The Study Of Theories And Practices Of Rural Social Construction Of CPC Since Reform And Opening-up

Research on social construction has become abundant and fruitful since 2004. The fact is that the gap between rural and urban areas is widening and rural areas are deficient in such public goods as education, sanitation and civilization. Therefore, in the process of promoting social construction, rural social construction has become the weakest as well as the most important aspect of socialism construction, which should be highly valued and effectively developed. The tenet of rural social construction is to reduce little by little the gap between rural and unban areas, and ensure peasants an equal chance to enjoy the fruits of social and economic development. Only in this way will a society of equity, justice and harmony be ultimately built.Neither the concept"rural social construction"nor its goals and tasks have been brought up before, but CPC came up with the thought of rural social construction long before and has already put it into practice. So far, the thought has become an indispensable part of social construction with Chinese characteristics. Since reform and opening-up, all social undertakings in rural areas have made rapid progress under the leadership of CPC. Nevertheless, rural areas are confronted with slow growth and arduous tasks, and still have a long way to go.Based on previous studies and the practices of rural economic development, the study centers on the historical course of Chinese rural reforms since reform and opening-up, and builds a theoretical framework of rural social construction with the help of the theoretical summary of rural social construction of CPC. Hopefully, an empirical analysis has been made in comparison with the practices of Chinese rural social construction, including historical evolution, institutional transformation, realistic characteristics and social effects. Furthermore, corresponding measures will be put forward based on an exhaustive study of the theoretical framework of Chinese rural social construction. The study is of great theoretical and practical significance. First of all, valuable historical experiences and lessons can be drawn from the study of the construction of a new socialism countryside and that of the progress of rural society guided by Scientific Outlook on Development. Second, ideas and suggestions on further rural social construction can be extracted from the practices of building a harmonious society and a well-off society in an all-around way.This dissertation consists of introduction, main body and conclusion.Chapter I is an introductory part, including an overview of Chinese rural social construction theory from the aspect of its origin, significance and present studies, as well as the structure, contents and methodology of the dissertation.From Chapter II to Chapter VII is the main body. Chapter II is about basic theories of rural social construction. It starts with the introduction of the connotation and the basic meaning of social construction from the perspective of sociology, on the basis of which, the concept of rural social construction is analyzed from three aspects: people as individuals, social groups and the whole society. What's more, the definition and five characteristics of rural social construction: locality, sociality, constructiveness, integrity and equity are concluded based on rural and social traits and social functions. The basic components of rural social construction are also summed up in this chapter: rural construction of social structures, social relations, social organizations, social undertakings, and social systems and institutional mechanisms.Chapter III introduces the thought of rural social construction of CPC from a macro point of view, which includes four basic principles: the principle of participating and sharing, the principle of equity and justice, the principle of people first, the principle of coordinated economic and social development; two strategic goals: promoting all-round development of peasants and achieving harmony in rural society; two strategic focuses: improving people's livelihood and accomplishing six tasks.Chapter IV analyzes the theoretical origin of rural social construction thought of CPC from two aspects: on the one hand, Marx and Engels'thoughts of social construction, including thought of equity and justice, thought of people's free and all-round development, thought of social security, thought of income distribution and thought of labor and employment, have brought new insight to rural social construction of China and become the theoretical origin of the thought of CPC in rural social construction; on the other hand, western scholars'theories of civil society, public governance, risk society, social conflicts and social welfare have provided materials for rural social construction of China. Moreover, this chapter studies relevant policies and practices of Germany, Korea, India and other European and American countries and aims to supply reference for rural social construction of China.Chapter V is about the study of the thoughts of rural social construction of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Hu Jintao since reform and opening-up. What's more, the thoughts of rural social construction of CPC are summed up by theory in this chapter as well.Chapter VI, based on the characteristics of rural social construction at different periods, divides the practices of CPC into three phases: First, the phase of the rural social construction centered on economic construction (1978-1988), when rural reforms initiated and shifted from spontaneous to government-driven. Second, the transiting phase from economic construction to people's all-around development (1988-2002), when rural reforms deepened and developed zigzag. Third, the phase of the rural social construction centered on people's well-being (2002-now), when rural reforms entered a new phase. In this chapter, the practical course of rural social construction of CPC is also studied by means of analyzing the policies of rural social construction in"No.1 Articles", and the policy-making, the adoptive measures, the recurring problems and the deficiency of policies in rural education, employment, health care, public services and social security. Finally, this chapter ends with the summary of the experience of rural social construction of CPC. Chapter VII presents the basic strategy of carrying forward rural social construction based on China's reality and the theories and practices all above. Besides, the deficiencies of policies and measures in the process of rural social construction are introduced with some constructive ideas and suggestions being presented on how to improve peasants'livelihood.The conclusion part is a brief summary and complement to the study, which highlights the achievements of rural social construction of CPC since reform and opening-up and prospects the development foreground of rural social construction.