Reflections on ‘universal values’

Abstract

The article anatomizes the ‘universal values’ propagated by some Chinese scholars in recent years. According to the author, what they mean by those concepts, however neutral and omnipresent they may appear, is actually China's conversion to Western capitalist institutions. The historical and contemporary context of ‘universal values’ together with their theoretical partiality and absurdity are discussed.

Keywords:

• universal values
• socialism
• capitalism
• Marxism
• class analysis

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Li Chongfu

Translated by Zhou Mu