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碎片化的世界：如何把握一個(gè)流動(dòng)的社會(huì)

——2018年歐洲學(xué)術(shù)剪影

馬惠娣

歐洲，每年的夏季，學(xué)術(shù)集中綻放的季節(jié)——研討、對(duì)話、交流、反思、批判、質(zhì)疑——每一個(gè)主題都那么銳利、鮮活、豐富——真可謂“百花齊放，百家爭(zhēng)鳴”。“會(huì)議”是一個(gè)很好的公共空間，既是“烏托邦”，也是“異托邦”；時(shí)間在這里終止，也在這里重新開(kāi)始。是福柯“另類空間”的一部分。

正因?yàn)槿绱耍募靖鞣N主題和各種類型的“會(huì)議”、“暑期學(xué)校”、“游學(xué)”、“旅行”成為歐洲最絢麗的風(fēng)景。

在各類會(huì)議訊息中，我與“生活在流動(dòng)的社會(huì)中”（Living in a Liquid Society）”和“我們正處在凝聚與分裂之間的社會(huì)變革中”（The Social Transformations We Live in: Between Cohesion and Fragmentation）兩個(gè)主題“一見(jiàn)鐘情”。

“生活在流動(dòng)的社會(huì)中”，蒂米什瓦拉、羅馬尼亞

（Living in a Liquid Society ，Timisoara, Romania）

? 英國(guó)著名社會(huì)學(xué)家齊格蒙特·鮑曼曾出版過(guò)《流動(dòng)的生活》和《流動(dòng)的時(shí)代》等多部著述，指出當(dāng)代社會(huì)是充滿變數(shù)、缺乏穩(wěn)定性的生活，生活于流動(dòng)的現(xiàn)代社會(huì)中的人們不得不應(yīng)對(duì)諸多挑戰(zhàn)。而“創(chuàng)造性毀滅”是流動(dòng)生活的時(shí)尚方式，伴隨人的是揮之不去的焦慮……。鮑曼從消費(fèi)現(xiàn)象切入，對(duì)消費(fèi)帶來(lái)的新社會(huì)關(guān)系的重構(gòu)，對(duì)政治社會(huì)的消解進(jìn)行了分析與批判。鮑曼被譽(yù)為當(dāng)代“最具原創(chuàng)思想的社會(huì)學(xué)家之一”。

羅馬尼亞社會(huì)學(xué)學(xué)會(huì)第五屆國(guó)際會(huì)議選中“生活在流動(dòng)的社會(huì)中”（Living in a Liquid Society）”為大會(huì)主題，正是對(duì)齊格蒙特?鮑曼思想的回應(yīng)。

生活在流動(dòng)的社會(huì)開(kāi)幕式

這次會(huì)議的宗旨：我們的生活正處在一個(gè)流動(dòng)的社會(huì)中，高流動(dòng)性與永久性正成為社會(huì)變革的互動(dòng)關(guān)系模式，仍強(qiáng)而有力地配置在社會(huì)結(jié)構(gòu)和社會(huì)制度中。堅(jiān)實(shí)的現(xiàn)代性問(wèn)題仍然伴隨著它在時(shí)間上的明確定義和穩(wěn)定的價(jià)值觀，以其內(nèi)在的可預(yù)測(cè)性去發(fā)現(xiàn)社會(huì)現(xiàn)實(shí)的深層含義。但是，流動(dòng)的社會(huì)正在取代它，對(duì)現(xiàn)代性提出質(zhì)疑，“流動(dòng)的社會(huì)”正在改變傳統(tǒng)，尋找新的道路，不停探索替代方案。為了理解這種新的社會(huì)空間聚集形式，不僅需要新的方法論工具，而且需要放棄與當(dāng)代流動(dòng)性格格不入的某些心理模式。

