Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.10, 2022

 

Theory of the State in the Digital Age

(Abstract)

 

Huang Qisong

 

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the new technological revolution represented by big data and artificial intelligence has developed rapidly and humanity has entered the digital age. State practice form has taken on new forms and characteristics, and the modern state theory, born of the age of industrial civilization, is being challenged. Based on an analysis of the Marxist doctrine of the state, we propose the core elements of state theory to be violence, territory, institutions and state capacity. Within this framework, we analyze the dilemmas of state theory on the basis of conceptualizing the new forms and phenomena of state practice in the context of the new technological revolution, giving new connotations to the core concepts of state theory: incorporating digital violence under violence, digital sovereignty under territory, digital government under institutions, and digital governance under state capacity. By enriching the connotations of these concepts, we try to propose a state theory for the digital age.