higher education policy in china 1992-2010: a … · 2012-07-30 · higher education policy in...
TRANSCRIPT
HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY IN CHINA
1992-2010: A GENEALOGICAL ANALYSIS
OF THE ENTERPRISE UNIVERSITY
Jun Gao
BA (English Language and Literature)
MA (English Language and Literature)
Doctor of Philosophy
Centre for Learning Innovation
Faculty of Education
Queensland University of Technology
April 2012
i
KEY WORDS
Globalisation, enterprise university, higher education in China, genealogy, governmentality,
policy analysis, case study, subjectivity, space
ii
ABSTRACT
In the context of globalisation and the knowledge economy, universities worldwide
are undertaking profound restructuring. Following these pressures for reform, the entity of the
―enterprise university‖ has emerged internationally. Characteristics of this new form of
educational institution can be summarised as deploying corporate styles of governance and
management in order to enhance economic competitiveness and academic prestige. The
higher education sector in China is no different, as it has undergone extensive reforms
particularly since the ―socialist market economy‖ was introduced in 1992. Hence, this study
aims to investigate the emergence of the enterprise university in a Chinese context. The
research question is: How have discourses of globalisation manifested and constituted new
forms of social and educational governance within China‘s higher education sector during the
period 1992 to 2010?
Following this research question, the study uses a genealogical methodology to
conduct a critical analysis of reforms in Chinese higher education (1992 -2010). At a national
level, China‘s higher education policy is examined using the analytical framework of
governmentality. This discloses the underlying rationalities and technologies of Chinese
political authorities as they seek to refashion higher education policy and practice. At a local
level, a case study of a particular university in China is conducted in order to facilitate
understanding of reform at the national level. The aim is to uncover the kinds of educational
subjects and spaces that have been constituted in the university‘s efforts to reconfigure itself
within the context of national higher education reform.
The study found that the concept of the enterprise university in China has features
shared by the one that has emerged internationally. However, the analysis showed that the
emergence of the enterprise university in China has specific social, economic, political, and
cultural environments which impact on local educational practices. The study is significant
because it is one of the few examples where the framework of governmentality—a research
approach or perspective employed largely to examine Western society—is applied in a
Chinese context, which is a non-Western and non-liberal democratic site.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
KEY WORDS ........................................................................................................................... I
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. II
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................... III
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................. IX
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................. X
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND TRANSLATIONS OF CHINESE CONCEPTS .... XI
STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP .............................................................. XII
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. XIII
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Research question and aims ............................................................................................. 3
1.3 Definition of terms ........................................................................................................... 4
1.4 Research design ............................................................................................................... 7
1.5 Significance of the study .................................................................................................. 9
1.6 Researcher identity ......................................................................................................... 10
1.7 Structure of thesis .......................................................................................................... 13
1.8 Chapter summary ........................................................................................................... 15
CHAPTER TWO HISTORICAL AND GLOBAL CONTEXT OF HIGHER
EDUCATION REFORM IN CHINA................................................................................... 17
2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 17
2.2 Higher education in China: A historical review ............................................................ 17
2.2.1 Higher education in China: Before 1949 ................................................................. 17
2.2.2 Higher education in China: 1949-1976 ................................................................... 21
2.2.3 Higher education in China: 1977-1991 ................................................................... 24
2.2.4 Higher education in China: Since 1992 ................................................................... 26
2.2.5 Summary .................................................................................................................. 37
iv
2.3 Globalisation and higher education ............................................................................... 39
2.3.1 Globalisation ............................................................................................................ 39
2.3.1.1 Three major debates ......................................................................................... 40
2.3.1.2 The dimensions of globalisation ...................................................................... 43
2.3.1.3 International organisations ............................................................................... 49
2.3.2 Restructuring of the higher education sector: A global trend .................................. 52
2.4 Emergence of the enterprise university .......................................................................... 55
2.4.1 Neoliberal policy and the enterprise university ....................................................... 56
2.4.2 The knowledge economy and the enterprise university .......................................... 57
2.4.3 Academic cultures and the enterprise university ..................................................... 57
2.4.4 Developments in information and communications technologies and the enterprise
university .......................................................................................................................... 58
