1、1Chinese Communist Party and the Sinicization of Marxs Employ Labor TheoryAbstract. The employ labor theory of Marxs is of great significance and it is one of the core concepts in the Marxist theory system. This theory acknowledges the alienation nature of employ labor under the dominance of capital
2、 logic. It considers the elimination of capitalist employ labor as a prerequisite to set labor free. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been devoting itself to eliminate exploitation and promote the sinicization of this theory since its foundation. CCP incorporated the theory with present class s
3、tatus in China, searched for the manifestations of Chinese employ labor and formulated some policy measures, which matched up with distinct Chinese characteristics, to solve the alienation problem. What CCP had done provided references to todays studies on how to conquer the alienation of employ lab
4、or. Key words: employ labor, alienation, Chinese Communist Party I How to overcome the alienation of employ labor is a puzzle 2that Marx left to the proletarians all over the world. While searching for answers, CCP made use of its own practical experiences to actively promote the sinicization of Mar
5、xs employ labor theory and decidedly showed distinct Chinese characteristics during the process. CCP has not only achieved plenty of experiences but also gained deep understandings on the theory. The reasonable social and economic development of Chinese “employ labor” at present is a summary and app
6、lication of experiences and understandings, which were gained along the way. CCP started to study and discuss the “employ labor” since the beginning of the Partys foundation. The principle of the First National Peoples Congress, which was held in 1921, clearly indicated that the prerequisite of elim
7、inating employ labor is to “eliminate the capitalist private ownership system”. Then the second Congress in 1922 pointed out that the supreme principle should be establishing a Communist society, in which the government is governed by the laborers and the farmers. The aim of such principle was to wi
8、pe out the private ownership system. Since the continuous changing of CCPs status and specific missions in different historical periods, the understandings towards Marxs employ labor theory varied. 3The alienation problem has become more and more obvious since CCP takes over the regime, especially a
9、fter China established the goal of developing market economy. Generally speaking, the sinicization of Marxs employ labor theory has been through the following stages: 1. CCPs understanding and very first practices on Marxs employ labor theory (1921-1949) During the period of New Democratic Revolutio
10、n, the national capitalism in China was developed. There was a surge in the number of employed laborers, so that the problem existed in employment became exposed. However, because China was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society that the main contradictions existed were not between the bourgeoisie
11、and the proletariat, but between various revolutionary classes, which led by the proletariat, and the imperialism, feudalism as well as bureaucrat capitalism. As a result, CCP focused on the introduction and promotion of Marxs employ labor theory in this stage. Within this period, several translatio
12、n versions of Das Kapital were published. They revealed the hidden exploitative nature in employ labor and included contents regard the alienation. As for the political practices, CCP participated in activities that aim to resolve the alienation problem in employ labor in late 1930s, which mainly re
13、flected 4in leading worker strikes and attempting to improve labor-capital relationship in the base and liberated areas. A significant event that took place in this stage is the First National Laborers Congress, which passed some crucial resolutions, including eight-hour working system, strike assis
14、tance and the organizational principle of All-China Federation of Trade Unions. These resolutions were symbols, which represented that CCP has been applying their understandings of Marxs employ labor theory to practical policymaking. Although CCP has not yet put forward clear policies that actually
15、“eliminate the employ labor”, the policies that were already in place and the measures adopted to comply with the policies have all shown that CCP has gained deep understanding on Marxs employ labor theory. 2. Theoretical researches and political advices CCP has made to resolve the alienation of “em
16、ploy labor” (1949-1966) The preliminary stage of CCPs regime started with the Partys foundation and ended in year 1966. This stage can be divided into three main periods, which were national economic recovery period, Three Great Remould and a ten-year period of overall socialist construction. In 195
17、6, China completed the 5Socialist Transformation in agriculture, handicraft, capitalist business and industry and thus made the transformation from private ownership to public ownership on means of production come true. It was a sign showing that CCP indeed started to resolve the alienation problem
18、in “employ labor”. During this stage, CCPs promotion on Marxs employ labor theory mainly reflected in the attempts to skip the development phase of capitalist economy, improve laborers living standards through reforming ownership patterns and productive relations as well as to conquer the labor prob
19、lems brought about by the capitalist production mode. The main manifestations were building Co-operatives and Peoples Communes in villages in order to achieve collaborations in agricultural works.In July 1963, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council agreed on Depa
20、rtment of Labors plans and suggestions on salary arrangements in 1963. Considering the fact that the national economy showed great improvement, they decided to offer 1.1 billion to improve 40% laborers salary levels. The reform practices during this stage reflected CCPs ideal to fundamentally elimin
21、ate the prerequisites of “employ labor” and to avoid alienation in it. We could say that CCP did a great job passing its knowledge of Marxs theory to 6practices and it put a lot of efforts on trials in order to make this theory useful under Chinas present economic situation. 3.“A thorough resolution
