“Why We Focus on Humanistic Economics”——Observations and Reflections on Young Scholars Engaging in Humanistic Economics Research (Part I)

Editor’s Note

编者按

Recently, multiple theoretical and academic pages of Guangming Daily have published articles and conducted dialogues on humanistic economics research, attracting widespread attention from scholars across various fields. In exchanges with scholars, the editorial department has found that the field of humanistic economics not only gathers many renowned scholars but also sees an increasing number of young faces. For these young scholars, what draws their attention to humanistic economics? What impact has humanistic economics had on their research? Based on extensive research, we have invited several young scholars to discuss from multiple dimensions the topic of “why focus on humanistic economics.”

近期，光明日报的多个理论学术版面围绕人文经济学研究刊发文章、开展对话，受到多领域学者的广泛关注。编辑部在与学者的交流中发现，人文经济学这一领域不仅集聚了很多知名学者，也出现了越来越多的年轻面孔。对这些青年学者而言，是什么吸引了他们对人文经济学的关注？人文经济学又对他们的研究产生了哪些影响？我们在广泛调研的基础上邀请到几位青年学者，从多个维度畅谈“为何关注人文经济学”这一话题。

Participants

与谈人

Zong Yacong, Associate Professor, School of Culture and Communication, and Researcher, Institute of Cultural Economics, Central University of Finance and Economics

宗娅琮 中央财经大学文化与传媒学院副教授、文化经济研究院研究员

Su Peijun, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, and Researcher, Institute of Humanistic Economics, Soochow University

苏培君 苏州大学哲学系副教授、人文经济学研究院研究员

Chai Dongdong, Associate Professor, School of Cultural Creativity and Media, and Researcher, Institute of Cultural Creative Industries, Hangzhou Normal University

柴冬冬 杭州师范大学文化创意与传媒学院副教授、文化创意产业研究院研究员

Moderator: Chen Heng, Reporter, Guangming Daily

主持人 《光明日报》记者 陈恒

1. Humanistic Economics as an Academic Hotspot

1.人文经济学作为一种学术热点

Guangming Theory: In exchanges with the academic community, we clearly feel that humanistic economics research is continuously heating up. How has this academic hotspot attracted your attention? What research interests of the young intellectual groups in the New Era does it reflect?

光明理论：在与学界的交流中，我们明显感受到人文经济学研究在持续升温。这一学术热点如何吸引了各位的关注？反映出新时代青年知识群体什么样的研究旨趣？

Su Peijun: As a young scholar in the field of humanistic economics, I have very intuitively felt this research upsurge. Since General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the important proposition of “humanistic economics” during the Two Sessions in 2023 [1]1 The “Two Sessions” refers to the annual plenary meetings of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), held in March. In 2023, Xi Jinping, as a deputy to the NPC, participated in a deliberation and first raised the concept of “humanistic economics.”, humanistic economics has become one of the core topics of high concern and heated discussion in China’s academic circles. Many universities and research institutions have established relevant research organizations; for example, Soochow University, where I work, took the lead in establishing the Institute of Humanistic Economics. A large number of experts and scholars have conducted in-depth explorations around the essential connotation, basic characteristics, core concepts, internal logic, practical samples, and global significance of humanistic economics, producing a series of valuable research results.

苏培君：作为人文经济学研究领域的青年学者，我非常直观地感受到了这一研究热潮。自2023年习近平总书记在全国两会期间提出“人文经济学”重要命题以来，人文经济学正成为我国学术界高度关注和热烈研讨的核心议题之一。不少高校和科研单位成立了相关研究机构，比如，我所在的苏州大学就率先成立了人文经济学研究院。一大批专家学者围绕人文经济学的本质内涵、基本特征、核心理念、内在逻辑、实践样本及世界意义等方面展开了深入探索，产出了一系列富有价值的研究成果。

These solid actions and continuously emerging results have deeply attracted young scholars, including myself. On the one hand, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the academic community is using the important topic of humanistic economics to more deeply and systematically study and comprehend Xi Jinping’s Economic Thought and Xi Jinping’s Cultural Thought, grasping the inherent unified relationship between them, thereby effectively promoting the concrete understanding and practical deepening of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times in the economic, cultural, and other fields. On the other hand, humanistic economics transcends the single disciplinary perspective of Western economics, reopening the horizon of understanding economics through the integrated development of multiple disciplines such as cultural studies, philosophy, economics, and sociology, and thereby responding to the theoretical demands triggered by the practice of Chinese-path modernization. These contents are all points of concern and interest for young scholars.

这些扎实的行动和不断涌现的成果，深深吸引了包括我在内的广大青年学者。一方面，在习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的引领下，学界正通过人文经济学这一重要议题，更加深入系统地学习领会习近平经济思想与习近平文化思想，把握二者之间的内在统一关系，从而有力地推动了对马克思主义中国化时代化在经济、文化等领域的具象化认识和实践深化。另一方面，人文经济学超越了西方经济学的单一学科视角，用文化学、哲学、经济学、社会学等多学科融合发展的思路重新打开了经济学的理解视域，并借此回应由中国式现代化实践所引发的理论需求。这些内容都是青年学者的关心关注点。

Zong Yacong: I have a personal experience of humanistic economics research becoming a hotspot. For example, the Institute of Cultural Economics at Central University of Finance and Economics, where I work, initiated the “Humanistic Economics Academic Community” and organized a series of activities on humanistic economics research. This trend is also clearly reflected in the focus of renowned scholars, academic forums, journals, and the topics of National Social Science Fund projects. I think one of the reasons behind this is that the research paradigm of traditional economics, centered on efficiency and quantification, cannot fully explain the diversity and complexity of the people’s needs in the New Era, nor can it adequately respond to the epochal propositions of common prosperity, cultural confidence, and social fairness. Economic research is no longer just about efficiency; it is also about value shaping, fair sharing, and cultural identity. Against the backdrop of the New Era, the people-centered development philosophy and the development goals of common prosperity and building a culturally strong country require academic research to re-examine the value dimension. In my view, the return of value concern is the most intuitive manifestation of humanistic economics becoming an academic hotspot, and it is also an important reason why young scholars focus on humanistic economics.