那么，不久的將來(lái)世界會(huì)是什么樣子？更遙遠(yuǎn)的未來(lái)呢？國(guó)家危機(jī)和意識(shí)形態(tài)危機(jī)能被克服嗎？社區(qū)的理念能被重新發(fā)現(xiàn)嗎？我們能概括人生知道什么是我們不想要的（而不是我們想要的）？我們準(zhǔn)備好迎接新經(jīng)濟(jì)了嗎？中期內(nèi)移民的影響是什么？高技術(shù)化和超級(jí)鏈接會(huì)使我們的生活更多的社會(huì)化或是更孤僻？我們?nèi)绾卧诹鲃?dòng)的社會(huì)狀態(tài)中生存？這是通往一個(gè)新的社會(huì)范式的途徑，還是范式本身？對(duì)于這些問(wèn)題，羅馬尼亞社會(huì)學(xué)學(xué)者們提出并思考。看了這些問(wèn)題，不能不讓人怦然心動(dòng)。

在我們的主觀理解中，羅馬尼亞屬于歐洲不發(fā)達(dá)的國(guó)家。但是他們的社會(huì)學(xué)家卻有著敏銳的洞察時(shí)代的意識(shí)。這也就不難理解在社會(huì)發(fā)展方面對(duì)于“快”與“慢”、“節(jié)欲”與“貪欲”、“好”與“壞”有著不同的理解，以及不同的追求目標(biāo)。

羅馬尼亞社會(huì)學(xué)協(xié)會(huì)第五屆國(guó)際會(huì)議2018年9月14-15日蒂米什瓦拉西部大學(xué)（West University of Timisoara, Romania）舉行。來(lái)自全球約幾十個(gè)國(guó)家的學(xué)者300余人出席了會(huì)議。大家分別從不同的視角和學(xué)科背景，圍繞著“生活在流動(dòng)的社會(huì)中”的主題發(fā)表了各自的見(jiàn)解。

大會(huì)會(huì)場(chǎng)邀請(qǐng)了倫敦學(xué)院大學(xué)戴維·沃斯教授主講了“宗教的衰落”，從對(duì)多國(guó)的調(diào)查中得出結(jié)論，認(rèn)為宗教的衰落是全球性的現(xiàn)象，而歐洲的形勢(shì)尤其嚴(yán)峻。他通過(guò)數(shù)據(jù)統(tǒng)計(jì)得出結(jié)論說(shuō)，社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展程度與宗教信仰并不平行。信仰指數(shù)高，意味著幸福感高。筆者注意到，在“信仰指數(shù)”的統(tǒng)計(jì)表中，菲律賓人的信仰指數(shù)最高。在提問(wèn)環(huán)節(jié)，我問(wèn)沃斯教授“這是否意味著菲律賓人的幸福感最高”，他并沒(méi)有給出一個(gè)清晰和確定的回答。

科隆大學(xué)赫爾曼·丟勒米爾教授主講了“社會(huì)學(xué)調(diào)查方法”，主要介紹了從變量群中提取共性因子的統(tǒng)計(jì)技術(shù)方法。

布達(dá)佩斯大學(xué)考斯瑪·如歌海尼絲教授主講：“年齡算法”，從心理學(xué)的視角觀察了老齡化社會(huì)的問(wèn)題。

巴塞羅馬大學(xué)約瑟盧茲·莫麗納教授主講“整體的，個(gè)人的還是自我中心的網(wǎng)絡(luò)？我們對(duì)個(gè)人網(wǎng)絡(luò)知多少？這為什么是一個(gè)問(wèn)題？”依據(jù)“流動(dòng)的社會(huì)”這一概念，對(duì)整體的、個(gè)體的，以及以自我為中心的網(wǎng)絡(luò)做了分析，他主張個(gè)人網(wǎng)絡(luò)更適合于對(duì)新興社會(huì)結(jié)構(gòu)的研究。

羅馬尼亞生活質(zhì)量研究院研究員道哥丹·沃一庫(kù)主講了“從雙重風(fēng)險(xiǎn)社會(huì)到非自由民主的道路——以東歐社會(huì)變遷為例”，回顧了過(guò)去四五十年的社會(huì)變化。他認(rèn)為，目前的情況可能看起來(lái)像是一種平衡，但會(huì)留下來(lái)嗎？還是會(huì)演變成一個(gè)不同的方向？他的答案是，現(xiàn)有的理論及其不斷創(chuàng)新的標(biāo)簽可以有效地用于解釋現(xiàn)實(shí)世界。