22、” to the alienation in “employ labor” to a shallow extent（1966-1976） From 1966 to 1976, CCP made some mistakes during socialist constructions. Influenced by the “Leftist”, CCP inevitably combined Marxs employ labor theory with the “Left” ideology. In this stage, CCP focused on the constructions of n
23、ational defense system and the development of various industries. On the economic front, it asked to implement purer and purer public ownership system. In villages, the Co-operatives and Communes were still in use in an aim to accomplish “integration of government administration with commune managem
24、ent”. The mode of distribution used in villages tended to stress equality, low payments or even none payments, while in cities, the laborers working hours were still restricted in eight hours. The May Seventh Instructions in 1966 put forward two missions. The first mission is to impose restrictions
25、on the labor divisions, commodity production and the distribution according to contributions, while another is to criticize the bourgeoisie. Both missions limited on the conditions for “employ labor” to emerge as well as the 7conditions for it to stay alive. The missions represented CCPs ambitions t
26、o eliminate “employ labor” and its alienation nature and they included contents of equalitarianism. Superficially, the “working class” played a key role in the social activities in this stage and the means of productions belonged to the country and Communes, so there would expect no exploitations an
27、d slaveries. The alienation in “employ labor” seemed to be wiped out. Actually, the productivity in commodity manufacturing was low and the goal of performing mass production hasnt been reached yet. The labor problem was restricted because of undeveloped productivity. As result, the alienation seeme
28、d to be resolved whereas in reality, there wasnt much of a breakthrough. 4. Great trials on the development of Marxs employ labor theory (since 1978) After “The Great Cultural Revolution”, there were two years of political transition and economic fluctuation. After the Third Plenary Session of the 1
29、1th Central Committee Meeting in 1992, CCP made new plans for Chinese social and economic developments based on the practical experiences accumulated since the foundation of the Party. It also did some bold trials on the reform of economic structures. The bold trials here 8reflected in the creative
30、development on Marxs employ labor theory, such as developing market economy based on socialist public ownership system. Considering the fact that the foreign countries were rapidly developing their technology and economy whereas China still had low productivity, the Party paid close attention to adv
31、antages that could help develop socialist productive forces and studied advanced system and management modes in Western countries. Thus, the market economy has become an irreversible trend in China.We could say that as long as the pursuit of residual value in private ownership economy remains unchan
32、ged, the surplus labor cannot be avoided, because the labors will be required to fulfill the needs for reproduction. Labor and enjoyment are still contradictable existences. In 2004, “the legal and private properties of citizens cannot be violated” was written in the constitution. Furthermore, “deci
33、dedly encourages, supports and guides the development of private ownership economy” was put forward in the Sixteenth National Congress, which further affirmed CCPs acceptance in the private ownership economy and employ labor with the background of socialist public ownership system. Thirty years of e
34、conomic development in China has proven that under the condition of publically owned means of production, the 9appropriate development of employ labor can improve the productivity. This was an innovation and development in Marxs theory that shows distinct Chinese characteristics, as result, it was r
35、egarded as a bold trial with historic significance. In 90 years, CCP has been trying to understand and promote the employ labor theory of Marxs. The Party incorporated the theory with Chinas practical situations, well applied the theory in the reform process and actively propelled the sinicization o
36、f this theory. Local, practical and innovative traits can be found in the process. Localization Marxs employ labor theory was a scientific theory, which was formulated by studying the labor conditions in cities of Western countries. Before liberation, China was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal societ
37、y. The capitalist development only emerged in metropolises, riverside and coastal cities and the development was restricted to preliminary stage. Whats important is that CCP not only conducted research on the labor conditions in cities but also paid close attention to the “employ labor” phenomenon i
38、n villages.The history has already made clear that during different historical periods for Chinese 10economic and social development, the meaning of “employ labor” did not have exactly the same meaning as the capitalist employ labor. In the period of democratic revolution, CCPs attitude towards the
39、capitalism differed from Marxs, since the semi-colonial and semi-feudal China did not have contradictions between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, instead, the contradictions were between various revolutionary classes led by proletariat (including workers, farmers, petty bourgeoisie in cities an
40、d national bourgeoisie) and imperialism, feudalism as well as bureaucrat capitalism. The New Democracy Discussion written by Zedong Mao not only included a systematic analysis on the social class structure in China, but also established policies to improve labor and capital relations. Since the Grea
41、t Reform and Opening, the structure, which takes the public ownership as the main form and has various economic forms coexisting, has been taking shape. The employ labor phenomenon also represented some new features. In allusion to this, during Zemin Jiangs speech in the 80th Anniversary of the Founding of Chinese Communist Party, he pointed out that individual proprietors and private business owners have contributed their labor into the socialist development as well. Though there were employ labor involved in this kind of private
