在改革、发展、稳定三者的关系中 ,稳定是改革和发展的基础和保障。没有社会的稳定 ,改革就难以顺利地进行 ,发展也难有成效。新世纪初 ,中国社会的改革发展进入新的阶段 ,在社会经济全面发展的情况下如何维护社会的持续稳定 ,是个重大的现实问题 ,也是个重要的理论问题。学术界对经济发展与社会稳定的关系问题有过不少的讨论 ,但进入新世纪后 ,这一问题是否会出现一些新内容 ,对这一问题的进一步探讨是否具有新意义 ,这是我们必须思考的。也许可以说 ,经济发展与社会稳定是常论常新的问题 ,是个需要不断讨论、研究、探索的问题。正是基于这样一种认识 ,本刊组织刊登几位学者的文章 ,希望引起更多的学者对这一问题的关注和讨论 In the relations of reform, development and stability, stability is the foundation and guarantee of reform and development. Without social stability, the reform will be difficult to carry out successfully and development will be ineffective. At the beginning of the new century, the reform and development of Chinese society has entered a new phase. It is a major practical issue and an important theoretical issue for how to maintain the social stability under the conditions of all-round social and economic development. There have been many academic discussions on the relationship between economic development and social stability. However, after entering the new century, whether there will be some new issues on this issue and whether further exploration on this issue will have new significance is something that we must thinking. It may be argued that economic development and social stability are commonplace and often new issues and are issues that need constant discussion, research and exploration. It is based on such an understanding that we have published articles by several scholars in hopes of arousing more scholars’ attention and discussion on this issue