2.5 Chapter summary ........................................................................................................... 59
CHAPTER THREE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................... 61
3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 61
3.2 Social imaginaries .......................................................................................................... 62
3.2.1 Castoriadis and studies of social imaginary ............................................................ 62
3.2.2 Recent studies using social imaginary ..................................................................... 69
3.3 Governmentality ............................................................................................................ 72
3.3.1 Significance of governmentality .............................................................................. 72
3.3.1.1 Foucault and governmentality .......................................................................... 72
3.3.1.2 Miller and Rose on governmentality ................................................................ 75
3.3.1.3 Applications of governmentality in Western contexts ..................................... 81
3.3.1.4 Recent development of governmentality studies ............................................. 84
3.3.2 Key concepts: Power, government, subjectivity and space ..................................... 88
3.3.2.1 Power ............................................................................................................... 88
3.3.2.2 Government...................................................................................................... 89
3.3.2.3 Subjectivity ...................................................................................................... 90
3.3.2.4 Space ................................................................................................................ 92
3.3.3 Governmentality and social imaginary .................................................................... 93
3.3.4 Applications of governmentality in the context of China........................................ 94
3.4 Chapter summary ......................................................................................................... 100
v
CHAPTER FOUR METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN ............................ 101
4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 101
4.2 Genealogy .................................................................................................................... 101
4.3 Critical policy analysis ................................................................................................. 104
4.4 Case study .................................................................................................................... 106
4.5 Components of the study ............................................................................................. 109
4.5.1 Constituting the global imaginary of the enterprise university ............................. 109
4.5.2 Investigating the national imaginary of contemporary Chinese universities ........ 110
4.5.3 Investigating the local imaginary of one contemporary Chinese university ......... 112
4.5.4 Constituting the imaginaries of contemporary Chinese universities ..................... 115
4.6 Chapter summary ......................................................................................................... 116
CHAPTER FIVE GOVERNMENTAL RATIONALITIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION
POLICY IN CHINA ............................................................................................................ 119
5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 119
5.2 Decision on the Reform of China’s Educational Structure (1985): Initiator of higher
education reform ................................................................................................................ 122
5.2.1 Policy context ........................................................................................................ 123
5.2.2 Rationalities of the 1985 Decision ........................................................................ 125
5.2.3 Technologies of the 1985 Decision ....................................................................... 131
5.3 Governmental rationalities of China‘s higher education policy (1992-2010) ............. 137
5.3.1 Knowledge of the objects of government .............................................................. 137
5.3.1.1 International competition ............................................................................... 138
5.3.1.2 The introduction of the socialist market economy ......................................... 140
5.3.1.3 Knowledge economy ..................................................................................... 149
5.3.1.4 Human capital ................................................................................................ 154
5.3.1.5 A xiaokang (moderately prosperous) society ................................................ 168
5.3.2 Morality of authorities ........................................................................................... 176
5.3.2.1 Morality of the CCP Committee .................................................................... 178
5.3.2.2 Morality of the government ........................................................................... 181
5.3.2.3 Morality of the Ministry of Education ........................................................... 192
5.3.3 Language of representation ................................................................................... 193
5.3.3.1 Discourses of globalisation ............................................................................ 194
vi
5.3.3.2 Socialist discourses ........................................................................................ 198
5.4 Chapter summary ......................................................................................................... 202
CHAPTER SIX GOVERNMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION
POLICY IN CHINA ............................................................................................................ 205
6.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 205
6.2 Mechanisms and strategies .......................................................................................... 206
6.2.1 Macro-regulation of the government ..................................................................... 207
6.2.1.1 Reform of administration and transformation of government functions ....... 207
6.2.1.2 Appropriation of funds and legislation .......................................................... 208
6.2.1.3 Diversified provision of higher education ..................................................... 209
