Criticism On Giddens' View Of Social History

Anthony Giddens' view of social history is a theoretical exploration of the development of the society,which plays an important role in Giddens' thinking.The criticism on Giddens' view of social history and the analysis of its historical limitations are of great enlightening significance for contemporary Marxists to further develop Marx's historical materialism.Giddens' view of social history originated from a turbulent period of Western countries after the World War II,during which New Society Movement took place frequently and the traditional social theories were overturn.Therefore,a bran-new theory was urgently needed,that was Giddens' view of social history.Giddens extracts some theoretical fruits from many classic thinkers,especially Marx's historical materialism,Durkheim's theory of social work division and Weber's social theory,among which Marx's is of the greatest influence.However,Giddens and Marx have different social class position and historical background,which lead to the differences of their theory.The main contents of Giddens' social history view include structural duality theory,social dynamic factors and modern social change theory.Giddens' view of social history tends to explain the composition,development and changes of society on the basis of structural theory,and conclude that authoritative resources and allocation resources are the driving factors for promoting social development.Under the influence of Marx's historical materialism,Giddens saw the drawbacks of capitalism,pointing out that the arrival of modernity made the current society full of risks.In order to cope with some of the risks associated with modern social changes,Giddens proposed Utopia realism,through which to construct the future society,and try to find a middle way between the capitalism and socialism to surpass the capitalism.However,utopianism itself is illusory and empty,thus Giddens' s idea is overly idealized and unpractical.From the perspective of historical materialism,Giddens' s view of social history is both the inheritance and misinterpretation of Marx's historical materialism.Giddens studied Marx's work and attempted to transcend Marx's historical materialism through criticizing and reconstructing.However,Giddens' s view of social history did not completely follow the perspective of social practice.It neglected the role of social productive forces,and denied the role of class struggle.Giddens' s social position leads to the theoretical demerit of his theory.Therefore,Giddens' s view of social history is bound to fail beyond historical materialism in theory and practice.The criticism on Giddens' view of social history and the analysis of its historical limitations contribute significantly to our deep understanding of the scientific and rational nature of historical materialism.