Yan Song: The Reconstruction of Community: A Historical Materialist Examination of Chinese-style Modernization
The Western-path to modernization dissolved the communal [1] forms of human life and constructed a pseudo-community based on the "association of one class against another." As a new path to modernization, Chinese-path modernization has reshaped the communal forms of human life, an orientation primarily embodied in Xi Jinping’s thought on community. Xi Jinping’s thought on community was conceived within the practical process of Chinese-path modernization. Since Chinese-path modernization takes Marx’s thoughts on modernity as its theoretical source, it is a path entirely distinct from Western-style modernization. Xi Jinping’s thought on community, formed on this basis, can guide us in resolving the series of problems of modernity caused by the dissolution of community under the Western path. Currently, academic research on Xi Jinping’s thought on community mostly focuses on exploring his expressions regarding specific types of communities; there is little research from a holistic perspective, nor an exploration of the internal logical connections between the "four types" of communal discourse systems discussed by Xi Jinping. A systematic interpretation of Xi Jinping’s thought on community based on the path of Chinese-path modernization can, on one hand, highlight the comparative advantages of the Chinese path over the Western path; on the other hand, it can reveal the internal relations between Xi Jinping’s political discourses on the "four types of community" and clarify the promotional role his thought plays in facilitating Chinese-path modernization.
I. The Dissolution of Community: The Historical Genesis of Western-style Modernization
Community embodies the purposive needs of how humans seek survival from nature and "the best way for humans to live together." However, the Western-path to modernization shaped a dualistic model of civil society and the political state, leading to the demise of traditional communities and the falsity of new communal forms. On one hand, the characteristic of civil society—namely, "personal independence based on objective dependence"—led to the detachment of individuals from the community, turning humans into atomized individuals and causing them to lose the carrier of their sense of security and belonging. On the other hand, the capitalist political state community exists fundamentally to safeguard the capitalist mode of production and maintain bourgeois rule; thus, it is merely an artificially manufactured form of "pseudo-community."
(1) Western-style Modernization Dissolved Human Communal Forms
"Community is always a good thing," because it can provide people with "a warm and comfortable place" while enabling them to "rely on one another." However, the mode of existence in civil society constructed by Western-style modernization led to the separation of man from community, turning humans into one atomized individual after another and dissolving the communal way of life.
Looking at the formation of civil society, its institutional system emerged during the establishment of the capitalist mode of production. The bourgeois political revolution broke the shackles of traditional modes of production, created immense productive forces, and brought man into a modern social way of life, achieving individual liberty and political liberation. The modern social lifestyle of dualism between the political state and civil society—initiated by the capitalist system—on one hand reduces man to a citizen in the state, a legal person; on the other hand, it reduces man to a member of civil society, an egoistic and independent individual. “The former is life in the political community, in which man regards himself as a social being; the latter is life in civil society, in which he acts as a private individual, regards other men as means, degrades himself into a means, and becomes a plaything of alien powers.” Consequently, people live two distinct and opposing lives in the political state and civil society. At the level of political state power, they obtain formal freedom and equality established by the bourgeoisie through legal forms; at the level of civil society production, they obtain the unfreedom and inequality of being employed, exploited, and oppressed by capitalists. The prerequisite for a worker to be employed is that, under the capitalist mode of production, they have lost all means of production and become atomized individuals who are "free" to be hired.
From the structural features of civil society, the mode of production initiated by capitalism promoted the transformation of society toward modernity. To satisfy the needs of the civil society production mode, social relations dominated by liberalism and individualism were constructed, forming a social structure centered on atomized individuals. That is, "Compared with civil society, the basic feature of traditional society lies in the fact that its basic unit is the community rather than the independent individual; thus, the communal mode of association constituted the basic way people related to one another in pre-civil society, formed their basic way of life, and also restricted the basic structure of society." Although civil society also has communities, they are communities of interest tied by profit—temporary forms of professional and economic association. This type of community differs essentially from the communities of traditional society because the former is composed of atomized individuals detached from traditional communities who have lost all means of production. In civil society, these atomized individuals become wage laborers living by selling their labor power, markedly different from the centralized, monocentric, and stable characteristics of traditional communities. Therefore, the establishment of civil society directly led to the decline and dissolution of traditional communities. Simultaneously, to maintain the capitalist mode of production, the bourgeoisie shaped the capitalist political state community.