6.2.1.4 Supervision .................................................................................................... 209
6.2.1.5 Educational equity and justice ....................................................................... 210
6.2.1.6 Tracking and monitoring the policy implementation process........................ 210
6.2.2 Measures of university self-development .............................................................. 211
6.2.2.1 Independent fund-raising by the university ................................................... 212
6.2.2.2 Quality and efficiency: Competitiveness and prestige................................... 216
6.2.2.3 Rencai selection, cultivation and distribution ................................................ 219
6.2.2.4 Construction of university infrastructure ....................................................... 221
6.2.2.5 Moral education ............................................................................................. 222
6.3 Subjectivities and spaces .............................................................................................. 224
6.3.1 Autonomous and entrepreneurial subjects ............................................................. 224
6.3.2 Obedient subjects ................................................................................................... 227
6.3.3 New discursive and physical spaces ...................................................................... 227
6.4 Chapter summary ......................................................................................................... 233
CHAPTER SEVEN IMAGINARIES OF ONE LOCAL CHINESE UNIVERSITY .... 235
7.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 235
7.2 Pioneering University: An overview ........................................................................... 237
7.3 Organisational structure ............................................................................................... 238
7.3.1 The CCP Committee .............................................................................................. 239
7.3.2 Administrative departments ................................................................................... 241
7.3.2.1 Office for Development and Planning ........................................................... 242
7.3.2.2 Personnel Department .................................................................................... 243
vii
7.3.2.3 Department of Finance and Department of Auditing .................................... 245
7.3.2.4 Department of Supervision ............................................................................ 246
7.3.2.5 Department for Assets and Logistical Affairs ............................................... 246
7.3.2.6 Office of Infrastructure Management ............................................................ 247
7.3.2.7 Office of Laboratory and Facility Management ............................................ 247
7.3.2.8 Office of International Cooperation and Exchange ....................................... 248
7.3.3 Teaching and scientific research units ................................................................... 249
7.3.4 Organisations for the masses ................................................................................. 251
7.4 Enrolment of students .................................................................................................. 253
7.4.1 Bachelor‘s degree programmes ............................................................................. 253
7.4.2 Postgraduate degree programmes .......................................................................... 256
7.4.3 Programmes for international students .................................................................. 257
7.5 Student cultivation ....................................................................................................... 259
7.5.1 Undergraduate education ....................................................................................... 259
7.5.2 Postgraduate education .......................................................................................... 260
7.5.3 Overseas student education ................................................................................... 263
7.6 Graduate employment .................................................................................................. 264
7.7 Scientific research ........................................................................................................ 265
7.8 Social services .............................................................................................................. 266
7.8.1 Services for the economic zone on the west side of Taiwan Strait ....................... 266
7.8.2 Pioneering University Assets Management Co. Ltd ............................................. 268
7.9 Campus services ........................................................................................................... 270
7.9.1 Digital library ........................................................................................................ 271
7.9.2 Campus E-card ...................................................................................................... 271
7.9.3 Pioneering University Logistics Group ................................................................. 272
7.10 Chapter summary ....................................................................................................... 273
CHAPTER EIGHT CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 281
8.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 281
8.2 The practice of critique ................................................................................................ 282
8.3 Global imaginary of the enterprise university ............................................................. 283
8.4 Critical analysis of China‘s higher education policy at a national level ...................... 285
8.5 Local practices: The case of Pioneering University .................................................... 289
viii
8.6 Significance and implications ...................................................................................... 292
8.7 Limitations of the study ............................................................................................... 295
8.8 Suggestions for further research .................................................................................. 296
8.9 Concluding remarks ..................................................................................................... 297
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 299
APPENDIX ONE LANGUAGE TRANSLATION PROCESS AND SAMPLE ............ 318
ix
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3. 1. Conceptual framework of governmentality ......................................................... 78
