Ideological Transformation of the PRC: Parallels with Late Socialism in the USSR

Most sinologists assume that ideology is a set of values and ideas which reflect reality in a more or less precise way. While studying ideology of PRC they focus on the literal sense of ideological narratives. Some scholars take another approach and study practical implications of ideological utterances, rather than their literal meaning. This is the approach adopted in this study. The author draws basic assumptions from Alexey Yurchak’s work on late socialism in USSR and then proceed to find parallels between Soviet and Chinese ideologies. He discovers that some aspects of “performative shift” can be found in PRC. Like in late Soviet Union, in China it is more import to reproduce the proper form of ideological language, rather than its literal meaning. In this respect Hu Jintao era (2002-2012) is remarkable. In this period language of the official discourse became ossified. At the same time Hu Jintao era is marked with a certain degree of ideological pluralism. Chinese intellectuals were relatively free in interpreting official narratives and in bringing in new ideas into the ideological discourse. Xi Jinping era is characterized by a reversed process. Party language has become more vivid, and the Chinese leader has started to give comments on the literal meaning of various ideological conceptions. Meanwhile there are fewer opportunities for free interpretation of the official discourse. We come to the conclusion that today Chinese socialism is going through the process of re-ideologization unlike the Soviet system which underwent de-ideologization before its eventual collapse.

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