Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.9, 2013

National Identity in the Course of Globalization

(Abstract)

Li Chongfu et al.

The issue of national identity has become increasingly salient and complicated against the background of globalization. In order to unravel academically the issue of national identity in the course of globalization and to explore the ways of strengthening the national identity of the Chinese people, we have organized the Conference on National Identity in the Course of Globalization. Some of the most representative conference papers are selected for publication in this issue. Senior Research Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Li Chongfu stresses that we should adopt the Marxist theory of the state as the theoretical basis for national identity research and use the Marxist view of class to analyze the specific national identity of a specific people. Professor Wang Zhuojun and Dr. He Hualing from Soochow University argue that although globalization has led to the crisis of national identity, the root cause for the crisis lies in the inefficient self-governance of a nation state. They propose that a “four-in-one” route comprising system, interests, culture and community be adopted to construct and remold national identity. Professors Zhan Xiaomei and Wang Shimin from Sun Yat-sen University believe that using national cultural identity to bolster political identity can help reinforce and expand the space of political identity, improve the interest-sharing mechanism within the community, and strengthen the mental and ideological basis for political cohesiveness. Professor Zhou Guanghui and Dr. Liu Xiangdong from Jilin University point out that in the era of globalization, building a developing multi-ethnic country faces the opposition and conflict between local ethnic identity and national identity. The key to resolving the conflict lies in an improved system building of modern state, the establishment of constitutional authority with an integrated political community, an improved and corrective modern social security system that guarantees citizens’ basic social rights, and the establishment of a political integration mechanism characterized by openness and transparency, equal participation and democratic negotiations, so as to achieve personal identity, authority identity, security identity and procedure identity. Professor Men Honghua from the Party School of the CPC Central Committee proposed that we should forge domestic consensus and boost international recognition to strengthen the national identity of the Chinese people. For this purpose, greater efforts should be made to nurture civil awareness, enhance the soft power of our country, strengthen the links between national identity, local identity and global identity, and serve as the bridge between developing countries and developed ones.