The Intrinsic Unity of the Holistic Nature of Marxism and the Disciplinary Nature of Political Economy

Marxist theory is a complete scientific system. Chinese academic circles have conducted extensive research on the holistic nature of Marxism, producing a body of research results and reaching some important consensuses. At the same time, Marxism is composed of three parts: Marxist philosophy, political economy, and scientific socialism. With regard to political economy, some scholars have also drawn conclusions in their research that merit further discussion, exhibiting a tendency to emphasize the holistic nature of Marxism while neglecting the disciplinary nature of political economy. In the New Era, achieving the intrinsic unity of the holistic nature of Marxism and the disciplinary nature of political economy is an objective necessity for advancing the systematization and theorization of the latest achievements in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times.

马克思主义理论是一个完整的科学体系。我国学术界对马克思主义整体性进行了大量研究，形成了一批研究成果，取得了一些重要共识。同时，马克思主义由马克思主义哲学、政治经济学与科学社会主义三部分组成。就政治经济学来说，一些学者在研究过程中也得出值得进一步探讨的结论，存在强调马克思主义整体性而忽视政治经济学学科性的倾向。在新时代，实现马克思主义整体性与政治经济学学科性的内在统一，是推进马克思主义中国化时代化最新理论成果体系化与学理化的客观需要。

The holistic nature of Marxism and Marx’s “turn to political economy.” The edifice of Marxism is built on a solid theoretical foundation. Marxist theory is a complete scientific system. The founders of Marxism did not intentionally seek to create a theoretical system as some thinkers before or contemporary to them did; rather, they naturally constructed a scientific theoretical system in the process of studying the issues of their era, exploring the mysteries of society, and critiquing erroneous ideas. Marxist philosophy constitutes the theoretical foundation and methodological premise of Marxist political economy and scientific socialism. Engels pointed out in his 1859 review of Marx’s *A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (First Instalment)*: “German economics is essentially based on the materialist conception of history.” [1]1 Engels’s review was published in the German newspaper *Das Volk* in August 1859. The quote refers to the materialist conception of history, which Engels and Marx developed.

马克思主义整体性与马克思的“政治经济学转向”。马克思主义大厦是建立在坚实的理论基础之上的。马克思主义理论是一个完整的科学体系。马克思主义创始人无意像他们之前或同时代的某些思想家那样去刻意追求创建一个理论体系，而是在研究时代问题、探索社会奥秘和批判错误思想的过程中自然地建构起了一个科学的理论体系。马克思主义哲学构成了马克思主义政治经济学和科学社会主义的理论基础和方法论前提。恩格斯在1859年为马克思的《政治经济学批判（第一分册）》所写的书评中指出：“德国的经济学本质上是建立在唯物主义历史观的基础上的。”

The holistic nature of Marxism originates from the interconnectedness or wholeness of social structure and social movement. Marx once noted in the preface to the first edition of *Capital*, Volume I, that he adopted an objective, holistic standpoint in his research on the mode of social production or the socio-economic formation. The various factors within social structure or social movement are always in dialectical interconnection and interaction, forming an organic whole. Marx emphasized the complexity within social structure and the tightness of the interconnections among its factors, referring to the social formation as a “social organism.” He said: “My standpoint is that the development of the economic formation of society is viewed as a process of natural history; and that, whatever the subjective attitude of the individual may be, he is, in the social sense, always a product of these relations.”

马克思主义整体性源于社会结构和社会运动的相互联系性或整体性。马克思曾经在《资本论》第一卷第一版序言中指出，他在关于社会生产方式或社会经济形态的研究中所采取的是客观的、整体的立场。社会结构或社会运动中各因素之间总是处于辩证的相互联系、相互作用之中，构成一个有机的整体。马克思强调社会结构内部的复杂性、各因素之间联系的紧密性，把社会形态称为“社会有机体”。他说：“我的观点是：社会经济形态的发展是一种自然历史过程；不管个人在主观上怎样超脱各种关系，他在社会意义上总是这些关系的产物。”

Marx began his turn to the study of political economy at the end of 1843, a process that spanned a full forty years, during which he wrote a large number of works on political economy. Taking historical materialism and dialectical materialism as his world outlook and methodology, and taking the relations of production based on the productive forces as his object of study, he explained the economic laws of motion and historical tendencies of capitalism, elucidating the historical inevitability of socialism replacing capitalism.