會(huì)議還有十余個(gè)分議題研討。筆者參與了老齡化社會(huì)與“流動(dòng)的社會(huì)”兩個(gè)分論壇的討論，并提交了相關(guān)論文和摘要。一篇題目為：“流動(dòng)的生活”將把人帶向哪里？另一篇題目為“中國(guó)老齡化社會(huì)的現(xiàn)狀與面對(duì)的挑戰(zhàn)”。（詳細(xì)見(jiàn)附件）

蒂米什瓦拉是羅馬尼亞西部地區(qū)與塞爾維亞接壤的一個(gè)小城，說(shuō)來(lái)交通并不便利，即使歐洲過(guò)來(lái)的人，大多不能直達(dá)，何況從其他洋洲過(guò)來(lái)的人，路上都是花了很長(zhǎng)、很費(fèi)周折地到達(dá)。我說(shuō)這個(gè)問(wèn)題的意思是，歐美人對(duì)學(xué)術(shù)的熱情是他們生活方式中的一部分，是建構(gòu)社會(huì)體系的一部分，是他們旅行的目的，甚至不惜費(fèi)盡周折。

在會(huì)場(chǎng)碰見(jiàn)了來(lái)自香港中文大學(xué)的日本留學(xué)生和來(lái)自比利時(shí)某大學(xué)的中國(guó)研究生，他們都是獲得了學(xué)校的資助前來(lái)參會(huì)。沒(méi)見(jiàn)到其他亞洲人的面孔。

蒂米什瓦拉是一個(gè)不錯(cuò)的小城，老舊城區(qū)依然完整地被保留，一條河穿城而過(guò)，沿著河兩岸是市民休閑度假的場(chǎng)所。市中心標(biāo)志性的建筑是東正教大教堂。我在這里正好趕上對(duì)警察與消防人員的“圣戒”活動(dòng)，一睹大主教的神威，聆聽(tīng)了他們演唱天籟般的“天堂圣歌”。這里也聚集了多所大學(xué)，文化底蘊(yùn)相當(dāng)醇厚。這里的人很質(zhì)樸，也很善良，我在這里還結(jié)識(shí)了一位“新女兒”安得妮娜——在我乘錯(cuò)車的時(shí)候，她一直把我送到酒店。我邀她到房間落座，我們交談了一個(gè)多小時(shí)。她的英語(yǔ)很好，管理學(xué)碩士研究生畢業(yè)，為了照顧曾長(zhǎng)期撫養(yǎng)她的外公外婆她放棄了繼續(xù)求學(xué)的念頭。大會(huì)結(jié)束后的那個(gè)晚上，她陪伴我瀏覽了街心公園，欣賞了在那里舉行的演唱會(huì)，逛了小吃一條街。還告訴我那些極好的建筑都是吉普賽人在百年前買下的。

這些都是會(huì)議之外的收獲，因而也使得我的旅行體驗(yàn)?zāi)敲吹刎S富多彩。不僅收獲了學(xué)術(shù)思想，也體味到了一個(gè)城市和城市中的人的美好。

蒂米什瓦拉東正教大教堂的神父?jìng)?/p>

“我們正處在凝聚與分裂之間的社會(huì)變革中”

新戈里察（Nova Gorica），斯洛文尼亞

第二個(gè)會(huì)議：“我們正處在凝聚與分裂之間的社會(huì)變革中”（The Social Transformations We Live in: Between Cohesion and Fragmentation），由歐洲社會(huì)學(xué)學(xué)會(huì)（RN26）和聯(lián)合國(guó)教科文組織斯洛文尼亞委員會(huì)社會(huì)變革項(xiàng)目管委會(huì)共同主辦，斯洛文尼亞新戈里察高級(jí)社會(huì)研究學(xué)院承辦。

新戈里察（Nova Gorica）位于斯洛文尼亞的西部，毗鄰意大利城市戈?duì)桚R亞。參會(huì)人數(shù)不多，總共五十余人，分別來(lái)自歐洲十幾個(gè)國(guó)家。人雖不多，但參加討論的熱情很高、專注度也很高。

新戈?duì)柌齑髸?huì)會(huì)場(chǎng)