宗娅琮：我对人文经济学研究成为热点有切身的感受。比如，我所在的中央财经大学文化经济研究院发起了“人文经济学术共同体”，组织了人文经济学研究的系列活动。这一趋势也在知名学者、学术论坛、期刊的关注重点以及国家社科基金的立项主题中得到鲜明体现。我想，其背后的原因之一，在于传统经济学以效率与量化为核心的研究范式，难以充分解释新时代人民需求的多样性与复杂性，亦不足以回应共同富裕、文化自信和社会公平等时代命题。经济研究已不仅仅是效率问题，更是关乎价值塑造、公平共享和文化认同的重要问题。新时代背景下，“以人民为中心”的发展理念、“共同富裕”与“文化强国”的发展目标，要求学术研究必须重新审视价值维度。在我看来，价值关怀的回归，正是人文经济学成为学术热点的最直观体现，这也是青年学者关注人文经济学的一个重要原因。

Chai Dongdong: At present, many universities across the country have established research institutions related to humanistic economics, and dozens of influential academic seminars with humanistic economics as the theme have been held. Some provincial and municipal philosophy and social science planning departments have even issued dedicated research projects on humanistic economics. Hangzhou Normal University, where I work, has established the Institute of Humanistic Economics by integrating the strengths of various schools and departments across the university. In exchanges with young scholars from other disciplines, I have found that current humanistic economics research has radiated from the field of economics to sociology, art studies, management, political science, ethics, philosophy, cultural studies, and other fields. Moreover, a large number of positive and beneficial results have been produced around the core connotation, construction direction, practical path, system structure, and significant significance of humanistic economics.

柴冬冬：目前来看，全国已有多所高校成立了人文经济学相关的研究机构，以人文经济学为主题的较有影响的学术研讨会已举办数十次，更有一些省市的哲社规划部门发布了专门的人文经济学研究课题。我所在的杭州师范大学通过整合全校各个院系的力量，组建了人文经济学研究院。在与其他学科的青年学者交流中，我发现当前的人文经济学研究已从经济学界辐射到社会学、艺术学、管理学、政治学、伦理学、哲学、文化学等领域，而且围绕人文经济学的核心内涵、建构方向、实践路径、体系结构、重大意义等方面，产生了一大批积极有益的成果。

Humanistic economics is no longer just a simple academic concept; it also reflects that our thinking on economic development models and social progress is shifting towards a new trend that pays more attention to the comprehensive development of people, the inheritance of cultural values, and the integration of economy, technology, and humanities. On the one hand, an academic research value system oriented towards “the comprehensive development of people” is gradually taking shape. Humanistic economics prompts traditional humanities research to break free from the academic ivory tower and place greater emphasis on solving practical economic problems; it also extends traditional economic research into the overall relationship among economy, culture, technology, and ethics, helping to construct an economic paradigm that takes “the essence of humanity” as a parameter of understanding, promoting economic research towards openness, diversification, and dynamism.

人文经济学已不再是简单的学术概念，更反映了我们对经济发展模式和社会进步的思考正在转向更加注重人的全面发展、文化价值传承以及经济、技术与人文融合的新趋势。一方面，以“人的全面发展”为导向的学术研究价值体系正逐步形成。人文经济学促使传统的人文研究从学术象牙塔中挣脱出来，更为重视对现实经济问题的解决；它也将传统的经济问题研究扩展到经济、文化、科技、伦理的总体关系中，有助于建构起以“人的本质”为理解参数的经济学范式，推动经济研究走向开放化、多元化、动态化。

On the other hand, building an independent knowledge system of humanistic economics based on China’s reality has become the goal that Chinese scholars strive for. Any humanities and social science needs to construct concepts, categories, and methods. Current humanistic economics research draws on achievements from China’s existing cultural theories, economic theories, philosophical theories, sociological theories, etc., and makes new interpretations based on new practical experiences; it also dialectically absorbs relevant existing theories from abroad and endows them with new connotations based on China’s actual conditions, finally systematizing and integrating these achievements.

另一方面，立足中国现实来构建中国自主的人文经济学知识体系，正成为中国学人努力的目标。任何人文社会科学都需要构建概念、范畴、方法，当前的人文经济学研究既从我国已有的文化理论、经济理论、哲学理论、社会学理论等中借鉴成果，并根据新的实践经验做出新的解释；同时也辩证地吸收国外已有的相关理论，并立足中国实际赋予新的内涵，最后将这些成果体系化、系统化。

I believe that young scholars have great potential in these aspects.

我相信，青年学者在这些方面大有可为。

2. Humanistic Economics as a Value Stance

2.人文经济学作为一种价值立场

Guangming Theory: Humanistic economics adheres to a people-centered approach, emphasizing human value and focusing on humanistic care. How does this value stance enhance the driving force of academic research, and what specific impacts has it produced?

光明理论：人文经济学坚持以人民为中心，强调人的价值、重视人文关怀，这一价值立场是如何增强学术研究动力的，产生了哪些具体影响？

Zong Yacong: Humanistic economics adheres to the people-centered value stance, emphasizing respect for human value and highlighting the potential and value release of human agency and creativity as subjects. This principle stands in sharp contrast to the emphasis on efficiency, rational choice, and quantitative analysis in traditional economics, and has profoundly changed my academic thinking. For example, traditional economics usually focuses on production, distribution, consumption, and other links, but rarely answers fundamental questions such as “for whom is development intended?” and “to whom do the fruits of development belong?” When I conduct research on humanistic economics, many of my thoughts come from China’s actual context: How to understand “people-centered”? How to embed the “shared” development concept into institutional design? And so on. These issues are rarely emphasized in traditional economics, but they are extremely important in the context of China’s development.