Figure 3. 2. Rationalities of neoliberal government ................................................................ 80
Figure 3. 3. Programmes of neoliberal government ................................................................ 80
Figure 3. 4. Technologies of neoliberal government ............................................................... 80
Figure 3. 5. Relationship between space, power, government, and subjectivity ..................... 92
Figure 4. 1. Analysis of China‘s higher education policy using a governmentality framework
................................................................................................................................................ 111
Figure 4. 2. Analysis of China‘s higher education policy using a governmentality framework
................................................................................................................................................ 112
Figure 5. 1. Rationalities of the policy .................................................................................. 122
Figure 5. 2. Technologies of the policy ................................................................................. 122
Figure 5. 3. Governing rationalities of the 1985 Decision .................................................... 136
Figure 5. 4. Governing technologies of the 1985 Decision ................................................... 137
Figure 5. 5. Governmental rationalities of higher education policy in China from 1992 to
2010........................................................................................................................................ 201
Figure 6. 1. Technologies of the policy ................................................................................. 206
Figure 6. 2. Governmental technologies of higher education policy in China from 1992 to
2010........................................................................................................................................ 232
x
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2. 1 Gross enrolment rate of China’s higher education sector from 1992 to 2007 ....... 31
Table 2. 2 Three schools of globalisation theory ..................................................................... 41
Table 4. 1 Operation framework of Pioneering University ................................................... 114
Table 4. 2 Subjects and spaces constituted by Pioneering University ................................... 115
Table 4. 3 Thesis framework .................................................................................................. 117
Table 5. 1 Objectives for the development of higher education by 2010 ............................... 164
Table 5. 2 Objectives for the development of human resources through higher education by
2020........................................................................................................................................ 166
Table 5. 3 The proportion of China’s fiscal expenditure on education to GDP(1995-2009) 185
Table 5. 4 The legalisation process of the reform of China’s higher education system ........ 186
Table 5. 5 The constituents and proportion of national educational funds in 1995 and 2004
................................................................................................................................................ 188
Table 5. 6 Categories of discourses in China’s higher education policy documents from 1992
to 2010 ................................................................................................................................... 194
Table 7. 1 The Chinese Communist Party Committee of Pioneering University .................. 239
Table 7. 2 Administrative departments of Pioneering University ......................................... 241
Table 7. 3 Key spaces of scientific research in Pioneering University ................................. 266
Table 7. 4 Pioneering University Assets Management Co., Ltd ............................................ 269
Table 7. 5 Subjects and spaces constituted in Pioneering University’s response to national
higher education policies and international influences ......................................................... 274
xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND TRANSLATIONS OF CHINESE
CONCEPTS
1985 Decision Decision on the Reform of China’s Educational Structure
1993 Outline Outline of China’s Education Reform and Development
1994 State Council’s View State Council’s View on the Implementation of “Decision on
the Reform of China’s Educational Structure”
2003-2007 Action Plan 2003-2007 Action Plan for Invigorating Education
21st Century Programme Programme of Educational Revitalization for the Twenty-first
Century
CCP Chinese Communist Party
Eleventh 5-Year Plan Outline of the Eleventh 5-Year Plan for the Development of
Nation-wide Education Cause
GDP Gross Domestic Product
HSK Chinese Language Proficiency Test
IT information technology
Medium and Long-term Outline of State Plans for Medium and Long-term Outline
Reform and Development of Education
MoE Ministry of Education
MST Ministry of Science and Technology
Ninth 5-Year Plan Ninth 5-Year Plan for the Nation-wide Education Cause and
Development Programme for the year of 2010
NPC National People‘s Congress
OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
PRC People‘s Republic of China
Rencai specialised and talented human resources
Tenth 5-Year Plan Tenth 5-Year Plan for the Nation-wide Educational Cause
Xiaokang moderately prosperous
xii
STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP
The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet
requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my
knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by
another person except where due reference is made.
Signature __ ____
Date ___March 28, 2012______
xiii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, the sponsorship by China Scholarship Council and Queensland University
of Technology needs to be acknowledged. Without this financial support, it would have been
harder and taken longer time to complete this study.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisors:
Associate Professor Cushla Kapitzke, Associate Professor Deborah Henderson, and Dr.
Weihong Zhang. Their academic knowledge, inspiration, encouragement and patience guided
me through my doctoral journey at QUT. The completion of this study would not have been
possible without their support and help. I have learnt a lot from every consultation meeting
with my supervisors. They have exposed me to a whole new world of academic research
where I can think more critically about particular social phenomena and myself.
I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Professor Barbara Comber and Dr.
