道德贫困及其治理的乡村个案研究:基于信德的观测

A Case Study of Moral Poverty and its Solution in the Rural Areas: Observations based on the Virtue of Honesty

当代中国乡村道德贫困问题研究缺乏从文化角度深度展开,亦没有对"公权力集团"做出阶层区分。以理坑村为例对乡村道德贫困现象进行探讨,村民的美德正在丧失仅为表象,村民信德失范不应完全被宏观地描述为社会文化变迁的必然结果,而更应从微观上将其视为村民间接和隐蔽地不满地方政府行为的形式和产物。这种不满源于基层政府的所作所为被村民解释为自利的不正当行为。村民对基层"公权力集团"成员不当的行为方式、不公的政策安排及腐化的人格形象的不满与怨恨无法直接申诉,转而向其他相对弱势社会群体宣泄,这是村民行事的逻辑,也是理坑村出现道德贫困现象的根本原因。"公权力集团"成员及治理方式的不公正动摇着乡村社会既有的道德结构和道德文化,瓦解着村民继续市场化的热情,衍生出道德贫困。这种道德贫困的本质应该被表述为特定政治制度安排和政治文化下的自我道德戕害和隐秘的反抗形式的间接表达。因此,中国乡村道德建设的首要对象必须发生转向,即由村民转向地方政府等公权力集团。

The problem of moral poverty in the rural areas of contemporary China has not yet been adequately treated as a cultural phenomenon. Nor has the stratification of public power been analyzed. Take the Li Keng village for an example, the villagers hardly perform any moral deeds or show any moral integrity. Yet this should not be simply seen as the result of social and cultural change. It is more likely that the villagers are indirectly or covertly expressing their grievance against the behaviors of the local government, which, in the eyes of the villagers, are self-serving and, therefore, unjust. Because there is no way for the villagers to complain about the misconducts, the unjust policy making and corruption of the local authority, they turn to the weak to vent their resentments. This logic of the villagers＇ conduct best explains the moral poverty of the Li Keng village. The unjust governance of the local public power undermines the ethical structure and moral culture of the rural society, giving rise to moral poverty. Because of this the villagers see less interest in market economy and are not motivated to go further. The nature of this moral poverty should be seen as self-moral-degradation and an indirect expression of a form of covert revolt under a certain political institutional arrangement and political culture. Therefore, in constructing the moral life in China＇s rural society we should turn our attention from the villagers to the local organization of public power like the local government.