宗娅琮：人文经济学坚持“以人民为中心”的价值立场，强调对人的价值的尊重，凸显了人作为主体所具有的能动性与创造力的潜能与价值释放，这一原则与传统经济学所强调的效率、理性选择、数量化分析形成了鲜明对照，并深刻改变了我的学术思维。比如，传统经济学通常聚焦在生产、分配、消费等环节，却较少回答“发展是为了谁”“发展的成果归属谁”这样的根本问题。我在进行人文经济学研究时，很多思考都来自中国的现实语境：如何理解“以人民为中心”？如何在制度设计中嵌入“共享”发展理念？等等。这些问题在传统经济学中很少被强调，但在中国的发展语境下却是极其重要的。

The people-centered value stance has given me an unprecedented driving force and enthusiasm for research. It not only makes me pay more attention to the principal role of the people in theoretical research, but also leads me to focus in practice on how to promote the development of the humanities economy through institutional innovation, cultural creation, and value consensus, thereby enhancing the people’s well-being. In my research, I will place greater emphasis on the theoretical elaboration of the “people’s standpoint,” taking the basic principle of Marxist political economy that “the people are the creators of history” as the theoretical foundation, integrating the fundamental stance of “people-centered” in Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, incorporating philosophical reflections on the traditional concept of people-oriented governance, and simultaneously absorbing sociological research findings on group participation and public coordination. This truly embeds the people-centered value stance into the research logic of economic operations, so that research no longer stops at measuring economic variables but pays more attention to the value and care for “people.”

人民至上的价值立场让我感受到一种前所未有的研究动力和研究热情，它不仅让我在理论研究中更加注重人民主体性，也使我在实践中更加关注如何通过制度创新、文化创造与价值共识推动人文经济的发展，从而增进人民福祉。在研究中，我会更加强调“人民立场”的理论阐释，把马克思主义政治经济学关于“人民是历史创造者”的基本原理作为理论根基，结合习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想中“人民至上”的根本立场，融入传统文化关于民本思想的哲思，同时吸收社会学对群体参与和公共协同的研究成果，真正把人民至上的价值立场嵌入经济运行的研究逻辑中，使研究不再停留于对经济变量的测算，而是更加注重“人”的价值与关怀。

Chai Dongdong: The humanities economy upholds the value stance of “people-centered,” transcending the shortcomings of traditional economics that neglect human dignity, happiness, quality of life, and social complexity. It not only represents a new economic paradigm but also offers important insights for humanities and social science research.

柴冬冬：人文经济学秉持“以人民为中心”的价值立场，是对传统经济学忽视人的尊严、幸福感、生活质量与社会复杂性等弊病的超越，它不仅代表了一种新的经济学范式，也对人文社科研究有着重要的启示。

From a perspective standpoint, the humanities economy has prompted me to develop a research awareness oriented toward a people-centered cultural ecosystem. The cultural industry and cultural studies influenced by traditional economics mainly understand cultural production, practice, and meaning from the perspective of cultural products, focusing at the theoretical level on issues such as cultural representation, production, consumption, identity, and governance, and at the industrial level on supply chains, industrial clusters, and economies of scale. In this framework, the value of culture is primarily determined by exchange value. Introducing the thinking of the humanities economy, however, allows us to view culture as a people-centered ecosystem. While paying attention to the product attributes of culture, it also focuses on how culture affects people’s lives, psychology, well-being, and identity in practice, emphasizing that the value of culture lies not only in obtaining capital benefits but also in promoting the comprehensive development of people and making society more harmonious and healthy.

从视角上看，人文经济学促使我产生了一种面向人民的文化生态系统的研究意识。受传统经济学影响的文化产业和文化研究，主要以一种文化产品的视角理解文化的生产、实践与意义，在理论层面关注文化的表征、生产、消费、认同、治理等问题，在产业层面研究产业链、产业集群、规模效应等，其中，文化的价值首先由交换价值决定。而人文经济学思维的引入则可以将文化视为一个以人为中心的生态系统，在关注文化的产品属性的同时，关注文化如何在实践中影响人的生活、心理、福祉与认同等，强调文化的价值不仅在获取资本效益，还在于促进人的全面发展以及使社会更加和谐、健康。

From a thematic standpoint, in my previous research I focused more on new cultural formats, new consumption, and industrial operations, but rarely questioned the humanistic care of industries, and paid insufficient attention to non-profit cultural institutions and cultural universal-benefit policies. The humanities economy focuses on human subjectivity, fairness, ethics, and sustainable development, advocating a systematic examination of the entire process of cultural production. For me, this serves both as a supplement to research topics and as a critical lens through which to re-examine cultural formats, consumption, and operational issues, thereby redefining the criteria for industrial success. Moreover, domestic research on new aesthetic cultural phenomena formed through the cultural industry has overly emphasized textual formal analysis and media criticism, with little examination of social value and ethical value. Value aesthetic critiques of new cultural phenomena such as the healing economy, emotional value, rural revitalization, and the silver economy are often neglected. Introducing the perspective of the humanities economy helps place the analysis of cultural phenomena within a broader socio-economic context for investigation.

