Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 11, 2023

“Rural Urbanization” in Western Europe since Industrialization

(Abstract)

Liu Jinghua

The “rural urbanization” of Western Europe since industrialization should be understood along three dimensions, in accordance with the relevant Marxian thesis. The first is Marx’s emphasis on the subordination of the countryside to the city and the city’s realization of its domination over the countryside. The second is the phenomenon of the urbanization of rural areas and the increasing urbanization of rural populations, including the large-scale concentration and transfer of rural populations to the cities that Marx had experienced. The third is that rural urbanization also implies a “quasi-”urbanization of rural lifestyles and economic and social relations, as well as an equal integration of urban and rural areas and an integrated approach to development. The understanding of rural urbanization in Western Europe should not be taken literally, but should be based on understanding the essence of Marx’s thesis, on a deep understanding of the essence of the subordination of the countryside to the city in the era of industrialization, on learning the lessons of the impact and damage to the countryside, on a full affirmation of the significance of rural urbanization for the advancement of urbanization, and on positively grasping the direction of equal urban-rural integration and integrated development.