Karen Dooley. Their insightful comments and constructive suggestions at the final oral
seminar helped to improve the quality of my thesis.
Special thanks go to the academics and professional staff in the Centre for Learning
Innovation. Their unfailing support and assistance were invaluable to my study. The binding
and editing of my document would be in a mess without their help.
Thanks also go to Mr. Peter O‘Brien who has inspired and extended my theoretical
knowledge in our ―governmentality coffee‖. To my dear colleagues Yifeng Yuan, Feng Qiu,
Jun Wan, and Juming Shen, thank you for sharing knowledge and feelings during the long
march to a Doctor of Philosopher.
I am deeply indebted to my mother Xiangyun Ma and father Yuexing Gao. Your
voices in every cross-national phone call are the warmest comfort for me. Finally, to my
beloved wife, Juan Li, your unwavering wait for the first two years of my study in Australia
and your meticulous care for the last year have always been a source of strength I rely on to
complete the study.
1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
The higher education sector in China has experienced rapid development particularly since
1992. In 2010, the gross enrolment rate of higher education reached 26.5% of the 18-22 age
group, with 30 million students enrolled in approximately 3 000 higher education institutions
(Yang, 2011). These numbers indicate that China‘s higher education sector has entered a
phase of significant expansion, and that China has the largest number of enrolments
internationally. Nevertheless, compared with developed countries, the gross enrolment rate of
higher education in China is lower than other nation states. For example, in 2010, the gross
enrolment rate was 82% in America and 80% in Japan (Yang, 2011). Moreover, there are
other problems in the higher education sector of China. For instance, in terms of quantity, the
proportion of China‘s fiscal expenditure on education to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is
also low, at 3.59% in 2009 (Liang and Zhang, 2010). In terms of quality, Qian Xuesen,
named as the ―father [sic] of China‘s own atomic bomb, hydrogen bomb, and artificial
satellite‖, raised the question: ―Why can‘t universities in contemporary China produce
outstanding talents?‖ (Yang, 2011, p. 51).
These problems constitute the present situation of China‘s higher education. A wide
range of existing literature examines specific dimensions of this situation. For example, an
imbalance exists between the public and private higher education sectors, between the
provision of education in urban and rural areas, as well as between that in southeast China
and central-west China (Feng, 2005; He and Mi, 2007; Ma, 2007; Y. Y. Zhang, 2006).
Furthermore, higher education institutions funded by non-government bodies have a lower
status than those funded by the government (Li and Morgan, 2011; Y. Liu, 2008; Zha, 2006).
China‘s higher education sector is held accountable through mechanisms of quality control
and performance while also having autonomy under government policies of devolution and
decentralisation (Vidovich, Yang, and Currie, 2007; Wang, 2010; Yang, Vidovich, and
Currie, 2007). A radical merger of higher education institutions took place during the 1990s
with the aim of improving institutional quality and competitiveness (Chen, 2002). The policy
strategy of expanding China‘s higher education sector was implemented in response to
demographic change at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first
2
century (Brandenburg and Zhu, 2007; Ngok, 2008). The ―985 Project‖ initiative was
launched in order to develop ―world-class‖ universities (Ho, 2006; Ngok, 2008; Ngok and
Guo, 2008). Due to a lack of public funding, there was a shift from complete dependence on
state funding to diversified funding channels such as charging tuition fees, using bank loans
and the sale of academic services (Wang, 2001; Yang, Yuan, and Chen, 2010; Zhao, 1998).
The notion of a learning society was proposed in order to improve the quality of human
resources in China (Pu, 2006; Yang, 2007a). During the process of expanding China‘s higher
education sector, measures have been taken to improve equal access to higher education
(Wang, 2011; Yu and Ertl, 2010).
The scope of these studies, however, remains limited as they focus on specific aspects
of China‘s higher education. There are studies that cover a broader picture of higher
education reform in China, but the time period of Li‘s (2004) study is limited from 1998 to
2003. The work of Hayhoe (1996) is more historical. Tsang‘s (2000) study of the changing
policies of higher education in China focuses on the period from 1949 to 1999. Wang and Liu
(2009) and Lou, Jiang and Liu (2006) sketch China‘s higher education reform since 1978
rather than focusing on policy analysis. Hence, the present study aims to investigate the
reform in China‘s higher education sector since 1992 when the government of China
introduced a socialist market economy. The purpose is to examine the complex and ever-
changing historical process of higher education reform in China that has shaped the higher
education sector today.
