On November 8, the National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences announced the list of major projects approved under the 2024 National Philosophy and Social Science Fund, with the public announcement period from November 8 to 14.
Professor Ma Yan from our institute has had her research project, "Research on the Innovative Development of Basic Marxist Theory in the Digital Age," approved as a major project under the 2024 National Philosophy and Social Science Fund.
Project Introduction
The project "Research on the Innovative Development of Basic Marxist Theory in the Digital Age" conducts research along the framework of "Two Unities, Three Levels, and Four Dimensions." The "Two Unities" research perspective is based on the unity of "classical Marxism" and "innovative Marxism," adhering to the basic methods and core viewpoints of classical Marxist theory while integrating new situations and emerging issues in the digital age for theoretical innovation and development. The "Three Levels" vertical approach aligns with the three main components of Marxist theory, namely Marxist philosophy, Marxist political economy, and scientific socialism, while specifically focusing on the five fundamental theories: Marxist methodology, labor theory of value, reproduction theory, distribution theory, and the theory of the "Two Necessities." The "Four Dimensions" horizontal approach follows the basic Marxist logic from concrete to abstract and from abstract to concrete, systematically examining each research proposition from four dimensions: new situations, new theories, new analyses, and new practices.
This project addresses three key issues in the innovative development of basic Marxist theory in the digital age: First, the critical contentious issues: identifying the theoretical impacts and challenges that various new phenomena in the digital age pose to Marxist philosophy, Marxist political economy, and scientific socialism; discerning which challenges can be directly addressed by classical theory and which require innovation based on the development of classical Marxist theory. Second, the critical theoretical issues: exploring how to innovate and expand Marxist methodology, labor theory of value, reproduction theory, distribution theory, and scientific socialism theory by combining the basic methods and viewpoints of Marxism with the new economic practices of the digital age; assessing whether the innovated basic Marxist theory can effectively respond to and scientifically explain current theoretical challenges. Third, the critical practical issues: applying the innovated theory to analyze Chinese economic practice under new technological conditions.
Therefore, this research not only holds significant academic value for inheriting and developing basic Marxist theory and advancing the construction of an independent knowledge system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, but it also possesses practical value for building a digital China, developing digital socialist governance, and countering digital imperialism.
Applicant Profile
Ma Yan is a senior professor and doctoral advisor at the School of Economics, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Institute for the Development of Chinese Economic Thought at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, an expert for the National "Marxist Theory Research and Construction Project," a member of Shanghai's "20th National Congress" Cultural, Education, Health, and Propaganda Lecture Group, and the chief expert at Shanghai's "Innovative Research Base for the Discourse System of Political Economy of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era." She has long been dedicated to research on the theory of political economy with Chinese characteristics, producing scholarly work in areas such as quantitative analysis of Marxist political economy, major theoretical and practical issues of political economy with Chinese characteristics, and the Sinicization of foreign Marxism. In recent years, she has published dozens of articles in authoritative and core journals such as Chinese Social Sciences, Marxism Research, and Academic Monthly, and has authored more than ten academic monographs including Mathematical Analysis of Modern Political Economy and Virtual Value Theory and Applications. She has led numerous national and provincial-level research projects, as well as major research projects under the Ministry of Education, and has consecutively received first-class awards in the "Shanghai Deng Xiaoping Theory Research and Propaganda Outstanding Achievement" in both paper and monograph categories. Her research work, Frontier Theory of Modern Political Economy and Research with Chinese Characteristics, has been included in the "National Library of Achievements in Philosophy and Social Sciences," and has won the first-class award in the 14th Shanghai Philosophy and Social Sciences Socialism with Chinese Characteristics Theory Award for monographs, as well as the second prize in the 8th Ministry of Education Award for Outstanding Scientific Research Achievements in Universities.
