Features of Modernization Processes in the West and China

In the article “Modernization in China” discusses the concept of modernization and options for its definition. The phenomenon itself is still often interpreted as westernization, although the development of a number of Asian countries, and above all of China, shows that there can be many types or versions of modernization. In the light of new scientific data, the main provisions of M. Weber on the impossibility of the development of the bourgeois system in China, related to his analysis of the Confucian and Taoist mentality in comparison with the Protestant principle of “economic man”, are explored. It is shown on concrete material that Euro-centrist methodology often does not give valuable objective results. This requires a new methodology for studying the Chinese national mentality, in particular in the aspect of its ability to form the principles of modern thinking and apply them to economic life.

1. Fukuyama F. The End of History and the Last Man. Transl. from Eng. Moscow: AST; 2007. (In Russ.).

2. Weber M. Economic ethics of world religions: Experiences of comparative sociology of religion. Confucianism and Taoism. Transl. from German St. Petersburg: Vladimir Dal; 2017. (In Russ.).

3. Sorokin P. Man. Civilization. Moscow: Politizdat Publ; 1992. (In Russ.).

4. Lotman Yu.M. The memory of culture. History and semiotics. URL: http://www.philology.ru/literature1/lotman-96. htm (In Russ.).

5. Xiaoying Qi. Face: A Chinese Concept in a Global Sociology URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258154538_Face_A_Chinese_Concept_in_a_Global_Sociology

6. Armstrong K. The battle for God. A history of fundamentalism. Moscow: ANF; 2013. (In Russ.).

7. Perkins D. Legitimacy, nepotism and the Asian way of doing business. Transl. from English. Moscow: Moscow School of Political Research; 2002. (In Russ.).

8. Pai L. “Asian Values”: From Dynamo to Domino? Transl. from Eng. Moscow: Moscow School of Political Research; 2002. (In Russ.).

9. Aristotle. Nicomachean ethics. Transl. from Greek. Moscow: Eksmo-Press; 1997. (In Russ.).

10. Weiming T. Multiplicity of modernizations and the consequences of this phenomenon for East Asia. Moscow: Moscow School of Political Research; 2002: 237–250. (In Russ.).

11. Migunov N. I. The Confucian Way of Tu Weiming. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/v/konfutsianskiy-put-tu-veymina (In Russ.).

12. Malyavin V.V. Modernization and capitalism in China. Regarding the hypothesis of Max Weber. URL: http://www.synologia.ru/a/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F%20%D0%B8%20%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%BC%20%D0%B2%20%D0%9A%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B5.%20%D0%9F%D0%BE%20%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%83%20%D0%B3%D0%B8%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%B7%D1%8B%20%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%20%D0%92%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B0 (accessed on 06.14.2023).