Social Engineering and China's Construction of Modernity (ePub)

Modern society is organic unity of concepts of modernity and movements of modernization. Modernity becomes one of the most focal topics in our times therefrom. The main task of modernity critique is not to make a choice between retaining modernity and transcending modernity. A more important significance lies in stopping continuous spreading of modernity crisis caused by paradox of modernity itself and correcting social distortion that may be caused by excessive development of modernity in some aspects, so as to prevent greater crisis and harm. When modernity paradox pushes modern civilization into the embarrassing situation of concurrent prosperity and contradiction, development and crisis, Chinese society ushers in the full-scale development of its modernization process. Therefore, China's construction of modernity inevitably has deep consciousness of problems and crisis consciousness. From the perspective of history, modernity has always been the value goal that Chinese people yearn for and pursue since modern times. It is in the unremitting pursuit of the goal that China autonomously participates in the development process of global modernity. For Chinese society in the key stage of social transformation, it is an inevitable choice for China to accelerate modernization and cultivate modernity. As a country of later modernity, China's construction of modernity is bound to be full of complexity and contradictions and face difficult choice and judgment between tradition and modernity, repetition and transcendence. However, it doesn't mean that we must go the old way that western countries had taken. Facts proved that there is more than one kind of modernity and more than one pattern of modernization. If Chinese modernity wants to achieve its independence, we must realize the abandonment and transcendence of the way how western countries constructed modernity. China must constantly reflect on and carefully analyze modernity, calmly design and boldly innovate for the cultivation of Chinese modernity through its own modernization practice, so as to ensure healthy and stable development of China's modernization. This is the basic orientation for Chinese modernity.