514
Y. Zhang
production by reshaping the social psychology (especially consumer psychology) on
a large scale. Likewise, the shift from industrial civilization to ecological civilization
also has to be led by a massive reshaping of values and social psychology, so as to
push the profound change in consumption contents and lifestyle. Throughout history,
“a good life” has always been a dynamic concept. For instance, for several centuries,
what Chinese people aspired for was not the acquisition of material wealth, but the
cultivation of knowledge and fine art on the basis of moderate prosperity (Etzioni
2012). Therefore, when the modern development concept is combined with China’s
5000-year-long culture and philosophy, they will hopefully give birth to a good
lifestyle characterized by a sustainable man-nature relation as well as rich meanings
of life.
The change in underlying logic leads to the shift of development pattern. The
aforementioned new visions and values constitute the new coordinates of human
behaviors in ecological civilization. They decide how man will learn about and reform
the world with new ideas and visions different from those in the traditional industrial
age to create a happy and good life. With this shift, the traditional development pattern
in industrial age needs to be comprehensively and profoundly transformed. A lot of
ideas have to be redefined, including what to develop and how, and a systematic
transformation has to be brought about on that basis, covering a full range of aspects
such as development concept and content, resource concept, organizational mode,
business mode, institutions and mechanisms, and policy system.
4 Conclusion
China has scored an unprecedented achievements after its reform and openingup. China is also one of the biggest beneficiaries of traditional industrial mode,
but this mode is unsustainable and its development theories are unable to produce
effective explanations and solutions. Therefore, based on its development experience and cultural traditions, China has fostered the vision of ecological civilization.
The emergence of new development theories is inevitable, just like how heliocentric theory came into being when geocentric theory was found unable to explain
many phenomena. However, the current disciplinary system, academic system and
discourse system, which mostly derive from the traditional industrial mode and serve
its purposes, cannot meet the requirements of global sustainable development and
must be rethought and restructured under the ecological civilization framework.
In the new development concepts, as the purpose of development shifts to
meeting people’s “ever-growing needs for a better life,” a lot of new opportunities
of economic growth will appear and promote rather than obstruct economic growth,
only the contents of growth will change considerably. The new needs have to be
met through the new supply-side structural reform and will become a new important
part of economic drive. Yet the shift from traditional industrial mode to ecological
civilization-based green development is also a huge challenge as the development
concepts and their supportive system that have been established over a long time all
Y. Zhang
production by reshaping the social psychology (especially consumer psychology) on
a large scale. Likewise, the shift from industrial civilization to ecological civilization
also has to be led by a massive reshaping of values and social psychology, so as to
push the profound change in consumption contents and lifestyle. Throughout history,
“a good life” has always been a dynamic concept. For instance, for several centuries,
what Chinese people aspired for was not the acquisition of material wealth, but the
cultivation of knowledge and fine art on the basis of moderate prosperity (Etzioni
2012). Therefore, when the modern development concept is combined with China’s
5000-year-long culture and philosophy, they will hopefully give birth to a good
lifestyle characterized by a sustainable man-nature relation as well as rich meanings
of life.
The change in underlying logic leads to the shift of development pattern. The
aforementioned new visions and values constitute the new coordinates of human
behaviors in ecological civilization. They decide how man will learn about and reform
the world with new ideas and visions different from those in the traditional industrial
age to create a happy and good life. With this shift, the traditional development pattern
in industrial age needs to be comprehensively and profoundly transformed. A lot of
ideas have to be redefined, including what to develop and how, and a systematic
transformation has to be brought about on that basis, covering a full range of aspects
such as development concept and content, resource concept, organizational mode,
business mode, institutions and mechanisms, and policy system.
4 Conclusion
China has scored an unprecedented achievements after its reform and openingup. China is also one of the biggest beneficiaries of traditional industrial mode,
but this mode is unsustainable and its development theories are unable to produce
effective explanations and solutions. Therefore, based on its development experience and cultural traditions, China has fostered the vision of ecological civilization.
The emergence of new development theories is inevitable, just like how heliocentric theory came into being when geocentric theory was found unable to explain
many phenomena. However, the current disciplinary system, academic system and
discourse system, which mostly derive from the traditional industrial mode and serve
its purposes, cannot meet the requirements of global sustainable development and
must be rethought and restructured under the ecological civilization framework.
In the new development concepts, as the purpose of development shifts to
meeting people’s “ever-growing needs for a better life,” a lot of new opportunities
of economic growth will appear and promote rather than obstruct economic growth,
only the contents of growth will change considerably. The new needs have to be
met through the new supply-side structural reform and will become a new important
part of economic drive. Yet the shift from traditional industrial mode to ecological
civilization-based green development is also a huge challenge as the development
concepts and their supportive system that have been established over a long time all