农业社会治理的立体结构论

农业社会的治理活动所表现出的等级特征是人们普遍认同的,即整个社会治理都是为了维护处于等级序列上层的统治阶级的特殊利益,而下层的被统治者只能服从。依据这一流行观念而将农业社会的治理结构称为一种"等级结构"的做法却是有待商榷的。与工业社会相比,农业社会及其治理还有一个被人们常常忽略的特征:混沌未分。在混沌的农业社会中,权力处于一种混合状态,领域尚没有实现分化,组织也只是一种基于"家"的未分化状态。结合等级与混沌两个特征,农业社会的治理结构应当被称为一种"立体结构",在这一立体结构中,表面矛盾的等级与混沌却是相辅相成的,共同维续了农业社会的治理秩序。

A Stereo Structure Theory of the Agricultural Society

It is widely argued that hierarchy is the most important feature of an agricultural society, in which the ruling class at the top rules those at the bottom. However, whether the governance system of an agricultural society is a hierarchical structure is worthy of discussion. Compared with the industrial society, an agricultural society is a society of undifferentiated chaos, where such elements as power, realm and organization are not differentiated. Therefore, this paper argues that the governance structure of an agricultural society is a stereo structure, which incorporates the two features:hierarchy and chaos. These two seemingly incompatible features are essentially complementary in the stereo structure of an agricultural society.