The Social Governance Functions Of Culture

Human society is forever changing and evolving. It’s a pluralistic, diversified, and changeable world full of conflicts. The material wealth created by man in the20th century surpassed the total amount of all the past times. Meanwhile man’s destruction of nature and social order surpassed the vicious fruit of all the past times as well. Though international multiple polarization, economic globalization and science and technology are developing fast in the21st century, the above-mentioned situation hasn’t changed fundamentally, but rather, it is intensifying with unprecedented speed, posing more and more threats to man’s survival and development. The various conflicts and problems confronting today’s society have gone beyond our understanding based on tradition, historical experience and our rational knowledge. The great ship of human civilization is sailing into an unknown ocean. Without any existing navigation map and lighthouse, we have no choice but to strive forward courageously.Nowadays the world is undergoing fast development, great transformation and tremendous adjustment, and China is undergoing comprehensive, extensive and deep-rooted social transformation. China, in its transitional period, is changing from plan economy to market economy, from agrarian society to industrial society, from rural society to urban society, form semi-closed society to open society, from homogeneous to heterogeneous society. Compared with the lasting and slow social changes, this social transformation is no doubt "thrilling", pushing the society from the old development track to a new track. It brings about fundamental changes in social structure, interests and ideology. And they give rise to various social problems in multiple fields and multiple aspects, increasing disharmonious elements. How to view and handle well such social problems? This has become a crucial problem to be addressed in the process of China’s social transition. How to innovate and improve social governance mode, and come out of the predicament of governance? This has become the common call for all the parties involved in this conflict.Man has kept exploring state governance and social governance ever since the human society came into existence. In the traditional mode of public administration, government is the only executive body of public affairs. But with the prosperous development of market economy and the maturity of the civilian society, enterprises and NGOs begin to participate in the administration of public affairs extensively. Although it’s still the government that dominates the administration of public affairs, there is a growing presence of other multiple agencies in it. Under such circumstances, a worthy theory-governance theory-took shape in the field of public administration. China’s social transformation calls for, conceives and gives rise to social governance of new features, which in turn influences social transformation and therefore facilitates the development of the society. Different from western social governance, China’s social governance came into being under special international and domestic situations, and it’s influenced by China’s existing economic, political, and cultural systems. Therefore, it’s marked with clear Chinese characteristics.In light of such a situation, this research puts forward the view that culture is the axis of social governance and it should revolve around the axis of culture to coordinate social relations, to regulate social behavior, to promote social justice, to enhance social dynamics, to solve social conflicts, to reduce social risks, and to build up social harmony. Culture is not just a means, a measure, or a support for social governance. It is also an objective, an element and a lead for social governance. Such an idea differs very much from all the previous social governance modes in China, including the military-based mode before the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the politics-based mode at the beginning of the New China, the economy-based mode since the Reform and Opening-up, and the law-based mode after the modernization. The advantages of culture-based social governance lie in its stability and durability, because its social governance function is not compulsory in terms of its influence upon men and its control over society, but rather, it’s a transforming process from the inside to the outside.Culture-based social governance is unique in terms of its social governance functions. Once the culture of a country, a nation, or a society comes into being, it will exert its invisible power on every aspect of the society in different ways, and it will give play to its function in public social governance activities. The social governance function of culture refers to the function and efficiency of culture in public social governance activities. It is embodied by individuals’living styles, the structure of the society, and the mode of the country, which is mainly reflected in four aspects, namely, the construction of social value, the integration of social conflicts, the orientation of social development, and the interaction of social structure. The construction of value and the integration of conflicts originate from the spiritual attribute of culture, which will transform into man’s spiritual power to understand and reform the world. The orientation of development and the interaction of structure originate from the material attribute of culture, and they are involved in maintaining the healthy economic, political, and social development. In social governance, with these above-mentioned unique functions, culture can administer public affairs, safeguard the public interests of the members of the society, and solve various problems and abnormities in the society.Culture-based social governance can give play to the social governance functions of culture. Its purpose is to reach common understanding on social value, make culture the mainstream, coordinate various interests, solve conflicts and in the end realize the harmonious, stable development and progress of the society. To guarantee the leading position of culture in terms of social development and the construction of a harmonious socialist society, we must take into consideration China’s current condition; the government, the market, the citizens and other relevant parties should all take part in it; culture should be viewed as the axis of the whole social governance; and we should innovate our methods on various levels and in diverse fields for implementing this culture-based development strategy, promoting the prosperous development of culture, consolidating the construction of culture, and supporting spiritual culture. And in the end we should put these methods into practice vigorously.Adopting the theoretical knowledge in anthropology, sociology and public management studies, this research revolves around the core issue of "how to use the social governance function of culture to construct culture-based social governance and to facilitate the establishment of a harmonious society". In terms of structure, this thesis, except for the introduction and conclusion, is divided into6chapters. The introduction analyzes the background and significance of this research, and reviews the relevant studies at home and abroad, and sets up the steps and methods for this research. Chapter1defines certain core concepts in this research, focusing on the analysis of the inter-penetration, mutual complementation and mutual influence between culture and social governance. Chapter2reviews the formation and application of "social governance" both in China and in the West, summarizes the historical experience of promoting social governance relying on the social governance function of culture. Chapter3is the core of this thesis. It summarizes the functions of culture in terms of constructing social value, solving social conflicts, integrating the society, directing the development of the society and complementing the structure of the society. Chapter4 expounds on how the social governance of culture comes into being, and how it works on the levels of material, value, institution and actions. Chapter5discusses the inevitability and certainty for constructing culture-based social governance; defines its components, i.e., the subject, the object and the medium; and analyzes its features of legitimacy, people-orientation, transparency, participation and responsibility. Chapter6puts forward the goal of developing culture-based social governance, i.e., to build a harmonious society. Based on the current condition of China, this chapter also explores the Chinese path of developing culture-based social governance.The social governance function of culture is not just an academic issue or a theoretical issue. It is a realistic and practical issue. Through studying social governance from the angle of the functions of culture and exploring cultural development with a focus on social governance, we may be provided with a new theoretical framework and thinking mode for the in-depth research into the two subjects of cultural development and social governance. The interrelationship and interaction between the two subjects in theory and practice can give us helpful enlightenment and suggestions. This thesis sets up the basic theoretical framework of culture’s social governance function. However, with regard to how to continue our research on culture-based social governance, how to give full play to the social governance of culture, and how to promote the construction of a harmonious society in the transitional period, it needs courageous exploration in practice and innovative thorough research in the academic world.