(2) The "Pseudo-Community" Constructed by Western-style Modernization
Through the method of political economy, Marx revealed that the capitalist state community is a form of "pseudo-community." It has not changed the essence of atomized individuals but has instead ensured the rationality and legitimacy of their existence through political systems. At the same time, this "pseudo-community" uses institutional forms to support the abstract rule and factual exploitation of "commodity fetishism" and "capital fetishism."
The establishment of the capitalist political state community endowed the working class with social citizenship, formally stipulating their right to enjoy all public services and benefits provided by the community. Without the state community, citizens cannot be objects of political and legal protection, thus losing their citizenship. To some extent, the state community provides people with a sense of belonging and eliminates anxieties regarding childbirth or unemployment through state welfare policies. For the ruled classes, the state is nominally a guarantor of interests, while in reality, it is a completely illusory community. The introduction of state welfare policies and social security systems is merely to ensure the smooth operation of the capitalist system and dissolve the resistance of the working class. Thus, Marx asserted: for the ruled class, the capitalist political state "is not only a completely illusory community, but a new shackle." Furthermore, "The ideologists of the ruling class, more or less consciously, theoretically transform them into something independent... and present them as rules of life to the individuals of the oppressed class, partly as an embellishment or consciousness of their own rule, and partly as a moral means for this rule," further deepening the illusory color of the capitalist political state and misleading the consciousness of the proletariat to make them submit to bourgeois rule.
The "pseudo-community" form of the capitalist political state is also reflected in its institutional logic that supports the uniquely capitalist "commodity fetishism" and "capital fetishism." Under the capitalist mode of production, the commodity form and the value-relation of the products of labor in which it appears "is nothing but the definite social relation between men themselves which assumes here, for them, the fantastic form of a relation between things... So it is in the world of commodities with the products of men's hands. This I call Fetishism." The "illusion" of false freedom and equality constructed by "fetishism" further obscures the pseudo-nature of the capitalist political state community. "Fetishism" directly leads to the reality of capitalist reification [2]—a property where relations between people are inverted into relations between things, manifesting as the reified facade where human relations are replaced by material relations. Marx pointed out: "The commodity-form... reflects the social relation of the producers to the sum total of labor as a social relation between objects, a relation which exists apart from the producers." That is, under the capitalist system, human relations are represented by material relations, manifesting the process of the reification of human relations. The reification process reveals not only that man is ruled by the "concrete object" of the commodity, but also the essence of this rule—that man is ruled by "abstract objects" with measurable scales. These "abstract objects" reify the relationship between people into a relationship between things and, through this reified relationship, transform everyone into the same kind of subject: a reified subject that can be measured. These "abstract objects" are money and capital. The alliance of commodities, money, and capital controls the capitalist political state community and makes the latter serve the realization of the former.
(3) The Practical Hazards of the Dissolution of Community via the Western Path to Modernization
The modern society created by the Western-path to modernization has completely shattered the traditional, stable communal way of life. Capitalists move freely across the globe in search of cheaper labor and investment opportunities, while the working class flows globally in search of any opportunity to make a living. A world of rapid fluidity has disintegrated the community, causing every individual to lose the sense of security and belonging they once possessed within it.
From the perspective of capitalist states, Marx and Engels clearly stated: "The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his 'natural superiors,' and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous 'cash payment'." Consequently, the traditional community model built upon "feudal and patriarchal" relations of production inevitably perished. This demise, viewed from the general development of productive forces, represents a step forward in human history; however, it failed to establish a community capable of carrying the human need for belonging and security. Instead, it turned all people from various walks of life "liberated" from traditional communal relations into wage laborers, even disintegrating the earliest form of relationship in human communicative practice—the family community—turning the sentimental family relationship into "a mere money relation." The refined division of labor and the proliferation of machinery under the capitalist mode of production turn every wage laborer into an atomized individual performing mechanized toil. Intense labor and the hijacking of surplus value deprive every wage laborer of the time, energy, and resources to pursue a fulfilling spiritual life; the wage laborer inevitably becomes an empty shell. The more the workers in capitalist countries produce, the poorer their lives become and the more spiritually impoverished they grow. Although the invention and application of new technologies have, to some extent, confirmed the existence of man as a subject, the dominant position of capital in people's production and life has not changed accordingly. Therefore, the social class structure divided between the bourgeoisie and the working class remains unshakable—a structure that prevents the free and comprehensive development of the individual personalities of both the bourgeoisie and the working class.
