzing materials, and value scales for judging conclusions. Taking the "Two Combinations" as an example: history can use this to deeply understand that "Chinese civilization is the only great civilization in the world that has continued uninterrupted and developed as a state form to the present day, possessing prominent continuity, innovativeness, unity, inclusiveness, and peacefulness," thereby breaking the shackles of metaphysical historiography on the Chinese historical narrative. The field of philosophy can deeply excavate intellectual resources such as the Confucian "governance through virtue," the Daoist "governance through non-action" (wuwei er zhi), and the Legalist "governance through law" to find their internal points of convergence with Marxist theories of the state, thereby constructing a philosophical theoretical system that is both national and global, historical and contemporary. It is worth noting that these original ideological viewpoints possess cross-disciplinary attributes, enabling them to cross traditional disciplinary boundaries and form new problem domains. For example, the concept of building a community with a shared future for humanity transcends the scope of pure international relations; it requires international relations theory to rethink the relationship between sovereignty, security, and development interests, and profoundly touches upon institutional designs such as responsibility allocation in the global governance system, as well as philosophical foundations in the dialogue between civilizations. Only by breaking down disciplinary barriers can the theoretical potential of these original ideological viewpoints be truly released, and in this process, the autonomy, originality, and global nature of Chinese philosophy and social sciences can be continuously enhanced.
Fundamental Theoretical Achievements: Promoting Deep Integration from Systematic Acceptance to Paradigm Innovation
Fundamental theoretical achievements are the organic fusion of identifying concepts and original ideological viewpoints; they are essentially the systematic summary and theoretical expression of the internal logic and evolutionary laws of specific fields. For example, the theory of promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, and the theory of gradually achieving common prosperity for all people, have already formed theoretical systems with complete structures and rigorous logic. These achievements are not only the ideological engines for promoting the great practice of Chinese-path modernization but also provide a profound theoretical goldmine for constructing an autonomous knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences.
To achieve the deep transformation of fundamental theoretical achievements into disciplinary analytical frameworks, one cannot stop at simple explanation and mechanical application but should use them as a fulcrum to leverage the structural innovation and paradigm upgrade of the disciplinary knowledge system. For instance, in the field of political science, the theory of promoting the modernization of the state governance system and governance capacity breaks through the limitations of traditional governance paradigms, emphasizing the organic unity of institutional execution, governance efficacy, and the people's sense of gain. This theoretical innovation has pushed scholars toward constructing new analytical frameworks containing multi-dimensional elements such as governance performance evaluation, institutional resilience analysis, and the enhancement of social responsiveness, providing a brand-new perspective for the study of national and even global governance. In the field of law, the comprehensive implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law has pushed the paradigm of legal research from static textual analysis to dynamic implementation effect evaluation, constructing a three-dimensional research paradigm covering legal implementation, cultural identity, and institutional efficacy. This transformation not only expands the theoretical dimensions of legal research but also enhances its explanatory power in responding to real-world problems.
The reason why the identifying concepts, original ideological viewpoints, and fundamental theoretical achievements of the Party's innovative theories in the New Era possess strong explanatory power, leading force, and lasting vitality is fundamentally because they were not deduced from Western theoretical categories, nor designed behind closed doors in a study. Rather, they are deeply rooted in the magnificent practice of Chinese-path modernization, and are the ideological crystallizations summarized, refined, and sublimated from the creative explorations of hundreds of millions of people. Transforming these ideological crystallizations into operable and extendable analytical frameworks for various disciplines in the philosophy and social sciences is not only a major academic project but also a profound academic paradigm shift, becoming a core link and key path in constructing an autonomous knowledge system for Chinese philosophy and social sciences.