马克思从 1843 年底开始转向政治经济学研究，历时整整 40 年，撰写了大量政治经济学著作。他以历史唯物主义和辩证唯物主义为世界观和方法论，以生产力基础上的生产关系为研究对象，解释资本主义经济运动规律和历史趋势，阐明社会主义代替资本主义的历史必然性。

Political economy originated from political science, sociology, and moral philosophy. In its initial stage, political economy studied the production activities, purchasing behaviors, and sales processes of a society at different stages, as well as its laws, social customs, behavioral conventions, and the relationships between government and society. It was only in the latter half of the 18th century that political economy developed into an independent discipline. Marx pointed out: “Political economy, as an independent science, first arose during the period of manufacture. It views the social division of labor only from the standpoint of the division of labor in manufacture, regarding it as a means of producing more commodities with the same quantity of labor, thereby cheapening commodities and accelerating the accumulation of capital.” Marxist political economy brought about a revolutionary transformation of political economy. Engels pointed out that “political economy is the theoretical analysis of modern bourgeois society,” and that bourgeois political economy obscures the essence of bourgeois society. In Marx’s view, bourgeois political economy conceals “the relations hidden beneath the shell of things.”

政治经济学起源于政治学、社会学和道德哲学，最初阶段的政治经济学研究一个社会在不同阶段的生产活动、购买行为及出售过程、法律法规、社会习俗、行为惯例以及政府之间关系。18世纪后半期，政治经济学才发展成为一门独立学科。马克思指出：“政治经济学作为一门独立的科学，是在工场手工业时期才产生的，它只是从工场手工业分工的观点来考察社会分工，把社会分工看成是用同量劳动生产更多商品，从而使商品便宜和加速资本积累的手段。”马克思主义政治经济学实现了政治经济学的革命性变革。恩格斯指出，“政治经济学是现代资产阶级社会的理论分析”，资产阶级的政治经济学掩盖了资产阶级社会的本质。在马克思看来，资产阶级的政治经济学掩盖了“隐蔽在物的外壳之下的关系”。

Marx’s “turn to political economy” did not affect the holistic nature of the Marxist theory he and Engels founded.

马克思“转向政治经济学”并没有影响他和恩格斯创立的马克思主义理论的整体性。

In a letter to Engels in July 1865, Marx stated: “Whatever shortcomings my writings may have, they have one merit: they are an artistic whole.” [2]2 This is from a letter Marx wrote to Engels on July 31, 1865, referring to his work *Capital*. Some scholars in China believe that studying and interpreting Marxism from different disciplinary fields results in as many Marxist disciplines as there are social science disciplines, and that the holistic nature of Marxism is in fact dissolved by the systematization of each discipline. This view, which sets the holistic nature of Marxism in opposition to the disciplinary nature of political economy, is open to question.

1865 年 7月，马克思给恩格斯的信中称，“不论我的著作有什么缺点，它们却有一个长处，即它们是一个艺术的整体”。我国有的学者认为，从不同的学科领域研究和解释马克思主义，在社会科学领域有多少门学科就有多少门马克思主义的学科，马克思主义的整往期回顾体性事实上被各个学科的体系化消解了。这种看法将马克思主义整体性与政治经济学学科性对立起来，是值得商榷的。

Achieving the intrinsic unity of the holistic nature of Marxism and the disciplinary nature of political economy in the New Era. The holistic nature of Marxism has become an important topic of discussion in Chinese academic circles, partly because Marxist theory has been established as a first-level discipline. [3]3 In China’s academic degree system, “first-level discipline” is the broadest category of academic fields. Marxist theory was established as a first-level discipline in 2005, elevating its status in university research and teaching. The establishment of Marxist theory as a first-level discipline is not contradictory to the long-standing status of political economy as an important discipline; on the contrary, they complement and promote each other. On June 30, 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping, when presiding over the sixth collective study session of the Political Bureau of the Party Central Committee, emphasized: “Promoting the systematization and theorization of theory is an inherent requirement and an important pathway for theoretical innovation.” In the New Era, achieving the intrinsic unity of the holistic nature of Marxism and the disciplinary nature of political economy is an objective necessity for advancing the systematization and theorization of theory.