从议题上看，我在以往研究中较注重文化新业态、新消费与产业运营问题，但较少追问产业的人文关怀，且对非营利性的文化机构、文化普惠政策等的关注也不够。人文经济学聚焦人的主体性、公平、伦理与可持续发展，提倡对文化生产的全过程进行系统性审视，对我来说既是一种研究议题的补充，也可以反过来对文化的业态、消费与运营问题进行批判性审视，从而重新定义产业成功与否的标准。此外，国内依托文化产业形成的对于审美文化新现象的研究，其实也过度侧重于文本形式分析与媒介批评，较少审视社会价值、伦理价值，诸如治愈经济、情绪价值、乡村振兴、银发经济等新文化现象的价值美学批判往往被忽略，人文经济学视野的引入有助于将文化现象的分析置于更广阔的社会经济语境中加以考察。

From a methodological standpoint, the humanities economy is actually built on a more complex systematic analytical framework than traditional economics. In addition to economic performance, it also involves issues such as social welfare, cultural benefits, and spiritual and psychological well-being, while simultaneously combining qualitative and quantitative analysis. Applying this dialectical and systematic method to the analysis of cultural industrialization and aesthetic representation has several advantages: first, it can combine aesthetic criticism with economic data from cultural production and consumption links for research; second, it can transcend traditional representational analytical frameworks and introduce deeper issues such as distributive justice of cultural resources into the scope of cultural criticism; third, it can introduce multiple indicators to enrich the analysis of the use value of culture, enabling us to avoid one-sided, metaphysical research when evaluating cultural policies, examining cultural phenomena, and analyzing industrial operations.

从方法上看，人文经济学其实建立在一套比传统经济学更复杂的体系化分析方法之上，除了经济绩效，还涉及社会福祉、文化效益、精神与心理等议题，同时也兼顾定性和定量分析的结合，将这种带有辩证性思维的体系化方法运用到文化的产业化与审美化表征的分析上，一是可以将审美批评与文化生产、消费环节的经济数据结合起来进行研究；二是可以超越传统的表征分析框架，将文化资源的分配正义等更深层的问题引入文化批判的视野；三是可以引入多元指标，丰富对文化使用价值的分析，使我们在评估文化政策、审视文化现象、剖析产业运营时避免片面的、形而上的研究。

3. The Humanities Economy as a Form of Cultural Consciousness

3.人文经济学作为一种文化自觉

Guangming Theory: The humanities economy is not only a research method but also seen as a response to cultural subjectivity in the context of economic globalization. It holds significant importance for China’s current efforts to advance modernization that coordinates material and cultural-ethical progress. Does young scholars’ attention to this field imply a certain cultural consciousness or an exploration of indigenous academic discourse?

光明理论：人文经济学不仅是一种研究方法，也被视为对经济全球化背景下文化主体性的回应，对于当前我国推进物质文明和精神文明相协调的现代化具有重要意义。青年学者关注这一领域，是否隐含着某种文化自觉或对本土学术话语的探索？

Zong Yacong: Indeed, that is the case. Cultural subjectivity is a crucial component for a nation to uphold and innovate its own cultural value system amid economic globalization and modernization. I believe it is an important cornerstone for advancing the theoretical construction of the humanities economy and building a culturally strong country. In today’s accelerating economic globalization, economic research often tends to overlook important premises such as cultural differences, historical contexts, and value orientations. Our current focus on and exploration of the humanities economy arise precisely from the need to establish a balance within the trend of economic globalization—a balance that both engages in dialogue with the world and maintains cultural consciousness and cultural confidence, thereby promoting the formation of our own academic discourse system.

宗娅琮：的确是这样的。文化主体性是一个民族在经济全球化与现代化进程中坚守和创新自身文化价值体系的重要组成部分。我想，它是推进人文经济学理论建构、建设文化强国的重要基石。在经济全球化加速的今天，经济学研究往往容易忽视文化差异、历史脉络和价值取向等重要前提。当前我们对于人文经济学的关注和探索，正是因为需要在经济全球化趋势中建立起一种平衡——既与世界对话，又保持文化自觉和文化自信，推动形成我们自己的学术话语体系。

Therefore, I believe that young scholars’ active engagement in research on the humanities economy is not accidental but an inevitability of the times. It reflects this generation of young scholars’ dual pursuit of academic research and social practice: on the one hand, to respond to the challenges of modernization and economic globalization; on the other hand, to explore theoretical innovations with Chinese characteristics based on indigenous culture and the needs of the people. This exploration is essentially an academic consciousness and, moreover, a cultural confidence. It makes us always aware in our research that we cannot simply accept foreign theoretical paradigms; instead, we must start from China’s development practices and the actual needs of the people, grasp the relationship between material and cultural-ethical progress in Chinese-path modernization from the height of historical materialism, innovate a new economic paradigm for their coordinated development, explore a discourse system with indigenous characteristics, and construct a humanities economy that possesses long-term concern and a global development perspective. This is also the reason why I have chosen to continue deep cultivation in this field.

因此，我认为青年学者之所以积极投身人文经济学研究并不是偶然，而是一个时代的必然。它反映出这一代青年对学术研究和社会实践的双重追求：一方面要回应现代化和经济全球化的挑战；另一方面要从本土文化与人民需求出发，探索具有中国特色的理论创新，这种探索本质上是一种学术自觉，更是一种文化自信。它让我们在研究时始终意识到：我们不能简单地接受外来的理论范式，而要从中国的发展实践、人民的实际需求出发，站在唯物史观的高度把握中国式现代化中物质文明和精神文明的联系，创新两者协调发展的新经济学范式，探索具有本土特色的话语体系，构建更加具备长远关怀和全球发展眼光的人文经济学。这也是我选择在这个领域持续深耕的原因所在。

