Thematization of globalist processes in traditional Chinese Marxism

Abstract

Objective. The article attempts to present and analyze how the process and trend of globalization is articulated and thematized and understood within the Chinese version of Marxism. Methods. The research uses historical, historical-comparative methods, as well as the method of conceptual analysis. Results and conclusions. It is shown that already in Maoist Marxism there is a shift in theoretical emphasis, which is precisely related to the phenomenon of globalism and the issue of globalization: the class contradiction between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is supplemented by an analysis of the global hierarchy of states, within which colonial and semi-colonial countries appear as key subjects of the world revolutionary process. It is argued that the Maoist concept of "world revolution" actually contains an early form of understanding of global interdependence, interpreted through the categories of imperialism, uneven development, and anti-hegemonic struggle.

It is demonstrated that only in the post-Maoist period there was a transition to a positive conceptualization of globalization as a historical regularity. This transition is explored on the basis of an analysis of the programmatic works of Chinese Marxist scholars of the reform period, who branched out into the interpretation of the world economy as a system of structural inequality. A special place is occupied here by the ideological function of Marxism in the context of economic reforms, where it, from the point of view of Chinese Marxists, acts as a mechanism of normative limitation of China's integration into the global economy. It is demonstrated that, in general, the specified transition conceptually affirms limited integration into the world economy under the conditions of preserving the autonomy of the socialist system, which is interpreted as the principle of "heteronomy as a whole." It is shown that this thesis appears to be the backbone of the reception of the problem of globalization in Chinese traditional Marxism, and also that the corresponding approach lays the foundations for the modern Chinese understanding of globalization as a contradictory process that simultaneously promotes the development of productive forces and reproduces the structural inequalities of the world system.

An important place in the research is the reconstruction of the theoretical conflict between Deng Liqun and Wang Zhushui, which is interpreted as a clash of two models of understanding the processes of globalism: the orthodox-Marxist one, which insists on the priority of ideological sovereignty, and the humanist-reformist one, which is focused on a humanistic reinterpretation of Marxism and openness to the world intellectual and civilizational space. As a result, the thesis is substantiated that it is this discussion that becomes an important source of the modern Chinese model of globalization, which combines economic integration with political-ideological control and the preservation of civilizational specifics of development.