In Search of the Necessary Conditions for Transforming the Chinese Reified Social Reality

Abstract

A reified social reality is oppressive in essence and reactionary by nature. Transforming reified social realities is thus desirable, but what are the necessary conditions for effective transformation? The related literature has yet to furnish a basis to address this critical question. To generate theoretically meaningful and practically usable knowledge for theorists and practitioners, this paper analyzes a successful case of the transformation of a reified social reality in China in the early 20 th Century and reports a recent natural experiment basing on the findings of the aforementioned case analysis. The purposes are to identify the necessary conditions for effective transformation and to illustrate how the propositions basing on the fruitful experience reported could be applied to formulate strategies for solving similar problems in contemporary China. The principal finding of the case study is that pertinent political propositions, appropriate strategies, and effective operation mechanisms are the three necessary conditions for the occurrence of transformation of reified social reality. The principal finding of the natural experiment is that the three necessary conditions are indeed essential to enhancing the feasibility of the occurrence of transformation of the reified social reality in China in the 21 st Century. Research and policy implications are discussed.