From the perspective of the world-historical process, capitalism is a systemic form dominated by the logic of capital, with the growth of material wealth as its sole objective and the advocacy of universalized, procedural, and operational institutions to guarantee the realization of this objective. Driven by this aim, the bourgeoisie has, through military conquest and economic invasion, directly or indirectly forced other nations with non-capitalist systems to submit or accept bourgeois rule, becoming members of the capitalist world system. As Marx and Engels stated: "The bourgeoisie has subjected the country to the rule of the towns... it has made barbarian and semi-barbarian countries dependent on the civilised ones, nations of peasants on nations of bourgeois, the East on the West." Traditional national communities and the relatively closed statehood built upon them were completely shattered, leading to a situation where "independent, or but loosely connected provinces, with separate interests, laws, governments, and systems of taxation, became lumped together into one nation, with one government, one code of laws, one national class-interest, one frontier, and one customs-tariff." World history gradually took shape. However, this "unity" did not mean the establishment of a community of nations based on equal relations; rather, countries and nations throughout the world, brought into increasingly close contact under the drive of capital, gradually became objects of rule and enslavement by developed capitalist countries. The bourgeoisie "creates a world after its own image," yet this world is not a "true community" characterized by genuine fairness and equality, but a global state involving the exploitation and enslavement of other countries by developed capitalist nations. The bourgeoisie’s attempts to pull backward countries into the capitalist camp are conducted under the fine-sounding name of helping the people of other nations escape ignorance and backwardness to truly enjoy democracy and freedom; in essence, this is merely to better control the governments and peoples of these countries to facilitate the acquisition of raw material sources, cheap labor, and markets for dumping products.
II. The Reshaping of Community: The Core Essentials of Chinese-path Modernization
The new political discourse system of community initiated by the path of Chinese-path modernization is a collection of community concepts proposed by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core during the exploration of the Chinese-path modernization. This conceptual construction is a refutation and reconstruction aimed at the Western-style path of modernization, which dissolves community and produces a series of immense harms. This creative thought specifically includes: constructing the theory of a community with a shared future; forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation; proposing the idea of a life community; and creating a community of social governance. These "four constructs" of the Chinese-style community are the core concepts of Xi Jinping’s thoughts on community and constitute the fourfold meaning of community in the path of Chinese-path modernization.
(1) Establishing Norms for Modern State Interaction through the "State-State" Community
The deep practice of Western-style modernization has led to contemporary global problems such as the rise of terrorism, frequent outbreaks of international conflicts, sluggish world economic growth, continuous ecological destruction, and a widening gap between rich and poor. These issues urgently require reform and guidance in global governance theory and practice. Based on the theory and practice of Chinese-path modernization, China has proposed the strategy of a community with a shared future for humanity, demonstrating that a rising China, as a responsible major power, has injected fresh blood into global governance concepts. The report of the 19th Party Congress summarized the essence of a "community with a shared future for humanity" as "building an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity"; the report of the 20th Party Congress reiterated that "China has always been committed to its foreign policy goals of upholding world peace and promoting common development, and is dedicated to promoting a community with a shared future for humanity." The concept of a community with a shared future for humanity fully reflects the CPC's perspective on the overall situation, humanity, and development. It is a comprehensive expression of the concepts of peace, development, cooperation, and win-win results proposed by China, creating basic norms for modern international interaction. It aims to maintain China's national interests while showing reasonable concern for the interests of other countries during international exchanges, promoting the common progress of interacting countries while seeking its own development, and leading the world's nations to jointly respond to and resolve the series of problems currently facing humanity.
