The People-Oriented Stance in Marx and Engels’ Thought on Modernization

Abstract

Although Marx and Engels did not explicitly formulate the concept of “modernization,” their discussions of the development of productive forces, the transformation of social relations, human emancipation, and the future form of society constitute important theoretical resources for understanding modernization. In examining modern society, Marx and Engels did not proceed from abstract principles, but grounded their analysis in real human beings and their material conditions of life. They thereby revealed that while capitalist modernization advances productive forces and expands global interaction, it also produces the domination of things over human beings, the subordination of labor to capital, and the one-sided development of the individual. In this sense, the people-oriented stance constitutes the fundamental position of Marx and Engels’ thought on modernization. Its core lies not in the mere pursuit of wealth growth and technological expansion, but in truly translating the achievements of modernization into improvements in the living conditions, the establishment of subjectivity, and the all-round development of the broad masses of working people. Marx and Engels’ critique of capitalist modernization is, in the final analysis, a critique of the way capital accumulation overwhelms human development; their vision of future society points to a new form of modernization that takes the people as its subjects and regards the free and all-round development of human beings as its value destination. A renewed grasp of the people-oriented stance in Marx and Engels’ thought on modernization is of important theoretical significance for deepening research on modernization theory and for understanding the value orientation of Chinese modernization.

Keywords

• Marx and Engels
• thought on modernization
• people-oriented stance
• all-round human development

References

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