新时代实现马克思主义整体性与政治经济学学科性的内在统一。马克思主义整体性成为我国学术界讨论的重要话题，其中一个原因是马克思主义理论成了一级学科。马克思主义理论一级学科的成立与长期以来将政治经济学作为重要学科并不矛盾，反而相得益彰，相互促进。2023年6月30日，习近平总书记在主持中共中央政治局第六次集体学习时强调：“推进理论的体系化、学理化，是理论创新的内在要求和重要途径。”在新时代，实现马克思主义整体性与政治经济学学科性的内在统一是推进理论体系化和学理化的客观需要。

On the one hand, advancing the systematization of theory requires forming research and understanding of the holistic nature of Marxism. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era forms an integral whole with Marxist theory. Understanding the advancement of the systematization of the Party’s innovative theory must be based on the logic of Marxism and the perspective of scientific socialism, understood through the consistent positions, viewpoints, and methods of Marxism, and understood through the holistic and systematic characteristics of Marxist scientific theory. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The reason Marxism has such a profound influence is that it reveals the truth of the development of human society with profound theoretical reasoning and demonstrates the scientific nature of its theory with a complete system.”

一方面，推进理论的体系化需要形成对马克思主义整体性的研究和认识。习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想与马克思主义理论是一脉相承的整体。理解推进党的创新理论的体系化，必须基于马克思主义这一逻辑和科学社会主义这一视角来认识，从贯通马克思主义的立场、观点和方法来认识，从马克思主义科学理论的整体性系统性特征来认识。习近平总书记指出：“马克思主义之所以影响深远，在于其以深刻的学理揭示人类社会发展的真理性、以完备的体系论证其理论的科学性。”

Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is also a theoretical system. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era has put forward a series of original new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies, making many major principled innovations in Marxist philosophy, political economy, and scientific socialism, and deepening the understanding of the laws governing the governance of the Communist Party, the laws of socialist construction, and the laws of the development of human society from a new perspective. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, from proposing and implementing the new development concept to summarizing and elaborating the theory of Chinese-path modernization; from the 19th National Congress of the CPC and the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee summarizing the main content of this important thought with the “Ten Clarifications,” “Fourteen Perseverances,” and “Thirteen Areas of Achievement,” to the 20th National Congress of the CPC profoundly elaborating the world outlook and methodology of this important thought and the positions, viewpoints, and methods running through it with the “Two Integrations” and the “Six Musts,” Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era has been continuously enriched and developed, constituting a scientific system with rigorous logic, rich connotation, comprehensive scope, and profound breadth, marking a new height in the development of Marxism with its original theoretical contributions. [4]4 The “Ten Clarifications,” “Fourteen Perseverances,” and “Thirteen Areas of Achievement” are official summaries of the main content of Xi Jinping Thought, presented at the 19th National Congress of the CPC (2017) and the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee (2021). The “Two Integrations” and “Six Musts” were elaborated at the 20th National Congress of the CPC (2022).

习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想也是一个理论体系。习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想提出一系列原创性的新理念新思想新战略，对马克思主义哲学、政治经济学、科学社会主义作出了许多重大原理性创新，以全新的视野深化了对共产党执政规律、社会主义建设规律、人类社会发展规律的认识。党的十八大以来，从提出并贯彻新发展理念，到概括提出并深入阐述中国式现代化理论；从党的十九大、十九届六中全会以“十个明确”“十四个坚持”“十三个方面成就”概括这一重要思想的主要内容，到党的二十大以“两个结合”“六个必须坚持”深刻阐述这一重要思想的世界观方法论和贯穿其中的立场观点方法，习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想不断丰富发展，构成一个逻辑严密、内涵丰富、系统全面、博大精深的科学体系，以原创性理论贡献标志马克思主义发展的新高度。