Cyberspace constructed on the basis of modern development is characterized by digitalization, virtuality, and globality, which has led to the frequent occurrence of phenomena such as the digital information divide, violations of information sovereignty, and cybercrime. It has increasingly become a new arena for maneuvering among diverse stakeholders including sovereign states, governments, and commercial institutions. To this end, Xi Jinping clearly proposed: "Countries should strengthen communication, expand consensus, and deepen cooperation to jointly build a community with a shared future in cyberspace." This is an effective manifestation of the community with a shared future for humanity in the digital realm, helping to lead all countries to work together to address the problems arising in cyberspace. Specifically, regarding the subjects of construction, sovereign states, governments, and commercial institutions should become the primary subjects, serving to regulate and guide various actors such as netizens, social organizations, and groups to actively participate in cyberspace governance. Regarding the methods of construction, we must accelerate the building of global internet infrastructure, create platforms for online cultural exchange and sharing, promote the innovative development of the cyber economy, and build an internet governance system to guarantee network security. Regarding the goals of construction, we seek to promote interconnection, mutual learning, common prosperity, orderly development, and fairness and justice among nations, thereby making the concept of a community with a shared future in cyberspace a model and norm for state governance in the digital realm, promoting the sharing, co-governance, and shared prosperity of cyberspace.
(2) Constructing Modern Ethnic Identity Relations through the "Ethnic-State" Community
China is a political state characterized by the integration and symbiosis of multiple ethnic groups, each with its own cultural characteristics. In the process of modernization, if each ethnic group fights for itself, the unity of the Chinese nation will cease to exist, and the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will surely be aborted. Xi Jinping clearly stated: "We must hold high the banner of great unity among all ethnic groups, and firmly establish national awareness, citizenship awareness, and a sense of community for the Chinese nation in all ethnic groups, uniting and relying on the masses of all ethnic groups to the greatest extent." Only when every ethnic group can unite on the basis of identifying with the "community for the Chinese nation" can we jointly respond to various challenges in modernization. Furthermore, "to strengthen the great unity of the Chinese nation, the long-term and fundamental task is to enhance cultural identity." This cultural identity refers not only to the inheritance and promotion of one's own ethnic culture but also to the holistic identity and promotion of the unified culture of the Chinese nation. Fei Xiaotong [3] believed: "Within the pattern of diversity in unity [4], the 56 ethnic groups are the grassroots level, and the Chinese nation is the high level." The identity of the community for the Chinese nation should be a higher-order identity for each of the 56 ethnic groups; the latter's identity cannot be premised on violating or opposing the former. To realize the holistic consciousness and identity of the community for the Chinese nation, we must first handle the problems of unbalanced and inadequate material and spiritual development in the process of each ethnic group’s development. That is, "to solve ethnic problems, we must solve both material and spiritual problems." Forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation means solving the spiritual level of ethnic unity and progress, while practicing the idea of a community for the Chinese nation means solving the material level of common ethnic development.
Xi Jinping's thought on the "community for the Chinese nation" is not only applicable to handling ethnic relations in China but also provides a paradigm for handling modern ethnic relations. In today's world, there are many multi-ethnic states where ethnicity is the basic unit of state formation. The languages, cultures, customs, and racial characteristics of the various ethnic groups living within a state are not identical, but the prerequisite for national unity and solidarity is the identification of all ethnic groups with the state entity; in this sense, we regard the "nation-state" as a form of community. Many instances of internal strife and instability in countries stem from conflicts and confrontations between their constituent ethnic groups, caused on the one hand by religious and cultural factors, and on the other by the distribution of material interests by state power organs. Simultaneously, to form a unified world market dominated by themselves, developed Western capitalist countries use their "pioneer modernity" ideology and powerful global media to dissolve the identification of various ethnic groups with their national unity, making them submit to a homogeneous culture that serves the capitalist mode of production. Forging a strong sense of ethnic community means forging a sense of national identity. Only the establishment of this consciousness can both maintain the stability of the "nation-state" community—enabling all ethnic groups within the country to live in harmony and dedicate themselves to the cause of national prosperity and stability—and maintain the independence of the "nation-state" community, making it a trench for resisting homogeneous culture and a solid fortress for confirming one's own ethnic community identity.
