1940년대 중국 민주담론 — 지식계의 ‘신(新)’ 민주주의론을 중심으로 —

초록

This study is an analysis of the discourse on “New Democracy” within the Chinese intellectual community of the 1940s. The significance of democratic discourse in China during this period lies in the fact that it not only provided the discursive context in which the basic framework of a uniquely Chinese model of governance and form of democracy was established at the birth of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, but also offers a reference point for evaluating subsequent changes in the governing system of modern China as well as the contemporary theory of “Chinese-style democracy” in its historical context. Although democratic discourse in China during the 1940s maintained continuity with a series of arguments and movements for political democratization that had been raised since the 1930s, it was fundamentally shaped by the global circumstances surrounding the outbreak of the Second World War, particularly the anti-fascist struggle. The defining feature of this democratic discourse was the recognition that while the causes of the First and Second World Wars could be traced to a variety of political, economic, and ethnic factors, they ultimately stemmed from the theoretical and practical limitations of liberal democracy, which was closely bound up with the capitalist system. The collapse of the capitalist system as the economic foundation of democracy, the formalization of political democracy caused by economic inequality, and the disintegration of the imperialist international order all placed existing democratic politics in an ideological and practical crisis. To overcome this crisis, it was argued that economic democracy and social democracy needed to be strengthened in order to implement a more substantive form of democratic politics. Strengthening economic and social democracy in this sense implied the adoption of various socialist policies, including state-led planned economy. Politically, this was to be supported by the formation of a coalition government in which not only anti-fascist liberal democratic parties but also socialist parties representing workers and peasants would jointly participate. Thus, democratic discourse in China during the Second World War and its aftermath, while displaying some internal differences, shared a broadly common perception and orientation that emphasized the advocacy of a “new type of democracy.” This study focuses on the reasons for and the characteristics of this advocacy, analyzing them primarily through influential publications of the time, including various books as well as the journals Dongfang Zazhi (Eastern Miscellany) and The Observer. Furthermore, it seeks to analyze and assess the significance of the theory of New Democracy for both modern China and the contemporary discourse on “Chinese-style democracy.”

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