Prof. SU Zhenhua at the College of Media and International Culture of Zhejiang University gave an academic lecture entitled "Structural interpretation of China's social transformation and social science research" at the invitation of the School of Media and Law on May 13. Prof. HE Zhenbiao presided over the event.

Prof. SU, experienced in political and economic communication, began his lecture by pointing out that China, different from western countries including the United States, is experiencing an extended period of social transformation rarely seen in human history, because of which it is necessary to interpret the current Chinese social facts and group behavior against such a backdrop. He then further elaborated on it from three aspects. First, he introduced the audience to several classic theories of social transformation, including those come up with by Tocqueville, Émile Durkheim, Huntington and Inglehart, and pointed out that the theory of political and economic change is closely connected with communication and media. Second, he analyzed the characteristics of China's social transformation, and noted that China is transforming from a "totality society" to a "differentiated society" with modernization being a linear process instead of a non-linear or U-shaped one. He summarized how traditional society and modern society are similar to each other and made a judgement about the development stages of China's modernization. Third, he explored ways to link the interpretation of China's social phenomena with its transformation. He believed that in postmodern society, the social structure becomes stable and its interpretation power gets weakened, but in a society that is in transition, the influence of structure is critical. He noted that social sciences aim to find new knowledge, including looking into hidden facts, enhancing the understanding of structure and producing new theories.

His illuminating lecture has kindled students' interest in exploring China's transformation in order to have a better understanding of their motherland.

Notes:  SU Zhenhua, professor at the College of Media and International Culture of Zhejiang University, focuses his research on social theory, China's social change, political communication, etc. He has published three monographs and over a dozen papers in SSCI-indexed and other authoritative journals, and is selected as an outstanding reviewer for Journalism & Communication.