(3) Leading Modern Social Governance Solutions through the "Individual-Society" Community
The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee first proposed the theory of a "community of social governance," which has become an important part of the Chinese-path political discourse system through the test of governance practice. The creation of this theory marks a breakthrough in theoretical progress and discourse innovation in China's social governance, fully reflecting the downward shift of the focus of state governance and the transformation of governance methods. The proposal of this theory "is essentially a systemic arrangement serving the state's governance of society, and is also a key step in China's promotion of the modernization of the state governance system." It has realized the transformation from a dominant model to a diversified model in the governance of society by the state and the political party. The state has moved from "explicit" presence to "implicit" presence, and individual citizens from "passive" obedience to "active" participation. This transformation represents new thinking and measures by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core regarding the primary-level social governance system in the New Era. Fundamentally, it is to solve a series of contradictions arising during the drastic transformation of Chinese society in the New Era, thereby satisfying the people’s pursuit of a better life.
The proposal and practice of the community of social governance provide the masses with the opportunity to create a public life space they are satisfied with, but it does not mean a "vacuum" of state power in primary-level governance. Instead, it forms a "'one core, many elements' [5] governance structure led by the Party committee, with government responsibility, social coordination, and public participation." The report of the 20th Party Congress clearly proposed: "We will strengthen the forces for joint prevention and control, foster a social atmosphere of acting bravely for a just cause, and build a community of social governance in which everyone is responsible, everyone does their part, and everyone enjoys the benefits." Therefore, the true connotation of the community of social governance is that in the process of social governance, "everyone is responsible, everyone does their part, and everyone enjoys the benefits." Among these, "everyone is responsible" emphasizes social obligation—that is, citizens, Party and government departments, social groups, and community organizations have the obligation and duty to maintain the harmony and stability of social order. "Everyone does their part" emphasizes social power—that is, citizens, Party and government departments, social groups, and community organizations, as masters of society, should play their subjective roles and actively participate in the process of social governance. "Everyone enjoys the benefits" emphasizes the purpose of governance—that is, the fruits of social development should be shared by all members of society, and the Party and government must effectively ensure that the people generally enjoy public rights and resources. In short, the community of social governance is a theoretical achievement of the Party Central Committee in the New Era in responding to the needs of the primary-level masses, improving its own autonomy, and stimulating the vitality of society as a whole.
(4) Forging Modern Ecological Civilization Concepts through the "Human-Nature" Community
The relationship between humanity and nature has undergone a historical process from fearing nature to transforming nature. In traditional society, due to low productive forces, human beings understood life with a "purely animal-like consciousness," regarding nature as a superior "living entity," fearing nature, and forming a relationship of total dependence on it. In modern society, with the development of productive forces, humans began to view nature with technological and instrumental rationality, resulting in a shift in the vision of life—viewing themselves as a superior life form transcending nature. This anthropocentric thought, applied to the level of the human-nature relationship, led humans to begin conquering nature wantonly. The tension and conflict between humanity and nature have intensified under the capitalist mode of production. To realize the massive accumulation of the means of production, a modern society dominated by the logic of capital inevitably adopts various means to extract all value from natural existence, over-exploiting natural resources, leading to tension and opposition between humans, nature, and various other life forms generated therefrom, resulting in global ecological difficulties. Engels pointed out: "Let us not, however, flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory nature takes its revenge on us." In 2020, the sudden global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the tension between humanity and nature and nature's fierce revenge on humanity. Constructing a "life community for humanity and nature" [6] means eliminating the hostility between humans and nature, achieving reconciliation between them, and jointly maintaining the home on which humanity depends for survival with the concept of ecological civilization.
"The first premise of all human history is, of course, the existence of living human individuals. Thus the first fact to be established is the physical organisation of these individuals and their consequent relation to the rest of nature." Humanity and nature constitute a unity; the human being is an "organism" that exists within the natural environment and maintains a practical relationship with it, while nature is the "inorganic body" of man, providing the indispensable material basis for human survival. Humans and other species are all products of nature; all species exist in a relationship of symbiosis and coexistence. There is no hierarchical classification in which one species is more noble than another, nor can one species be used to negate another. The report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC explicitly stated: "Chinese-path modernization is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature. Humanity and nature form a life community; if we take from nature without limit or even damage it, we will inevitably face the retaliation of nature." The "life community of humanity and nature" starts precisely from this perspective of life, emphasizing the coexistence and co-prosperity of the oneness of life between humans, nature, and the other species produced therein. It responds to the epochal proposition of "how to get along and in what manner" between humanity and nature, persisting in holistic and systemic thinking in handling this relationship, and thereby providing a fundamental orientation and practical program for the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature.
