A Study Of Martin Jacques’s View Of Social History

Martin Jacques is one of the more active British Marxists.In recent years,he has shifted his field of vision in the study of social development from the West to China,thinking deeply about China’s social governance,modernization patterns and cultural roots from the perspective of a Westerner,and analyzing the changes in the international order from a fresh perspective.Martin Jacques looks at the changes in the world as a whole,both in terms of the contemporary international system,its history and its future.Based on the academic book When China Ruled the World and its reprint of The Ambition of Great Powers,this article analyses and examines Martin Jacques’ social-historical perspective from the standpoint of Marx’s materialist view of history,outlining the issues of horizons,subjectivity,dynamics and future of his social-historical research.At the same time,the paper hopes to use this research to dispel the current international rhetoric of "a strong country will be hegemonic","China threat theory","singing the praises of China" and "zero-sum game theory",to further tell the Chinese story,to improve the soft power and international influence of Chinese culture,and to increase China’s international discourse power.The paper is divided into four main sections.The first section explains the basis of the study,the significance of the study,the research methodology,the research ideas,a review of relevant research results at home and abroad,and the innovations and shortcomings of the paper.The second part defines the six concepts-view of social history,economic power,civilization,civilized state,nation state and tribute system.It also introduced the basic contradictions of society,the dynamics and trends of social development,the historical subject,the law of universal connection and change and development of things,cultural relativism and the theory of the world system.The third part focuses on Martin Jacques’ theory of social development.It first points out the role of economic powers in the development of world history;then dissects the technological and military powers,industrial and technological powers and civilizational powers that have emerged in world history;and finally analyses their sinking and floating in world history.The fourth part is devoted to a review of Martin Jacques’ view of social history and an analysis of the progressiveness,limitations,theoretical value and practical significance of his social-historical studies.