|
From the Co-Editors Bo
LI & Li-an ZHOU Ours is a time of great changes and great opportunities. When the 20th century draws to a close, we, the human race, find ourselves on the verge of a completely new kind of private and public life, and they will be new both technologically and institutionally. What do these new possibilities mean to China? To a large extent, technological innovations have made it, and will continue to make it, easier for China to build a free, open and just society. For example, the rapid expansion of the Internet community has helped to foster a much needed civil (meaning, non-governmental) society in China. To be sure, this "virtual" civil society is still at its infant stage, but its potential excites many of us. This virtual community not only greatly facilitates the process of building up a civil society in China, it is also a great forum for education. Through free debate, open discussion and learning-by-doing on Internet, people not only become more intelligently informed about public affairs, they also learn to tolerate, to respect different views, to understand the value of free debate and diversity, and to appreciate the limits of unorganized free discussion and the need for institutional arrangements that make public discussions more intelligent and constructive, and make people more rational both individually and collectively. "Perspectives" is one effort to organize free discussions on Internet. "Free" does not necessarily mean "unorganized." There is a great value in publishing a well-organized electronic journal as opposed to simply providing an un-organized discussion forum on Internet. A well-organized and well-presented journal not only make our discussions more efficient by focusing issues, it also makes our discussion more constructive and productive by forcing our authors to think more carefully and to sharpen their arguments constructively. In addition, good organization also increases the educational value of our discussion because it makes the discussion much more accessible to general readers. It is our hope, therefore, that our effort can contribute to the development of new ideas, to the growth of a civil society in China, and to the exercise of free, constructive and productive debates. We hope you find articles published here informative and thought-provoking. We also very much value your participation. If you have ideas, articles, or comments, you are encouraged to send them to us at bo_li@post.harvard.edu and zhoula@leland.stanford.edu. Together, we can make a difference. With best wishes for the new millennium. |