Chai Dongdong: Currently, academia has conducted very profound discussions on the essential connotation of the humanities economy, and these discussions clearly manifest this cultural and theoretical “consciousness.” Most researchers believe that the humanities economy has a people-centered fundamental stance, aims at the coordinated development of material and cultural-ethical progress, is a product of the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and the fine traditional Chinese culture, and is driven throughout by the two-way interaction between culture and economy, thereby breaking through the limitations of Western economics. In this sense, the framework, content, and knowledge system of the humanities economy will be developed on the basis of adhering to confidence in the theory and cultural confidence, with mutual learning among civilizations as the perspective, dialectically absorbing all outstanding achievements of human civilization. As for the concept itself, the term “humanities” (renwen) is rich in connotation. It is not a copy of Western economics’ so-called human nature or humanism, but is rooted in China’s long and profound cultural tradition of “observing the patterns of humanity to transform the world” (guan hu renwen yi huacheng tianxia). [2]2 “观乎人文以化成天下” (guan hu renwen yi huacheng tianxia) is a classical phrase from the *Zhou Yi* (Book of Changes), meaning that by observing the patterns of human culture, one can transform and perfect the world. Therefore, the humanities economy is a new discourse developed by the Chinese people based on their profound culture, focusing on the actual situation, and on the basis of reform, innovation, and active change. It reflects the entire academic community’s, especially young scholars’, demand for the construction of an academic discourse system and indigenous cultural consciousness. It not only transcends the Western modernity narrative that takes the economy as the highest criterion, but also elevates the subordinate relationship of culture to the economy to a level of two-way driving and mutual achievement. Culture has thus become a gene endogenous to high-quality development, constituting another dimension—namely, the “consciousness” of culture’s own role.

柴冬冬：目前，学术界对人文经济学的本质内涵已经做出了十分深刻的讨论，这些讨论鲜明呈现出这种文化和理论上的“自觉”。多数研究者认为，人文经济学有着以人民为中心的根本立场，以物质文明和精神文明的协调发展为目标，是马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际、同中华优秀传统文化相结合的产物，以文化和经济的双向驱动贯穿始终，进而突破了西方经济学的局限。在这个意义上，人文经济学的框架、内容与知识体系将是在坚持理论自信和文化自信的基础上，以文明互鉴为视野，辩证吸收人类文明一切优秀成果发展而来的。而就概念来看，“人文”二字内涵丰富，它不是西方经济学的所谓人性、人本的翻版，而是植根于中国悠久、深厚的“观乎人文以化成天下”的文化传统。因此，人文经济学是中国人立足深厚文化，着眼现实情势，在改革创新、积极求变的基础上发展出的一种新话语。它反映了整个学界尤其是青年学者对学术话语体系建设与本土文化自觉的诉求，既超越了以经济为最高准绳的西方现代性叙事，也将文化对经济的从属性关系提升到双向驱动、相互成就的高度，文化也因此成了一种内生于高质量发展的基因，构成了另一维度即对文化自身作用的“自觉”。

Su Peijun: The humanities economy, as a form of cultural consciousness, can also be understood from the dimension of the Second Integration [3]3 The Second Integration (第二个结合): Refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s fine traditional culture, as proposed by Xi Jinping. It is distinguished from the “First Integration,” which was the integration of Marxism with the concrete realities of the Chinese revolution and construction.. Taking my own research as an example, how to establish cultural subjectivity in the process of constructing a contemporary Chinese Marxist philosophical discourse system has always been a fundamental issue of concern to me. The proposal of the humanities economy provides a new approach to solving this problem, namely, to reverse the past view that treats traditional Chinese philosophy as an “object” or “subject” to be integrated and inherited, and while declaring its own cultural subjectivity to foreign Marxist philosophy, to truly base itself on the standpoint of Chinese culture, regarding excellent traditional Chinese culture as a continuously evolving “living presence.” Then, by revealing the historical logic of the real evolution from excellent traditional Chinese culture to contemporary Chinese Marxism, it elucidates the path of emergence of the Second Integration, aiming to establish cultural subjectivity in the civilizational process where traditional culture moves from history to the contemporary era, advancing with the times, and to create a new cultural life form that both infuses the essential soul of Marxism and can holistically inherit the spiritual core of Chinese culture.

苏培君：人文经济学作为一种文化自觉，还可以从“第二个结合”的维度来理解。以我的研究为例，如何在构建当代中国马克思主义哲学话语体系的过程中树立文化主体性，始终是我关注的根本性问题。人文经济学的提出，为解决这一问题提供了新的思路，即扭转过去把中国传统哲学看作一种被结合、被继承的“对象”或“客体”之观点，在向国外马克思主义哲学宣告自身文化主体性的同时，真正立足于中华文化的立场，将中华优秀传统文化视为一种生生不息的“活的在场”。然后，借由对中华优秀传统文化向当代中国马克思主义真实演化历史逻辑的揭示，阐明“第二个结合”的出场路径，以期在传统文化从历史走向当代、与时俱进的文明进程中树立文化主体性，创造出一种既贯注马克思主义本性灵魂，又能整体性继承中华文化精神内核的新的文化生命体。

4. The Humanities Economy as a Reflection on Reality

4.人文经济学作为一种现实观照

Guangming Theory: The humanities economy pays close attention to the real world. In your respective research, what practical issues is the humanities economy commonly used to analyze? What solutions or profound insights does it offer that differ from traditional economics?

光明理论：人文经济学高度关注现实世界。在各位的研究中，人文经济学通常被用来分析哪些现实问题？它提供了哪些不同于传统经济学的解决方案或深刻洞见？

Zong Yacong: For me, the humanities economy is not only a research field but also, due to its strong reflection on reality, becomes an academic mission. Scholars engaged in research in this field should harbor a sentiment of serving the people and focus on the people’s practice: development must answer “for whom,” institutions must embody “relying on whom,” and outcomes must implement “belonging to whom.” This makes me deeply feel the “three-dimensional” significance of research on the humanities economy and also personally experience the profound implication of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s call to “write papers on the land of the motherland.” [4]4 “Write papers on the land of the motherland”: A well-known saying by Xi Jinping, encouraging researchers, especially in the social sciences, to ground their work in China’s practical realities and serve national development needs, rather than engaging in purely abstract or foreign-oriented theorizing.