會(huì)議的范圍和關(guān)注的問(wèn)題是：我們目睹了我們生活的世界中矛盾和復(fù)雜的傾向，它在許多領(lǐng)域變得支離破碎。與此同時(shí)，全球市場(chǎng)化、跨國(guó)組織形式的不斷興起，以及超國(guó)家政治聯(lián)盟都暗示著統(tǒng)一與同質(zhì)化。全球趨勢(shì)越來(lái)越使我們的世界相互聯(lián)系和相互依存。這些相互依賴性要求更大的協(xié)調(diào)、整合和凝聚力，但它們很難被認(rèn)為是理所當(dāng)然的。與此同時(shí)，政策議程的主導(dǎo)，扭曲了經(jīng)濟(jì)互助的觀點(diǎn)，助長(zhǎng)了不平等，并破壞了世界各地區(qū)的社會(huì)穩(wěn)定。這不僅是社會(huì)不同部分之間巨大不平等現(xiàn)象的持續(xù)模式，而且是政治制度對(duì)遭受當(dāng)前狀況之苦的人民的關(guān)切已無(wú)動(dòng)于衷，這越來(lái)越令人沮喪。

我們是否生活在一個(gè)似乎相互排斥的時(shí)代？當(dāng)?shù)谝粋€(gè)（排除）正迅速成為機(jī)械地訴諸的例行措施時(shí)，內(nèi)部選擇就呈現(xiàn)出更多的慣性力量，這可能涉及社會(huì)生活和政治生活的許多方面，并引發(fā)許多問(wèn)題。歐盟在言辭承諾的整合和現(xiàn)實(shí)世界行動(dòng)之間一直處于停頓狀態(tài)，這表明，在大多數(shù)國(guó)家看來(lái)，政治仍然適當(dāng)?shù)卮嬖谟诿褡鍑?guó)家內(nèi)部。大規(guī)模移民和相關(guān)的跨文化接觸可以產(chǎn)生富有成效和互利的跨文化做法；然而，它們可能被用來(lái)促進(jìn)種族隔離、歧視、原教旨主義和極端主義。信息和數(shù)字革命在這里難道會(huì)成為社會(huì)整合或新的社會(huì)鴻溝的決定性因素嗎？人們?nèi)绾螆F(tuán)結(jié)？新出現(xiàn)的分歧是什么？個(gè)體化能被看作是凝聚力和團(tuán)結(jié)的基礎(chǔ)嗎，亦或成為原子化分裂的一個(gè)因素？有哪些力量或思想能夠確保一個(gè)和平與繁榮的社會(huì)，并充分整合，使之充滿相互合作的精神？東歐和中歐地區(qū)的研究可以揭示什么樣的變化？它們究竟會(huì)導(dǎo)致凝聚力還是碎片化？還是兩者兼而有之？我們現(xiàn)在面臨基本矛盾是什么？會(huì)議希望介紹東西方社會(huì)、北半球或南半球，以更廣博的視角，通過(guò)個(gè)別案例研究，應(yīng)用各種理論，包括定性、定量和混合的研究方法。

與會(huì)者們都操著不同口音的英語(yǔ)，聽(tīng)起來(lái)十分費(fèi)力。

有幸結(jié)識(shí)了英國(guó)開(kāi)放大學(xué)藝術(shù)與社會(huì)科學(xué)學(xué)院環(huán)境地理學(xué)系高級(jí)講師皮特·克萊尼敦斯特博士，他作為大會(huì)主旨演講者，做了“將人格尊嚴(yán)理念融入教育過(guò)程” 學(xué)術(shù)報(bào)告。他通過(guò)對(duì)加利福尼亞和斯洛文尼亞兩個(gè)調(diào)查案例說(shuō)明，青少年在成長(zhǎng)過(guò)程中接收人格尊嚴(yán)理念的教育對(duì)日后人生影響重大，學(xué)校發(fā)揮著重要作用。他在另一場(chǎng)報(bào)告中還講了“自產(chǎn)時(shí)蔬”（home growth food）問(wèn)題。會(huì)后與我談到：希望與中國(guó)學(xué)者共同進(jìn)行這個(gè)方面的合作研究。他告訴我，已經(jīng)對(duì)捷克、匈牙利、波蘭、克羅地亞做了問(wèn)卷調(diào)查。他認(rèn)為這個(gè)問(wèn)題涉及到環(huán)境保護(hù)、靜悄悄地可持續(xù)發(fā)展（quiet sustainability），贊同“日常物質(zhì)環(huán)境主義”（everyday material environmentalism’，Schlosberg and Coles 2016）。我們?cè)谶@些方面取得了共識(shí)，也初步達(dá)成了合作的意向。

