Marx And Giddens: A Comparative Study Of Social Theory Of Modernity

Under the framework of discourse system and thoughts category of modern social theory, the reasons of contrasting Marx’s social theory of modernity with Giddens’ s are as follows:first, modernity is an inevitable stage for the development of human society, and many countries are experiencing the modernity period, so the research on modernity is not only of theoretical value, but also has more practical meaning; second, the two theories represent two different interpretations of modernity. The ultimate goal of Marx’s social theory of modernity is to eliminate the private ownership and realize the communism while Giddens’s is to internally improve the capitalist system, not to thoroughly replace it. We can understand the harmonious pattern and rational path of modern society, the reason is that contrasting Marx’s social theory of modernity with Giddens’s.This paper compares Marx’s social theory of modernity with Giddens’s from four aspects. In the aspect of social features,, Marx claims social development is the unity of continuity and discontinuity while Giddens argues that modernity has the characteristics of discontinuity, which is a difference of their social theory of modernity. Both Marx and Giddens lay emphasis on the role of practice. Marx deems that practice needs the interaction between subject and object, and social development is the dialectical unity of inevitability and contingency but Giddens focuses more on subject’s effect in practice and deems that human society is the unity of the randomness and contingency, which is also a difference of their social theory of modernity. Marx and Giddens both realize the dualistic characteristic of modernity. They claim that modernity is the dialectical unity of pros and cons, affirm the positive results of modernity and criticize the consequences of modernity. In this aspect, Marx and Giddens reach a consensus. At the same time, Marx and Giddens explain the globalization theory respectively, claiming that globalization is historically inevitable, where they reach a consensus. In the aspect of social system, Marx uses one-dimensional perspective to discuss the problem only from the aspect of capitalism while Giddens from four aspects, namely, the capitalism, industrialism, supervision mechanism and military force, to analyze the institutional dimensions of modernity. That is where Marx’s social theory of modernity differs from Giddens’s. In the aspect of social change, Giddens disagrees on Marx’s universality of social change theory that Marx thinks social basic contradictions are the essential forces of social development and the class struggle is the direct power of the class society development but Giddens puts forward time-space separation, dislocation of the field and reflections are the driving forces of social change. That’s also where Marx’s and Giddens’s theories differ. In the aspect of social development goals, Marx puts forward the goal of communism, claiming the elimination of private ownership while Giddens puts forward the realistic goals of Utopia. This strategy is designed to improve on capitalism internally rather than eliminating capitalism, which is a basic difference between Marx’s social theory of modernity and Giddens’s. Overall, there are limitations of Giddens’s modern social theory as Marx’s.