宗娅琮：对我而言，人文经济学不仅是一个研究领域，更因其强烈的现实观照而成为一种学术使命。从事这一领域研究的学者应胸怀为民情怀、聚焦人民实践：发展要回答“为了谁”，制度要体现“依靠谁”，成果要落实“归属谁”。这使我深刻感受到人文经济学研究的“立体”意义，也切身体会到习近平总书记提出的“把论文写在祖国的大地上”的深远意涵。

The humanities economy should deeply analyze new problems in practice, especially against the background of the imbalanced development of culture and economy, answering practical questions such as how to achieve coordinated development of culture and economy, and how to meet the people’s spiritual needs and aspirations for a better life. In my project research and specific fieldwork, situations often arise where a certain region has good economic development but issues such as the discovery of cultural resources and the tapping of their value need improvement; there are also cases where a certain place has profound traditional humanistic heritage and rich cultural resources but insufficient economic development momentum. By emphasizing the mutually reinforcing and empowering characteristics of culture and economy, the humanities economy provides a new analytical framework for solving this kind of unbalanced development.

人文经济学应深入分析实践中的新问题，尤其是在面临文化与经济发展不均衡的现实背景下，回答如何实现文化与经济的协调发展问题，如何满足人民的精神需求和美好生活愿景等现实问题。在我的课题研究和具体调研中，往往会出现某一区域经济发展不错，但文化资源发现与价值挖掘有待提升等问题；也会出现某一地方传统人文底蕴深厚、文化资源丰富，但经济发展动力不足等问题。人文经济学通过强调文化与经济呈现的互生互荣、双向赋能的特性，为解决这种非均衡发展提供了新的分析框架。

Chai Dongdong: The humanities economy is not a theory in an ivory tower but a yardstick for solving practical problems such as high-quality development of the economy and society. It does not take the sole growth of material wealth as its ultimate goal; instead, it advocates returning to the real and complex social life of human beings to promote the comprehensive development of people. The humanities economy takes the comprehensive development of people, social welfare, cultural prosperity, and ecological harmony as its core objectives, valuing not only people’s economic attributes but also, more importantly, their social and cultural attributes. The humanities economy emphasizes that the humanities are both the purpose of economic development and its foundation and guide, thus using diversified indicators as value measurement standards, thereby forming an important distinction from traditional economics’ advocacy of efficiency maximization and purely economic (monetary) growth. This provides many new ideas for us to think about numerous social development issues.

柴冬冬：人文经济学不是象牙塔中的理论，而是解决经济社会高质量发展等现实问题的标尺。它不以物质财富的唯一增长为最终目标，主张回到人类真实复杂的社会生活中去推动人的全面发展。人文经济学将人的全面发展、社会福祉、文化繁荣与生态和谐等作为核心目标，既重视人的经济属性，更重视社会属性、文化属性。人文经济学强调人文既是经济发展的目的，也是经济发展的基石与导向，故而以多元化指标作为价值衡量标准，进而与传统经济学所主张的效率最大化、唯经济（货币）增长等形成了重要区别，这为我们思考众多社会发展问题提供了诸多新思路。

Guided by this concept, the humanities economy is often used to analyze the following issues: value assessment and policy orientation of economic activities, mechanisms for safeguarding fairness, justice, and dignity in economic activities, economic development and ecological environmental protection, the relationship between economic activities and meeting people’s material and spiritual needs, labor alienation and technological alienation, ethics of cultural industry activities, protection and revitalization of cultural heritage, cultural consumption and the comprehensive development of people, inheritance of historical context and urban development, rural revitalization and protection of local culture, humanistic regulation and value guidance of digital technology, and so on. Taking myself as an example, through perspectives provided by the humanities economy such as human subjectivity, cultural ecological awareness, fairness, justice, and sustainable development, I attempt to study issues existing in internet cultural production, such as pan-entertainmentism, algorithmic cages, and privacy breaches, thereby revealing their causes, manifestations, and the complexity and key principles of constructing an ethical order.

在这种理念指导之下，人文经济学常被用来分析以下问题：经济活动的价值评估与政策导向，经济活动对公平、正义、尊严的保障机制，经济发展与生态环境保护，经济活动与人的物质需求、精神需求的满足关系，劳动异化与技术异化，文化产业活动的伦理，文化遗产的保护与活化利用，文化消费与人的全面发展，历史文脉传承与城市发展，乡村振兴与乡土文化保护，数字技术的人文规制与价值引导，等等。以我自身为例，通过人文经济学所提供的人的主体性、文化生态意识、公平正义与可持续发展等视角，我尝试对互联网文化生产中存在的泛娱乐主义、算法牢笼、隐私泄露等问题进行研究，进而揭示其成因、表征以及构建伦理秩序的复杂性和重点原则。

Su Peijun: The humanities economy provides different perspectives and solutions for practical problems such as the lack of humanistic value in economic development, the imbalance of spiritual motivation, and social fairness and sustainable development.

苏培君：人文经济学为经济发展中人文价值缺失、精神动力失衡以及社会公平与可持续发展等现实问题提供了不同的视角与解决方案。

First, the humanities economy focuses on the economic transformation of cultural resources. For example, in regions rich in cultural resources, Suzhou integrates traditional cultural symbols such as gardens, Kunqu opera, and Suzhou embroidery into the cultural tourism industry chain, promoting the innovation of traditional crafts and modern design; Hangzhou, taking “poetry road culture” as an entry point, promotes the development of the digital industry, realizing the technological monetization of cultural IPs. This transformation transcends the traditional framework of “culture sets the stage, economy sings the show,” forming a two-way value addition of “industrial culturalization” and “cultural industrialization,” promoting the deep integration of cultural heritage and market innovation.

