Empire at the margins: Compulsory mobility, hierarchical imaginary, and education in China's ethnic borderland

Abstract

This paper presents an ethnographic interpretation of education as a social technology of state sovereign power and governing in the borderlands of contemporary China. Illustrated with snapshots from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a Pumi (Premi) ethnic village located along China's south-western territorial margins, it is argued that the hierarchical structure of the education system, coupled with the arduous and yet compulsory mobility entailed in educational participation, powerfully shapes the social and political imaginaries of peripheral citizens. Education serves simultaneously as a distance-demolishing technology and a hierarchyestablishing technology that counters the 'frictions of terrain' that traditionally presented a problem to the state for governing such geographically inaccessible borderlands.

Transnational partnerships in higher education in China: The diversity and complexity of elite strategic alliances

“…Whiletheopen-doorpolicyhasenabledmorestudentsfromruralareasinChinatoaccess highereducation,researchshowsthatyoungpeoplefromruralareasareinamuchlessprivileged position in terms of education than those in urbanized areas, with access to the university entranceexamination,theGaokao,beingeasierforurbanpopulations (Chianget al,2015).The mosteliteuniversitiesareinthemosturbanizedandwealthyareasofthecountry,suggestingthe needforenforcedmobilityforpopulationsinruralareas (Yang,2014).Whileaccesstoeducation, particularlyschools,inruralareasofChinahasexpandedveryrapidlyinrecentyears (Chiang et al,2012),geographicmobilityandmigrationisseenasbeing'compulsory'foraccesstohighquality university education (Yang, 2014;Kong, 2010).The unequal spread of elite universities acrossthedifferentprovincesandregionsofChinamaythusplayaroleinthecontinuanceof inequality,althoughitisacknowledgedthatthismaybeattributedtoamuchbroaderrangeof complexsocial,cultural,political,andeconomicfactorsthanarecoveredinthisarticle. Itisimportanttonotethatthechangingrelationshipsandpartnershipsbetweenuniversities globallyisnotjustamatterofsystemsandinstitutionalcompetitionbutasMarginson(2014) notesithasanimpactonpeople'ssocialstatus,theireducationalaspirations,andtheirlivesmore broadly.AsYangpointsoutinthecontextofChina: thehierarchicalstructureoftheeducationalsystem,coupledwiththearduousyetcompulsory mobilityentailedineducationalparticipation,shapesthesocialandpoliticalimaginariesofcitizens livingintheperipherywhoseconnectionswiththecentralstateareotherwisetenuous.…”

Transforming Turnaround Schools in China: Strategies, Achievements, and Challenges

“…Moreover, as high quality teachers tend to seek jobs in urban areas with key schools, the teacher mobility system could attract high quality teachers to teach at turnaround schools and reduce the resource differences between schools. On the other hand, Yang and Li (2012) investigated the teachers' turnover mechanism in China's compulsory education. Zhang (2003) also made suggestions on how a teachers' turnover mechanism should be administered.…”

“…These international examples show that a teacher mobility mechanism could ensure an even distribution of human resources and education quality between schools. Furthermore, Yang and Li (2012) divided teacher mobility into rigid and soft forms. Rigid mobility refers to the forced flow of human resources authorized by government agencies and based on standards like working experience and school staff structure.…”