On the other hand, advancing the theorization of theory requires establishing the disciplinary attributes of the relevant components of Marxist theory. Theorization requires that theoretical innovation must explore the essence and laws of development of things, conform to the basic principles and rules of the discipline, and have a fully scientific philosophical foundation, basis for argumentation, and underlying logic. At the same time, advancing the theorization of the Party’s innovative theory in the New Era requires continuous deepening of effort; through systematic construction and by leveraging disciplinary systems and professional knowledge, it is necessary to further strengthen the disciplinary support and academic expression of the Party’s innovative theory in the New Era, highlighting its truth and scientific nature. With regard to political economy, endowing it with disciplinary nature is conducive to the propaganda and popularization of Marxism, conducive to in-depth research on Marxism from different disciplinary fields, and thus conducive to deepening the research and propaganda of the holistic nature of Marxism. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Theoretical interpretation must be based on in-depth research; only when research is deep can interpretation be thorough.”

另一方面，推进理论的学理化需要确立马克思主义理论相关组成部分的学科属性。学理化要求理论创新必须探索事物的本质和发展规律，与学科的基本原理和法则相符合，有充分科学的哲学基石、立论依据和底层逻辑。同时，推进新时代党的创新理论学理化，要不断在深入上下功夫，通过体系化构建、借助学科体系和专业知识，进一步强化新时代党的创新理论的学科支撑和学术表达，彰显其真理性和科学性。就政治经济学来说，赋予它学科性有利于对马克思主义的宣传和普及，有利于从不同学科领域对马克思主义的深入研究，从而有利于深化马克思主义整体性的研究、宣传。习近平总书记指出：“理论阐释要以深入研究为基础，研究深入，阐释才能透彻。”

General Secretary Xi Jinping, standing at the strategic height of the overall situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the changes unseen in a century in the world, has engaged in profound reflection and scientific research on a series of major theoretical and practical issues concerning economic development in the New Era, and has originally put forward a series of new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies, forming Xi Jinping’s economic thought. Xi Jinping’s economic thought is based on the practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, creatively inheriting and innovatively developing Marxist political economy; it is a Marxist political economy with distinct characteristics of the times and practical features. Only from the perspective of political economy can one deeply grasp the connotations of Xi Jinping’s economic thought and its rich, rigorous logical structure, and only thus can one profoundly understand its inheritance and development of Marxist political economy.

习近平总书记站在中华民族伟大复兴战略全局和世界百年未有之大变局的战略高度，对关系新时代经济发展的一系列重大理论和实践问题进行深邃思考和科学研究，原创性地提出一系列新理念新思想新战略，形成了习近平经济思想。习近平经济思想立足新时代中国特色社会主义实践，创造性继承、创新性发展了马克思主义政治经济学，是具有鲜明时代特征和实践特色的马克思主义政治经济学。只有从政治经济学角度，才能深入把握习近平经济思想内涵及其丰富、严谨的逻辑结构，才能深刻理解其对马克思主义政治经济学的继承和发展。

The systematization and theorization of Marxist innovation theory complement and promote each other. General Secretary Xi Jinping has explicitly demanded: “The project of studying and developing Marxist theory must continuously deepen theoretical research and interpretation, focusing on researching and interpreting the principled theoretical achievements among the new concepts and new judgments put forward by our Party, grasping their mutual internal connections, and educating and guiding the entire Party and the whole country to better learn and grasp the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a New Era.” [5]5 This is a quotation from a speech by Xi Jinping, emphasizing the need for systematic and theoretical research on the Party’s new theoretical contributions.

马克思主义创新理论的体系化与学理化相辅相成、相互促进。习近平总书记明确要求：“马克思主义理论研究和建设工程要不断深化理论研究阐释，重点研究阐释我们党提出的新理念新论断中原理性理论成果，把握相互的内在联系，教育引导全党全国更好学习把握新时代中国特色社会主义思想的理论体系。”

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