還結(jié)識(shí)了來(lái)自在牛津大學(xué)讀書(shū)的華裔加拿大學(xué)生杰西·董，她用布魯諾·拉圖爾的行動(dòng)者網(wǎng)絡(luò)理論，并通過(guò)對(duì)柏林難民游考察，探索了時(shí)空對(duì)難民的融合問(wèn)題。說(shuō)來(lái)，很專業(yè)，很深?yuàn)W。也看得出年輕學(xué)子對(duì)社會(huì)學(xué)理論在實(shí)踐中運(yùn)用的技巧和社會(huì)學(xué)學(xué)者洞察社會(huì)的能力。她是會(huì)場(chǎng)上唯一一個(gè)有亞裔面孔的女孩。在攀談中得知她出生在加拿大，父母均在九十年初移民加拿大，并給予她非常好的教育，現(xiàn)在在牛津大學(xué)讀書(shū)。遺憾的是她不會(huì)講中文，氣質(zhì)、神態(tài)均西方化。她發(fā)言結(jié)束后我送給她四個(gè)英文詞：confident, natural, fluent and easiness（自信、自然、流暢、從容）。看得出來(lái)她受到了極好的教育，包括家庭教育，以及嚴(yán)格的學(xué)術(shù)訓(xùn)練，為之塑造出不同的人格魅力和行為舉止。

牛津大學(xué)杰西董在發(fā)言

有趣的是，我回到家不久，竟收到了來(lái)自她的父親寫(xiě)來(lái)的郵件，告知我與他的女兒在會(huì)上相遇，并有一個(gè)愉快的交流。她的父親還饒有興趣地閱讀了我的網(wǎng)站（www.mitiandrr.cn），并稱對(duì)休閑研究十分感興趣。他在郵件中寫(xiě)到：“隨意點(diǎn)開(kāi)一篇‘2017歐洲游學(xué)雜記’，一氣讀完（差點(diǎn)誤了上班時(shí)間）……，讀來(lái)非常享受，謝謝（說(shuō)老實(shí)話，過(guò)去的30年中，接觸中文讀物不多）！”

這些會(huì)場(chǎng)內(nèi)、外的花絮很激蕩人心。無(wú)論是與皮特·克萊尼敦斯特博士的相遇，還是與杰西·董的相識(shí)，甚至延伸至與她父親的神交都充滿了美好。顯然，在碎片化的世界中，我們每個(gè)個(gè)體依然可以溝通友誼，相互團(tuán)結(jié)，加強(qiáng)合作。福柯強(qiáng)調(diào)的“公共空間”，其中的意義不就在此嗎！

新戈里察是斯洛文尼亞最年輕的城鎮(zhèn)，2017年它慶祝了第七十個(gè)生日。這是一個(gè)氣候溫和，常年綠樹(shù)成蔭，年輕、活潑，對(duì)來(lái)自世界各地的游客十分友好的小城。它與意大利的邊界城市戈?duì)桚R亞相連，而且相互沒(méi)有設(shè)立邊界過(guò)境檢查，兩個(gè)城市在各個(gè)層面上都生活在巨大的共存中，這是歐洲獨(dú)特的例子。我在這里租到了自行車，雖然沒(méi)有帶護(hù)照，工作人員還是信任地把車租給了我。我騎著那輛紅色的自行車漫游了新戈里察全城；還穿越邊界到意大利一側(cè)的戈?duì)桚R亞市，在那里的市中心的咖啡館喝了咖啡。