Significantly, the period of the study—1992 to 2010—and the reform of China‘s
higher education system have been influenced by forces of globalisation. It is within the
broader context of globalisation and university transformation that Marginson and Considine
(2000) identify the emergence of the ―enterprise university‖ (p. 5). Based on the literature on
global trends in university restructuring, the enterprise university can be summarised as
follows: having emerged within the context of globalisation and cutbacks in state funding,
deploying corporate styles of governance and management with intentions to enhance
economic competitiveness and academic prestige (Chan and Lo, 2008; Clark, 1998; Clark,
2007; Etzkowitz, 2002, 2008; Hawkins, 2008; Larner and Le Heron, 2005; Marginson, 2010;
Marginson and Considine, 2000; Mok, 2008, 2006; Olssen, 2002; Slaughter and Leslie, 1997).
In light of the volume of studies on the impact of globalisation on Western
universities—the United States of America (Etzkowitz, 2002; Hawkins, 2008; Slaughter and
Leslie, 1997), European countries (Clark, 1998; Clark, 2007), Australia (Marginson, 2010;
3
Marginson and Considine, 2000), and New Zealand (Larner and Le Heron, 2005; Olssen,
2002)—this study addresses a gap in research on the ways in which discourses of
globalisation have influenced universities in China. The rationale for stating this problem is
that the impact of globalisation on higher education policies varies across nation-states in
terms of their particular economic, political and cultural contexts. To recapitulate, my study
aims to investigate the present situation of Chinese universities within the broad context of
globalisation through an analysis of reforms introduced to higher education policy during the
period 1992 to 2010.
Furthermore, the existing literature conceptualises the phenomenon of university
restructuring as a site for governmentality studies (Dean, 2007; Gillies, 2008; Larner and Le
Heron, 2005; Marginson, 2010; Marginson and Considine, 2000; Olssen, 2002, 2006; Olssen,
Codd, and O'Neil, 2004; Peters, Besley, Olssen, Maurer, and Weber, 2009; Sidhu, 2004;
Simons and Masschelein, 2006). Such studies offer a critical framework for examining how
university reforms are framed within political deliberations, programmes and practices. In
particular, they focus on examining the discursive and instrumental practices that have
contributed to how university reforms have emerged as a problem to be addressed by the
government, as well as on the effects of this political thinking and acting for those who are
subject to the reforms. Nonetheless, these studies are set in Western societies. In contrast, a
limited number of studies have applied the conceptual framework of governmentality to non-
Western societies: South Africa (Tikly, 2003), Ukraine (Fimyar, 2008), and China (Hoffman,
2006; Jeffreys and Sigley, 2009; Kipnis, 2008; Sigley, 2006). The present study employs the
conceptual framework of governmentality to examine higher education policy in China. In
this regard, it is significant because it contributes to the existing literature by applying
governmentality studies to a non-Western context.
1.2 Research question and aims
In view of the research problem identified in the previous section, the principal research
question for this study is: How have discourses of globalisation manifested and constituted
new forms of social and educational governance in China‘s higher education sector during
the period 1992 to 2010? Centred on this research question, the specific aims of the study are
as follows:
4
Aim 1: To examine global trends of restructuring in the higher education sector,
which contribute to the emergence of the enterprise university and comprise a theme
for analysis of contemporary Chinese universities at national and local levels.
Aim 2: To analyse national policies of higher education in China from 1992 to 2010
in order to identify the government‘s response to national needs and global pressures
on the higher education sector.
Aim 3: To conduct a case study of a specific instance of reform in China in order to
investigate that institution‘s response to government policies of university
restructuring.
Aim 4: To summarise the characteristics of contemporary Chinese universities based
on the analysis of national policy and the case study respectively.
The current study unfolds by addressing the research question and four research aims.
