Value Dimension of Development Outlook: Critique and Transcendence of "Productivism" - A Key Academic Work on Philosophy and Social Sciences in Jiangsu Province

Author: He Huaiyuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: This book, through the study of the theories of "Productivism" and "Critique of Productivism," aims to transcend both "Productivism" and the "Critique of Productivism" theories. It seeks to clarify misunderstandings about Marx's concept of material production, scientifically assess the social and historical role of material production, establish a scientific standard for evaluating the humanistic, economic, and social values of material production, summarize the experiences and lessons of China's economic development since the reform and opening-up, and theoretically explore the logical basis and practical implications of adhering to the Scientific Outlook on Development. The introduction traces and organizes the different contexts and meanings of the concept of "Productivism," studies the history and current state of the "Critique of Productivism," and categorizes the "Critique of Productivism" into three levels: narrow, broad, and ideological critique of productivism. On this basis, it proposes the theoretical significance and practical value of studying, critiquing, and transcending productivism and the critique of productivism. A narrow productivist society is a "production-consumption society," while a broad productivist society is a "consumption-production society." The former is a production-dominated society where the logic of production guides the operation and development of society; the latter is a consumption-dominated society where the logic of consumption guides the operation and development of society. Correspondingly, narrow productivism critique targets the "production-consumption society," while broad productivism critique targets the "consumption-production society." The critique of productivism also delves into the ideological level of the productivist system, critiquing the productivist concept as a historical materialist worldview, as well as the fundamental ideas that turn producers into productivists, thereby supporting the unlimited expansion of material production.
Chapter 1 begins by analyzing the differences among scholars in understanding Marx's concept of material production and proposes three methods for correctly understanding Marx's perspective. Method I involves focusing on and transcending "strong texts" and "strong textual expressions." A "strong text" refers to works that have played or are playing a dominant role in confirming and disseminating Marxism. A "strong textual expression" refers to theoretical viewpoints and passages that the author explicitly highlights, summarizes, and emphasizes throughout the text. The purpose of distinguishing between "strong texts" and "strong textual expressions" is to remind readers to pay attention to them and understand and grasp the important ideas, theories, and viewpoints Marx sought to convey, while also reminding them to transcend them—avoiding a superficial understanding and misinterpreting Marxism. Method II categorizes Marx's texts into four types: "public texts" (autonomous public texts), "quasi-public texts," "sub-public texts," and "non-public texts," and proposes a method for understanding the ordering of Marx's texts based on intentionality and chronological sequences. Method III emphasizes the fundamental purpose of theoretical research and the systematic interpretation of the textual system, requiring readers to always contextualize each text within Marx's theoretical framework under the overarching goal of his writing.
Chapter 2 lays the Marxist theoretical foundation for transcending the theories of "Productivism" and the "Critique of Productivism" through the study of Marx's concept of material production. The book argues that Marx transcends productivism through his analysis of production's ideal, real, and combined aspects. It emphasizes that young Marx distinguished between "labor" and "alienated labor" at the philosophical level, exposing the "alienated labor" nature of workers' production activities in capitalist society, which became his lifelong "ideal paradigm" for critiquing the productivist economic system. When examining material production itself from an economic perspective, Marx recognized the inevitability of capitalist production and the social problems arising from its dominance over society. Marx sought to transcend productivism by finding theoretical concepts and practical pathways within the tension between the idealized nature of "labor" and the real necessity of capitalist "production" and human "alienated labor." This chapter systematically addresses an important question raised in the introduction, concluding that Marx is a deeply systematic critic of productivist societies.
Chapter 3 reviews the critiques of productivism's self-reflexivity by Western scholars, particularly Western Marxists, post-Marxists, as well as economists, sociologists, and cultural theorists. The unlimited expansion of productivism, driven by producers' material interests, inevitably leads to crises in production processes and imbalances in human-nature relationships, trapping material production in increasingly deep dilemmas. The path to escaping the operational crises of the productivist system lies in global trade. Scholars have analyzed and critiqued capitalism's use of global trade as a tool for economic, political, and cultural colonization, leading to the self-reflexivity of productivism on a global scale. As "productivist societies" transition into "consumer societies," productivism manipulates the cultural meanings of commodities through cultural symbols, subordinating the material value of goods to the meanings assigned to them, constantlying and redefining their use value, and transforming production into a "creative destruction" process of use value and wealth. The world becomes a "world of transient objects," and human productive activities become Sisyphean toil. Productivism exhibits extreme value self-reflexivity, fully exposing its limitations, irrationality, and absurdity.
Chapter 4 selects the three major ideological concepts supporting the productivist system—concepts of nature, human nature, and development—and summarizes scholars' critiques of how these concepts in the West have been polluted and distorted by productivism. The concept of "nature" has been colonized by commodity culture after the Industrial Revolution, becoming a "productivist view of nature," where the real natural world is subsumed under market logic. The concept of "human nature" has evolved from Plato to Freud into an anthropological tradition of "I consume, therefore I am," shaped by the Renaissance's "" and forming the commercial cultural ethos of contemporary Western society. When humans are fully naturalized and instinctualized, the humanities and social sciences then universally advocate for "human-centeredness," achieving a collusion between the concept of "human nature" and the productivist system. The concept of "development" glorifies "achievement," encourages "competition," equates development with "economic growth," and uses development to manufacture distinctions between "civilization" and "savagery," "modern" and "traditional," supporting the hegemony of Western cultural and social systems. It can be said that the operational mechanism of the productivist system is emotive control, where individuals in this system experience "self-tormenting pleasure" and "satisfying dissatisfaction."
Chapter 5 proposes a new value evaluation framework for comprehensively transcending both "Productivism" and the "Critique of Productivism," based on Marxist concepts of material production and incorporating the theoretical achievements of productivism critique while overcoming its shortcomings. This framework is the tripartite value theory of material production, achieving a high degree of unity among its humanistic, economic, and social values. The internal relationships within this tripartite value system are mutually supportive, mutually restrictive, and of equal value. China's Scientific Outlook on Development is a concrete embodiment of this practical model. The development perspective built on this value evaluation system has two key points: "people-centeredness" and comprehensive, coordinated, and sustainable development. In handling relations between nations, it reflects a humanistic sentiment of "buddies in the vast sea, neighbors across the globe," promoting "friendly, prosperous, and peaceful neighbors."
The ultimate goal is to build a harmonious socialist society.