會(huì)議選擇在這里召開(kāi)，別具了一番意味。在這里也意味著世界的凝聚還大有希望！

不得不介紹斯洛文尼亞新戈里察高級(jí)社會(huì)研究學(xué)院，雖然規(guī)模很小，名聲也不大，但是培養(yǎng)出不少“專攻術(shù)業(yè)”的博士。這里鼓勵(lì)思想創(chuàng)新，鼓勵(lì)另類或前沿選題。我與在這里讀博士的安德烈有一個(gè)交談，得知學(xué)術(shù)氛圍相當(dāng)自由，課程設(shè)置多元。我說(shuō)“小的是美好的”（舒馬赫）。大家都會(huì)心一笑，十分認(rèn)同。

會(huì)議起源于古希臘的集會(huì)與公共演講，目的是發(fā)出不同的聲音，質(zhì)疑權(quán)威的思想，尋求真理的答案。這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)在西方保持至今。每年到歐洲來(lái)分享，對(duì)人生、對(duì)事業(yè)、對(duì)生活都是一種難得的福分。

意大利與斯洛文尼亞的邊界

附錄：馬惠娣參會(huì)論文摘要

Share to session of ?EXPLORING AGEING AND OLD AGE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES，Dr. Adriana Teodorescu Babe?-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (adriana.teodorescu@gmail.com)，Prof.univ.dr. Dan Chiribuc?, Babe?-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (danchiribuca@gmail.com)

Aging Society in China: Current Status and Challenges

Ma Huidi

Indeed, Ageing is an extremely diverse, complex and multi-layered process, especially in a liquid social context. It’s only 27 years for China to become an aging society. There are now nearly 250 million people aged over 60 in the country, and that aging population is expected to reach 300 million by 2025. The subsequent 20 years will be more rapid increase.

“Getting old before getting rich” is a prominent feature of today’s Chinese society, which brings all-round challenges to the country. The survey data shows：

Among the households of people aged 65 and over, 150 million elderly people suffer from one or more diseases; 51 million are “empty-nesters”; 5.56% suffer from Alzheimer’s disease; more than 1 million families are lone families (elderly people whose only child died before them); more than 47 million are old widows and widowers; and 30.67 million are over 80 years of age, who are “long-lived but not healthy”.

The elderly population puts a tremendous burden on the Chinese family with the 4:2:1 structure (a unique family structure of four elderly people, a young couple and one child as a result of implementation of one-child policy), creating enormous economic and psychological pressures, then also conflicts with the traditional Chinese principles of “raising children to provide for old age.”

Different elderly groups have different lifestyles, and the common feature is that generally have more free time. But there is a serious shortage of public facilities for the elderly people in recreational activities, and the public services in rural areas are especially inadequate.?

There’s no doubt that the urgent and serious issues of the aging population in China are not only constraining the future economic development of the country, but also cause conflict with the traditional Chinese morals and ethics as well. Two possible solutions to the issue are: 1. the future economy must be tilted toward the aged industry, such as training of the medicare personnel, improving the home-living facilities, establishing community-based rehabilitation system, providing easy access for medical treatment, and balancing the urban and rural elderly care, etc.; 2. measures must be taken such as the establishment of the re-education system for the elderly, re-use of the skills of the relatively younger section of the population, reasonable split and exploitation of the leisure time, re-understanding of the values of the elderly, cultivation of independence awareness for the elderly, and development of healthy living styles. They should all be among top agendas of the government economic policies and development.

Based on demographic analysis, this paper will present the current status of the aging society in China and challenges. In addition, it deliberates on the traditional mode of thinking among elderly population and its negative influence and raises questions on the orientation of the contemporary public opinion propaganda by the media.?

Key words：aging in China, recent status, challenges, questions

Session of  LIVING IN A LIQUID SOCIETY, LIVING IN TRANSNATIONAL SOCIAL FIELDS Living in a Liquid Society，14th – 15^th，September 2018, West University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania

Where will the liquid life take us?

Ma Huidi

Abstract

?