The next section defines five key concepts that underpin the study.
1.3 Definition of terms
There are five key concepts that are central to the theoretical and methodological framework
of the study. These are: genealogy, governmentality, subjectivity, neoliberal policy, and
social imaginary. These concepts are introduced in the following paragraphs. Detailed
elaboration is provided in Chapters Two, Three and Four.
Genealogy is a methodology used by the French historian and philosopher, Michel
Foucault, to study and write history. According to Foucault (1977), genealogy aims to trace
the constantly changing and complex historical processes that constitute the present. These
processes are constitutive of discursive and material practices which are, in turn, contingent
upon power relations in particular historical contexts (Foucault, 1977). A genealogy
demonstrates the complexities and contingency of discourses in their historical contexts, as
well as denaturalises conventional explanations for particular phenomena (Olssen et al.,
2004). Therefore, the value of a genealogical analysis lies in the critique of a particular social
phenomenon. The objects of a genealogical analysis are historical discourses and practices as
well as their materialised effects, namely, social subjects and spaces.
Governmentality, according to Foucault (2000a), is an art of government. It is ―the
ensemble formed by the institutions, procedures, analyses and reflections, calculations and
5
tactics that allow the exercise of the very specific albeit complex form of power, which has as
its target population, as its principal form of knowledge political economy, and as its essential
technical means apparatuses of security‖ (Foucault, 2000a, pp. 219-220). Miller and Rose
(2008) develop the concept of governmentality and tease out two distinct aspects, that is,
rationalities of government and technologies of government. Political rationalities are styles
of thinking, or ways of rendering reality thinkable in such a way that it is convenient for
technological intervention (Miller and Rose, 2008; Rose and Miller, 2010). Governmental
technologies are related to ways of acting on the conduct of individuals through technical
interventions so as to transform that conduct for the convenience of governing (Miller and
Rose, 2008; Rose and Miller, 2010). Therefore, governmentality is framed by the concepts of
political rationalities and technologies. This conceptual framework is applied to the analysis
of China‘s higher education policy.
Subjectivities, or subject positions, are effects of governing activities. According to
Foucault (1982), the concept of the social subject has two meanings. One is ―subject to
someone else by control and dependence‖ (Foucault, 1982, p. 781). In this respect, subjects
are the objects and results of activities for governing others. The conduct of individuals,
groups or a whole population is acted on by management and administrative practices. As a
result, individuals are constituted as subjects in accordance with particular forms of political
thinking and acting. The second meaning of subject is that an individual is ―tied to his [sic]
own identity by a conscience or self-knowledge‖ (Foucault, 1982, p. 781). People have the
desire, will and agency to govern their ―selves‖ (Foucault, 1997c). They use the technology
of the self to attend to the following issue: ―What should one do with oneself? What work
should be carried out on the self? How should one govern oneself?‖ (Foucault, 1997b, p. 87).
Accordingly, people constitute themselves as subjects of their own power.
Neoliberal policy comprises discourses and practices of modern political economy,
which seek to obtain an indirect control of economic activities through regulating the free
market (Olssen, 2003). This political rationality emphasises minimal government intervention
in the business sector. The approach is not only confined to the private economic domain, but
extends to public spheres such as health and education. In the present study, neoliberal policy
is conceptualised as an art of government, which is a kind of alignment between political
rationalities and technologies for regulation of the individual self (Foucault, 2000a; Larner,
2000; Marshall, 2001; Olssen et al., 2004). Within this policy, individuals are constituted as
6
free social subjects who conduct their own economic activities for the benefit of themselves
and as individuals who are also responsible for their behaviours.
Neoliberal policy arose from European and American contexts and is now expanding
its influence to non-Western contexts such as China. For the purpose of this study, the
―Western‖ world or society is a political term used to examine neoliberal policies that have
influenced China‘s higher education reform. From a poststructuralist perspective, the West
does not exist in the reality, but is a discourse invented and constructed by political
authorities to promote their values, beliefs and policies. The Eastern or Orient world is the
receiving end of these values and policies disseminated by the West. This study does not
argue for a dichotomy between the West and the East. Instead, it adopts Edward Said‘s (2003)
contention that the East is a discourse constituted by the administrative power of the West to
―govern over the Orient‖ (p. 95). More detailed discussion about the discursive construct of
the ―West‖ will be provided in Section 2.3.1.2.