III. The Axiological Significance of Reconstructing Community through Chinese-path Modernization
Chinese-path modernization has reconstructed the theoretical system and practical discourse of community. Theoretically, it critiques the dissolution of community by Western-style modernization and evades the various problems of modernity caused by such dissolution. Institutionally, it constructs a communal way of life, satisfying people's urgent need for a sense of security and belonging that had previously vanished. Practically, it promotes the construction of harmonious symbiotic relationships between humanity and nature, individual and society, ethnic groups and the state, and between different nations. It also provides a correct path and directional guide for the development of community in other countries moving toward modernization, thereby interpreting the communal dimension and value pursuit of a new form of human civilization.
(1) The Theoretical Significance of Reconstructing Community through Chinese-path Modernization
Xi Jinping emphasized: "Our modernization is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmony between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development." This fully summarizes the theoretical characteristics and distinct features of our modernization, as well as its theoretical connotations. Xi Jinping’s thought on community is embedded within the theoretical logic of Chinese-path modernization: Precisely because our modernization involves a "huge population," we must build a community for social governance to achieve the harmonious coexistence and development of such a large population. Precisely because our modernization aims for "common prosperity for all" and "coordination between material and cultural-ethical advancement," we must forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation [7] so that not one of the 56 ethnic groups is left behind on the road to common prosperity. Precisely because our modernization is the "harmony between humanity and nature," we must foster a "life community of humanity and nature" to meet the requirements of sustainable human development. Precisely because our modernization "follows the path of peaceful development," we must construct a "community with a shared future for humanity" and a "community with a shared future in cyberspace" to maintain lasting peace and development between states.
The Xi Jinping thought on community formed under this theoretical logic possesses an inherent systematicity: it is unified both within the practical process of being people-centered and under the future goal of moving toward a "true community." It is a practical discourse continuously verified during the theoretical construction of Chinese-path modernization and a new community paradigm continuously opened during its practical journey. Marx argued: "Only in community [with others has each] individual the means of cultivating his gifts in all directions; only in the community, therefore, is personal freedom possible." The "Four Structures" [8] of Xi Jinping’s thought on community are precisely reshaping a community lifestyle for the Chinese people and other late-developing nations, thereby exploring a path toward truly free and well-rounded development. Although these "Four Structures" were formed through the process of handling different relationships, they constitute a logically tight, synergistic, and integrated body of thought, unified within the theoretical connotation and practical process of the Chinese-path modernization. In short, one of the comparative advantages of the Chinese-path modernization is reflected in its response to the modern world—where community has been dissolved by the logic of capital—and its attendant modern problems. It reshapes a new community paradigm for human life and effectively interprets the communal dimension and pursuit of a new form of human civilization.
(2) The Institutional Significance of Reconstructing Community through Chinese-path Modernization
The path of Chinese-path modernization is one of catching up with Western developed countries at the economic level, but the two differ fundamentally in their ultimate purpose. The Western path of modernization adopted a "serial" mode of economic development, forming sequential stages from "primitive accumulation to industrialization to informatization." The "primitive accumulation" that laid its developmental foundation originated from the process of plunder and aggression carried out by the bourgeoisie through bloody and violent means. As Marx said: "Capital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt." Under the dominance of the logic of capital, the ultimate goal of every stage after the capitalist system is established is to achieve greater capital valorization and better extraction of surplus value. Chinese-path modernization is a path of "parallel" development [9]; it did not undergo the criminal stage of "primitive accumulation" that was necessary in the development of capitalist countries. Instead, it created a brand-new form of human civilization. This form of civilization changed the Western-style pattern of tearing the social whole into isolated, atomized individuals; with socialist civilization as its essential attribute, it created the community form of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Chinese-path modernization possesses a distinct socialist nature and is necessarily a path toward a "true community." Marx clearly pointed out that the future communist society would be a "true community": "In a real community the individuals obtain their freedom in and through their association." Chinese-path modernization is grounded in the socialist system; its value orientation is necessarily toward communism. With communism as the goal of institutional construction, it possesses the internal drive and theoretical support to fundamentally transcend Western modernity, effectively discarding and surpassing the institutional and