The characteristic of a “liquid life” is a life in an uncertain and unstable environment, with no explicit destinations and no specific goals. It comes from multiple forces of social movements in modern society. With the advent of modernity, globalization and integration, the whole world is more and more shaped by rapid expansion of bureaucratic politics, bombardment of overwhelming knowledge and information, ever fading religious beliefs and traditional customs, paradox of increasingly intimate and distant human relationships, fragmentation of time and space, as well as intensifying social mobility. Industrialization, urbanization, bureaucracy, secularization, and elitism have become the bywords of the modern society. On one hand, technology explosion has facilitated the rapid growth and spread of new ideas and thoughts with stunning speed and volume, influencing and overtaking one another; on the other hand, the economy and the fate of the billions of the people in the world have fallen into the hands of oligarchs, political brokers and commercial monstrosities, who account for only one percent of the world’s population as a whole.

Facing this technology empire, people are easily bewildered, like a small boat adrift in a vast sea, knowing not whither to go. While anxiety and fear always loom over the human beings, “beautiful dreams” and opportunities keep popping up, tempting people to constantly seek illusory freedom and imaginary liberation.

Liquid life is a reflection of an objective reality that comes from enormous historical changes. It is a specific life experience that people must undergo on “absolutely modern” terms. At the same time, it is a way for people to savor and be conscious of the intricacies between time and space, self and others, as well as between possibilities & challenges.

Globalization and modernization has become an irreversible trend, with its crisscrossing currents and countercurrents of separation and cooperation, confrontation and reconciliation, confusion and trauma. From west to east, from modern to contemporary times, it spreads in a familial open concept fashion and in the process becomes the focal point of social and individual conflicts and confrontations on many levels.?

Years ago, in many of his books such as Liquid Life and Globalization: The Human Consequences, Zygmunt Bauman made thorough and meticulous observations on and analysis of the present state of the liquid life, voicing his concerns over the future of human beings, which resonated among intellectuals as well as led to debates. People are sympathetic towards his idealistic concepts of the genuine global obligations and the importance of giving up over owning, but question the solutions he has prescribed such as unity, law, regulations, order, and self-education, for they sound anemic and powerless, lacking concrete means of putting them to patn.

This article attempts to explore, against a Chinese background, crisis of humanity behind a seemingly prosperous society, gap between ideology and reality, big divide between intellectual thoughts and ideas and those of common folks, and conflicts between rule of law and rule by ethics. From the perspective of an intellectual, the article will try to answer the questions on the direction and consequences of the liquid life.

The following questions will also be raised: e.g. where will the future human life be? What kind of breakthroughs can we anticipate in terms of cognitive methodology? What contributions will scholars of the humanities be able to make?

Key words：liquid life????? future directions?? seeking prescription?? probing methodology

The Social Transformations We Live in: Between Cohesion and Fragmentation”

September 20-22, 2018, Nova Gorica, Slovenia

“The Belt and Road” in the Fragmented World

Ma Huidi

Abstract

“The Belt and Road” (B&R) was the cooperation initiative of China’s President Xi Jinping’s “New Silk Road Economic Belt” and “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” in 2013. It aims at relying on the existing bilateral and multilateral mechanisms of China and other countries to carry out a form of regional cooperation or economic partnerships with countries along the route to jointly build a community of interests, common interests, community of political mutual trust, economic integration, cultural inclusion and responsibility community.

According to the Data provided by the Chinese Government: since the “Belt and Road” economic zone opened, have applied for accession by 71 countries and 3000 projects were approved. It has passed through 16 countries in Central and Eastern Europe by the end of 2017: (Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia). By the end of 2017, 3271 trains were running between China and Europe with 57 lines, and opening cities in China's domestic reached 35 starting stations, for connecting 34 European cities in 12 countries.

Would this "Cooperation Initiative" really achieve the purpose of win-win cooperation, economic mutual benefit, political mutual trust and cultural integration? As far as progress is concerned, the participating countries are full of expectations for economic mutual benefit. However, the suspicion, and even the voice of opposition, has also risen in some participating countries.

Therefore, as a scholar, we must rationally consider some problems, such as: how to assess the role of “B&R “in globalization and free trade? how to look upon the bridging effect of “B&R “on the fragmented world? how to improve the cooperative mechanism of "B&R "and so on. But what are the deep reasons for the fragmented world? And what force can be relied on to solve the fragmented world? This paper will explore these issues from an interdisciplinary perspective and also hope to learn from the insights of European scholars.

Key words: The Belt and Road, Cooperation and win-win, the deep reasons for the fragmented world