Chinese Social Sciences Review (Volume 4)

Author: Zhang Shuguang, Deng Zhenglai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: The "Theme Forum" of this volume publishes Professor Hu Biliang's "Relation Community" and Professor He Mengbi's commentary on Hu's work, "Network, Community, and Intermediate Structures." This is a theoretically innovative proposition derived from a long-term examination of real-world relationships. Although the concepts of "relation" and "community" have long existed, dynamicizing relations into connections and expansions forms a relational network, thereby linking the concept of network with that of community and constructing the new theoretical concept and analytical framework of "Relation Community." First, based on Chinese practices, it discusses three methods for determining the boundaries of relation communities (Confucian and Mencian "Five Relations," Fei Xiaotong's "Differentiated Circle of Relations," and relational operations) and four manifestations (blood relations circles, geographical relations circles, occupational relations circles, and the Chinese network society). It then explores the basic rules of relational operations, including human feelings and face, differentiated circles of relations, social exchange, and dramaturgy, laying the theoretical foundation for relation communities. Finally, it reveals the theoretical significance of relation communities, particularly emphasizing their openness and virtuality, as well as their role in integrating "strong ties" and "weak ties," "glue-based social capital" and "bridge-based social capital." To some extent, they can help people establish cross-regional communities beyond small-scale local communities, enabling the formation of universal trust over long distances and broader scopes to achieve large-scale cooperation beyond traditional communities. Therefore, as an open organizational form that aids in transcending traditional communities, relation communities hold both practical significance and theoretical explanatory power. In this sense, Professor He Mengbi particularly emphasizes its intermediate structural nature, arguing that a relation community refers to the use of collective resources in open groups to form collective action, producing certain club goods to help its members achieve their personal interests.
In the "Academic Book Review," Ge Siyou's review article truly grasps Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia. It adopts a step-by-step and layer-by-layer approach to reveal the contradictions and shortcomings in Nozick's state theory. It highlights that, on one hand, Nozick believes the only source and limit of state power is individual rights, while on the other hand, he uses the theory of entitlements to prove the illegitimacy of a more functional state. In practical arguments, he replaces the theory of entitlements with the principle of justice, but according to the theory of individual rights, neither process (i.e., transfer) justice can be achieved, nor can moral support be provided for the justice principles and their Lockean provisions. What can provide moral support, though intertwined with Nozick's self-ownership, does not support individual rights. Self-ownership does not support absolute property rights, and according to the requirements of justice, the right to taxation is also included in property rights. It then proposes several major revisions to Nozick's state theory.
The four articles in the "Academic Monographs" cover topics from ancient to modern and across cultures, each with its own theoretical discoveries. Zhu Qiuxia's article argues for the state-owned characteristics of the current agricultural land system and advocates redefining the property rights of collective land ownership based on the farmers' land ownership in the 1950s' cooperatives. Yang Ruyan and Li Ziran's article discuss the transaction patterns and behavioral choices of both parties under asymmetric negotiation capabilities, using the example of the reduction of state-owned shares. Gan Chunsong's article examines the relationship between Kang Youwei and the Confucian Association, proposing and discussing the institutionalization of Confucianism and the cultural identity of the Chinese people. Xu Hua's article explores the heterogeneity roots of modern Japan's labor employment system, demonstrating how cultural concepts determine the evolutionary process of a heterogeneous system.
The two articles in the "Literature Review" demonstrate meticulous organization and evaluation of their respective research subjects. After reading them, readers not only gain a comprehensive understanding of the topic but also receive many insights. The three short articles in the "Book Reviews" are concise yet thought-provoking.