回到马克思:对中国社会分层研究的反思

Returning to Karl Marx:Retrospections on the Studies of the Stratification of Chinese Society

本文在文献分析的基础上,归纳了中国社会分层研究的三种取向或范式,认为中国的社会分层在关系型研究方面还比较薄弱,主张采用马克思主义的社会阶级理论研究中国的社会分层,并根据马克思的生产资料占有关系的理论对稀缺性的生产要素占有关系的命题作了简要说明;由此形成了当代中国四大阶级:管理者阶级、资本所有者阶级、专业与技术人员阶级和劳动阶级,其中占主导地位的是管理者阶级和资本所有者阶级;但是承认阶级的存在,并不意味着阶级对抗甚至暴力革命,在构建和谐社会的条件下,阶级冲突将走向阶级合作。

Using content analysis of documents, this paper summarizes three paradigms adopted in the studies of the stratification of Chinese society and concludes that stratification of social relationships is the weak area. The author proposes Marx’s social class theory for studying China’s social stratification. The paper further applies Marx’s theory of ownership of production materials to a discussion of ownership of scarce production elements. This analysis reveals four classes in China: managerial administrators, capital owners, professionals/technicians, and the working class, with the former two as the leading classes. The existence of these classes, however, does not necessarily mean class conflict or even radical, violent revolution. In the context of constructing harmonious society, class conflict tends to disappear and different classes are likely to work together.