Инволюция как социокультурный феномен современного Китая

Восток. Афро-азиатские общества: история и современность. 2026. № 1. С. 218–230.

Mazhinskiy S.

he article is devoted to one of the most pressing social phenomena in modern China –involution. This term appeared in public discourse in 2017 and has not lost its relevance to thisday. Involution in the socio-cultural dimension of Chinese society means irrational competition,rivalry until complete victory. This entails heightened social competition, which brings Chinesesociety to a state of fatigue and forms a certain model of social behavior. The article examines thehistory of the concept and its appearance in Chinese science and public discourse. Understandinginvolution as a social and cultural phenomenon allows us to identify its features, such as:stereotypes, competition, extra-effort, irrational consumption, obtaining limited resources, andalso helps to designate its mechanics, which is built on the manifestation of social positions.Involution in the modern education system represents a significant problem not only for highschool and university students, but also for the teaching staff. Some of the universities in Chinaintroduce involution-related rules for employees, which increase the workload of both graduatestudents and teachers. In addition, the article also presents a cultural component that reveals anddesignates the role of such an important phenomenon in Chinese society as “face” and its place inthe process of involution. The study also presents the advantages and disadvantages of involutionin politics, culture and education. The topic of involution is considered through the prism of bothacademic and public discourse, which made it possible to designate its comprehensive presencein the social space of contemporary China.

Keywords: конкуренция, Китай, общество, инволюция