首先，人文经济学关注文化资源的经济转化。例如，在文化资源丰富的地区，苏州将园林、昆曲、苏绣等传统文化符号融入文旅产业链，推动传统工艺与现代设计的创新；杭州则以“诗路文化”为切入点，推动数字产业发展，实现文化IP的科技化变现。此种转化超越了“文化搭台、经济唱戏”的传统框架，形成了“产业文化化”和“文化产业化”的双向增值，促进了文化传承与市场创新的深度融合。

Second, the humanities economy expands the concept of “human capital,” emphasizing that workers’ cultural literacy, moral consciousness, and community awareness are core factors for sustainable economic growth. By strengthening general humanities education, instilling the spirit of craftsmanship, and enhancing cultural identity, a multiplier effect is formed between material capital and humanistic capital.

其次，人文经济学扩展了“人力资本”的概念，强调劳动者的文化素养、道德自觉与共同体意识是经济可持续增长的核心因素。强化人文通识教育、植入工匠精神、提升文化认同等方式，使得物质资本与人文资本形成了乘数效应。

Finally, the humanities economy makes innovations in governance philosophy. Different from the traditional emphasis on the binary opposition of “government-market,” the humanities economy proposes a “three-dimensional governance model,” that is, through the guidance of humanistic values, enabling market and administrative forces to find balance within a cultural consensus. For example, the Confucian concept of integrity nurtures commercial credit, and Jiangnan aesthetic standards enhance the added value of manufactured goods, ultimately forming a dynamic balance between an “effective government” and an “efficient market.”

最后，人文经济学在治理哲学上做出了创新。与传统上强调的“政府-市场”二元对立不同，人文经济学提出了“三维治理模型”，即通过人文价值的引领，使市场与行政力量在文化共识中找到平衡。例如，儒家诚信观滋养商业信用，江南美学标准提升制造品附加值，最终形成了“有为政府”与“有效市场”之间的动态平衡。

5. The Humanities Economy as a Growth Path

5.人文经济学作为一种成长路径

Guangming Theory: For young scholars, choosing the field of the humanities economy is both a rare growth opportunity and may also face challenges such as academic positioning and methodological integration. What impact has it had on your academic growth and career development?

光明理论：对于青年学者而言，选择人文经济学这一领域既是难得的成长机遇，也可能面临学术定位、方法论融合等挑战。它对各位的学术成长和职业发展带来了哪些影响？

Zong Yacong: The humanities economy has brought many opportunities for my academic growth and career development. At the beginning of my research, I was very fortunate to receive guidance from senior experts in the academic field; during the research process, I participated in several national and provincial-level projects, and the research results were adopted by relevant departments. Verified and encouraged by such outcomes, I have become more determined to deepen my research in this field. The humanities economy not only pushes me to respond more authentically to social concerns, broaden my horizons, and refine my methods. More importantly, it makes me feel the responsibility and mission as a young scholar: to discover real problems, study true values, make efforts to better construct an independent knowledge system of Chinese philosophy and social sciences, serve the people, and respond to the times.

宗娅琮：人文经济学为我的学术成长和职业发展带来了很多机遇。在研究之初，我非常幸运地得到了学界资深专家的指引；在研究过程中，我参加了多项国家级、省部级课题，研究成果也得到有关部门的采纳。在这样的成果验证和激励下，我更加坚定了深耕这一研究领域的决心，人文经济学不仅推动我更真实地回应社会关切，拓宽视野、锤炼方法。更重要的是，它使我感受到作为青年学者的责任与使命：发现真问题，研究真价值，为更好地构建中国哲学社会科学自主知识体系做出自己的努力，服务人民、回应时代。

In the specific practice process, on the one hand, I strive to seek openness in the dimensions of research. Within the framework of the humanities economy, I endeavor to conduct cross-cutting research at multiple levels, including the macro (people’s standpoint), meso (social governance), and micro (corporate culture and management). This research perspective enables me to conduct directional research more closely aligned with national strategic needs; on the other hand, I pay more attention to exploring the space for original discourse logic. Currently, research on the humanities economy is showing efforts to refine concepts and construct discourse from Chinese practice. This kind of original exploration is a unique opportunity for young scholars to tap into the possibility of “research on the value of independent knowledge.”

在具体实践过程中，一方面，我努力寻求研究维度的开阔性。在人文经济学的框架下，我会努力在宏观（人民立场）、中观（社会治理）、微观（企业文化与管理）等多个层面开展贯通性研究，这种研究视野使我能够更加紧密地对应国家战略需求进行方向性研究；另一方面，更加关注对原创话语逻辑的探索空间。当前，人文经济学研究，正呈现出从中国实践中提炼概念、建构话语的努力，这种原创性的探索正是青年学者努力挖掘“自主知识价值研究”可能性的独特机会。

Su Peijun: As a young scholar engaged in research on contemporary Chinese Marxist philosophy, my choice of the research path of the humanities economy is mainly based on in-depth consideration of both theoretical and practical dimensions.

