Target and Cost

Author: Zhou Xinxin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: This book centers on the development goals of modernization in contemporary China, takes the issue of costs during the social transformation period as the logical thread, uses the worldview, values, and methodology of Marxism as analytical tools, focuses on curbing and reducing costs, and dares to address major real-world problems. The author seriously proposes solutions to these problems with a serious, earnest, and bold approach. The author believes that China's current modernization is undergoing a transition from a planned economy system to a market economy system. The purpose of this transition is to reduce the costs of development, yet it has also generated many new cost-related issues: such as the conflict between tradition and modernity, the contradiction between global and national identity, the entanglement of planning and the market, the divergence between polarization and common prosperity, the duality of economy and morality, the conflict and friction of value systems, and the tension in the relationship between humans and nature, among others. Whether China can avoid falling into the "trap of modernization" and the of development, and whether it can conduct an objective, calm, and deep philosophical reflection on the problems faced in its modernization process, are crucial prerequisites and key aspects for reducing the costs of development. This book seriously summarizes the experience and lessons of China's modernization construction, especially by rationally examining the successes and failures after the reform and opening-up. It reflects on the development dilemmas faced by developing countries in the modernization process, draws on the successes of developed countries in their post-modernization turn, summarizes the lessons from the collapse of the socialist modernization models in countries like the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and actively explores key, difficult, and hot issues encountered in China's modernization process. This fully reflects the author's strong sense of social responsibility, distinct sense of urgency, and ability to analyze and grasp overall issues. The book uses comprehensive and authentic materials, follows standardized writing conventions, and employs clear and simple language with a down-to-earth style.