Nationalism and Economic Modernization of China: The Chinese Masses’ Reorientation to “the Spirit of Capitalism”

Abstract Following Max Weber’s emphasis on a fundamental change in ethical values behind the modern capitalistic economy, this paper offers an ideational explanation for China’s economic modernization since 1978. It argues that China’s economic reform, which first and foremost changed the official rhetoric about profit-making, endowed the economic preoccupations of ordinary people with a special dignity. Since then, the Chinese masses have been allowed to proudly connect their personal prosperity with China’s national wealth and international status. This dignifying connection, in turn, led them to invest in sustaining the growth of their personal prosperity and national wealth. In other words, it converted the Chinese masses to economic nationalism that prioritized economic development as the chief means for the achievement of China’s glory. The conversion of the Chinese masses to economic nationalism marked the Chinese society’s reorientation to “the spirit of capitalism,” hence China’s economic modernization.