苏培君：作为一名从事当代中国马克思主义哲学研究的青年学者，我选择人文经济学这一研究路径主要基于理论与现实双重维度的深入考量。

In terms of the theoretical dimension, the humanities economy is one of the major original theoretical achievements of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times. Taking “real individuals” as its logical starting point, and building on the continuation of historical materialism, it elevates and extends the dialectical relationship in which the economy determines culture and culture reacts back on economic development, along with the pursuit of the all-round development of the human person, into an economic reflection on how the overall integrated relationship between economy and culture can serve the “people-centered” principle of Chinese-path modernization. This theoretical innovation not only deepens my theoretical understanding of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, but also provides, from the more specific field of economics, a new methodological pathway and theoretical entry point for my academic research, thereby realizing a positive interaction between theoretical research and personal academic growth.

就理论维度而言，人文经济学是马克思主义中国化时代化的重大原创性理论成果之一。它以“现实的个人”为逻辑起点，在赓续唯物史观的基础上，将经济决定文化、文化反作用于经济发展的辩证关系和对人的全面发展的追求，提升扩展至关于经济与文化总体融合关系如何服务于中国式现代化“人民至上”原则的经济学思考。这一理论创新不仅深化了我对马克思主义中国化时代化的理论认知，而且也从更加具体的经济学领域为我的学术研究提供了新的方法论路径和理论切入点，实现了理论研究与个人学术成长的良性互动。

In terms of the practical dimension, the humanities economy is not the result of some textual interpretation or logical deduction; rather, it is an original theory rooted in the soil of China, a theoretical generalization of the practical experience of coordinated economic and cultural development in regions represented by Suzhou and Hangzhou.[5]5 Suzhou and Hangzhou: Cities in eastern China (Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, respectively) frequently cited as exemplars of the coordinated development of culture and economy in the Chinese context. Its core mission lies in embedding humanistic and people-oriented values into the logic of economic and social development, so as to reflect and express the essential requirements of Chinese-path modernization, and to stimulate new practical momentum for further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese-path modernization. Therefore, choosing the humanities economy as a research pathway is both a mission and responsibility entrusted to young scholars by the era, and a convergence point of theoretical innovation and practical exploration.

就现实维度来说，人文经济学并非某种文本解读或逻辑推演的结果，而是扎根于中国大地的原创性理论，是对以苏杭为代表的地区经济与文化协同发展实践经验的理论概括。其核心使命在于将人文、人本等价值理念嵌入经济社会发展逻辑，以反映和表达中国式现代化的本质要求，并为进一步全面深化改革、推动中国式现代化激发新的实践动能。所以，选择人文经济学作为研究路径，既是时代赋予青年学者的使命担当，也是理论创新与实践探索的交汇点。

Chai Dongdong: For me, who has been engaged in research on the cultural industries and aesthetic culture, choosing to enter the field of the humanities economy is by no means a simple move into an adjacent discipline; rather, it has provided a new research perspective, a discourse with greater explanatory power, and a new fulcrum for disciplinary teaching. Its effects are multi-layered and far-reaching.

柴冬冬：选择进入人文经济学领域，对从事文化产业与审美文化研究的我而言，绝非简单地跨入一个相邻学科，而是获得了一种新的研究视野、一种更具阐释力的话语，以及一个进行学科教学的新支点，其作用是多层次且深远的。

First, the interdisciplinary nature of the humanities economy provides new analytical tools and theoretical discourse for those engaged in research on the cultural industries and culture, thereby contributing to innovation in relevant theories. By participating in research on the humanities economy, intellectuals in the humanities and arts can not only enhance their own theoretical horizons, but also cultivate innovative thinking and the ability to solve complex problems through interdisciplinary research, thereby raising their own academic level. This is the most direct effect.

首先，人文经济学的交叉学科属性为从事文化产业与文化研究提供了新的分析工具与理论话语，有助于进行相关理论的创新。通过参与人文经济学的研究，人文艺术研究的知识分子不仅能够提升自身的理论视野，还能在跨学科研究中培养创新思维和解决复杂问题的能力，提升自身学术水平，这是最为直接的作用。

Second, the humanities economy emphasizes the integration and interaction of culture and economy, and focuses on the driving role of humanistic spirit in economic development. For scholars like myself who have long been engaged in humanities and arts research, this provides more opportunities to participate in national and local socioeconomic development, thereby fully realizing the integration of theory and practice.

其次，人文经济学强调文化与经济的交融互动，关注人文精神对经济发展的推动作用，这对我这类长期从事人文艺术研究的学者而言，提供了更多参与国家、地方社会经济发展的机会，充分实现理论和实践的结合。

Finally, the humanities economy can provide many new ideas for disciplinary teaching. On the one hand, the interdisciplinary thinking of the humanities economy can effectively improve the problem of disciplinary barriers that currently exists in teaching; on the other hand, for disciplines closely related to the humanities economy, such as cultural industry management, this is an excellent opportunity to optimize training models and curriculum design. For example, current training of students in majors such as cultural industry management emphasizes content such as industrial models, operational management, market strategies, and cultural formats, while neglecting the setting of courses on humanistic values, benefit evaluation, and cultural and industrial ethics. This leads to a focus on cultivating students’ managerial and executive thinking, while neglecting their role as value leaders and bearers of social responsibility, thereby limiting students’ development and growth. The many new concepts of the humanities economy can undoubtedly compensate for these deficiencies.

最后，人文经济学对学科教学而言可提供诸多新的思路。一方面，人文经济学的跨学科思维可以有效改善当前教学中存在的学科壁垒问题；另一方面，对文化产业管理这种和人文经济学密切相关的学科来说，这是一次很好的优化培养模式与课程设置的机遇。比如，当前文化产业管理等专业在学生培养中偏重产业模式、经营管理、市场策略、文化业态等内容，而忽略了人文价值、效益评估、文化与产业伦理等课程的设置。这导致注重培养学生的管理者与经理人思维，忽视了学生作为价值引领者与社会责任承担者的角色，限制了学生的发展与成长。而人文经济学的诸多新理念，无疑可以弥补这些不足。