Behind the “capital-labor” dynamic of modernization lies the dimension of time. The process of modernization inherently involves the production of time and the abstract domination of temporality. The tension between the transformation of surplus labor time into surplus value and free time shapes distinct temporal orientations across different civilizations. The capitalist model of modernization, built upon capital and wage labor, establishes a civilization fundamentally rooted in the “stealing” of laborers’ surplus labor time. Although laborers in this system generate amounts of surplus labor time, it is systematically “stolen” by capitalists across the entire production cycle, encompassing production, consumption, distribution, exchange, and circulation. Due to this “stealing” nature, capital civilization harbors irreconcilable internal contradictions, rendering its development both limited and unsustainable, while fostering a civilizational paradigm that simultaneously alienates individuals and propels society into a paradoxical progress. Through a critical comparison of capitalist civilization, it is possible to grasp historically that Chinese modernization and the creation of a new model for human progress have not only made it possible for labor to have a certain degree of freedom and autonomy of activity during working hours, but also made it possible to internalize the production of surplus working hours into a historically conscious process of emancipation and development of the productive forces, and thus to achieve the maximum acquisition of people’s free time.

Editor: Zhong Yao  Wei Xiaoxue

From:Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University(Philosophy and Social Sciences).2025.No.8.