practical modes of the "illusory community." Such a path of modernization necessarily carries the value objective of building a "true community." The "Four Structures" of Xi Jinping's thought on community were formed during the construction and development of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This construction process both fully absorbs the developmental achievements of Western modernization and strives to evade its defects, exploring an effective mode that transcends the Western modernization path built upon the capitalist system. In short, Xi Jinping’s thought on community and its practice, germinated within the path of Chinese-path modernization, effectively avoid the pitfalls of various modern problems caused by the dissolution of community in the Western modernization process, demonstrating the significant advantages of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
(3) The Practical Significance of Reconstructing Community through Chinese-path Modernization
Chinese-path modernization is built upon a reflection on the dissolution of community by capitalism and the resulting series of real-world harms. It has emerged through the historical process in which the Communist Party of China led the Chinese people to explore "what kind of socialism to build" and "how to build socialism." The practice of Chinese-path modernization is not only intended to achieve "high-quality development" at the economic level; it also includes "developing whole-process people's democracy" at the political level; "enriching the people’s spiritual world" at the cultural level; "achieving common prosperity for all" at the social level; "promoting harmony between humanity and nature" at the ecological level; and "promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity and creating a new form of human civilization" at the diplomatic level.
The practical development of Chinese-path modernization across these levels contains the realization methods of Xi Jinping’s thought on community. First, to achieve "high-quality development," we must not only continue to expand opening-up and seize the opportunities of globalization but also persist in a development model of independence and innovation-driven growth to enhance the resilience of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This requires us: on one hand, to dedicate ourselves to the construction and maintenance of a "community with a shared future for humanity"; on the other hand, to constantly construct a "community for social governance" and a "community for the Chinese nation," providing a stable and harmonious social and ethnic environment for the innovation and creativity of the masses; and furthermore, to fortify the "community with a shared future in cyberspace" to better utilize information and network technologies to enhance our own creativity. Second, to "develop whole-process people's democracy," "enrich the people's spiritual world," and "achieve common prosperity for all," we must also build a "community for social governance" and a "community for the Chinese nation." The construction of these two communities emphasizes the synchronized advancement of material and cultural-ethical civilization. Against the backdrop of a general improvement in the people's material standard of living, increasing investment in spiritual and cultural products and raising the spiritual state and cultural refinement of the masses will enable them to consciously and better participate in social and state governance, ensuring every ethnic group can enjoy the various fruits of the socialist cause. Third, to "promote harmony between humanity and nature," we must forge a "life community of humanity and nature," creating a healthy, green, and sustainable living environment for the masses. Under the guidance of the life community, we actively engage in practices of environmental protection, ecological restoration, and sustainable resource use. This allows other countries to see China's efforts and achievements in ecological and natural resource protection, providing a model for other nations in handling the relationship between humanity and nature.
The theory of community formed during the process of Chinese-path modernization conforms to the practical logic of Chinese-path modernization itself. History and practice have already proven that Chinese-path modernization is a correct and successful path: "The Party has led the people in successfully charting the Chinese path to modernization, creating a new form of human civilization, expanding the channels for developing countries to achieve modernization, and providing a brand-new choice for those countries and nations that wish to accelerate their development while maintaining their independence." As a practical achievement of Chinese-path modernization, Xi Jinping’s thought on community necessarily possesses the characteristics of practical rationality and scientific validity, and it is capable of realizing itself through the continuous advancement of the Chinese-path modernization. Based on this, we believe: first, this theoretical system is not in a "finished" state, but rather an "ongoing" paradigm that constantly improves itself alongside practice; second, this theoretical system also provides late-developing countries exploring modernization with a choice of a path that can both achieve modernization and avoid the dissolution of community and the series of real-world problems produced by Western modernization; third, the theory and practical system of community constructed by the Chinese-path modernization is by no means a historical regression to traditional communal social forms. Because it is established upon the developmental process of Chinese-path modernization, it is a modern social community system that both fully embodies the efficacy of the "common good" of traditional communities and possesses the characteristics of Chinese-path modernization.
Web Editor: Tong Xin Source: Socialist Studies, No. 1, 2023