My study examines the influence of Western discourses on China—discursively
constructed as a traditional Oriental country—by conducting a critical analysis of China‘s
higher education policy in a context of globalisation. However, this influence is not
characterised by the predominance of Western powers. That is, traditional Chinese discourses
and cultures are not superseded by Western ones (Cheng and Xu, 2011). Rather, in
contemporary China, these two sets of discourses are blended with each other. There is ―no
clear divide between the so-called Chinese and Western traditions‖ (Liu, 2011. p. 599).
Furthermore, there are interactions between the two. Western values and discourses are
inevitably reinterpreted and adapted when they are introduced into the Chinese context
(Cheng and Xu, 2011). In a similar vein, indigenous Chinese traditions undergo
transformation and reinvention when interacting with Western cultures (Tan, 2011).
Accordingly, this study does not argue for a binary conception of the West and China. Instead,
it aims to reveal the complexity of higher education policy in modern China, which is the
result of multiple forces that underpin the governing model of China‘s higher education.
Castoriadis (1987) argues that social imaginaries are experienced, embodied and
shared by social groups. They mediate between perceived reality and thought patterns. It is
through the constant and contingent work of imaginaries that people are enabled to
conceptualise social phenomena and to behave rationally (Castoriadis, 1987). In this sense,
the meaningful existence of the social world consists in the collective imaginary of the public.
Furthermore, the social imaginary has local differences at specific socio-historical contexts
7
(Appadurai, 1996, 2001, 2002; Gaonkar, 2002; Taylor, 2002, 2004). Different social,
historical, economic, political, and cultural contexts are endowed with different imaginaries.
For example, differences will most likely exist between the imaginaries of the enterprise
university in Australia and those in China. In this sense, the study makes an original
contribution to knowledge by examining the imaginaries of contemporary Chinese
universities. The research design described in the next section helps to achieve this purpose.
1.4 Research design
The present study explores the key research question and four specific research aims outlined
in Section 1.2 through an appropriate research design. This design is based on a theoretical
framework that addresses the effects of the local educational imaginary and governing
mentality, as well as a methodological framework that focuses on genealogy, critical policy
analysis and case study. Correspondingly, the study consists of four parts.
Part one addresses Aim 1, which will examine international trends in university
reforms and the emergence of the enterprise university. For this, Chapter Two conducts a
review of existing literature on globalisation and its impact on the global higher education
sector. As globalisation is a complex social phenomenon, its influence on university
restructuring is investigated through four dimensions: neoliberal policy, the knowledge
economy, cultural globalisation, and developments in information and communications
technologies. On this basis, a trend in university reforms is identified, the outcome of which
is represented linguistically as the ―enterprise university‖ (Marginson and Considine, 2000).
Hence, the global imaginary of the enterprise university is formed according to the literature
reviewed in Chapter Two. More detailed commentary of this part will be presented in
Chapter Four, Section 4.5.1: Constituting the global imaginary of the enterprise university.
Part two addresses Aim 2, which is to analyse higher education policy in China from
1992 to 2010 in order to investigate a national imaginary of contemporary Chinese
universities. To this end, a genealogical methodology is adopted to undertake a critical
analysis of China‘s higher education policies. Specifically, the genealogical analysis in the
study examines government discourses and practices underpinning higher education policy.
In addition, it explores what kinds of subjects and spaces are shaped by these discursive and
technological practices in the process of managing China‘s higher education reform.
8
The conceptual framework of governmentality is the analytical tool to perform the
tasks required by the genealogical study. Chapter Five and Chapter Six employ this method
to examine eight key higher education policy documents at the national level. In specific
terms, these two chapters address the following questions: How do political authorities in
China think about and rationalise higher education reform in response to national needs and
international pressures? What kinds of mechanisms, techniques and instruments do they
utilise to intervene and thereby reach certain governing objectives? What kinds of subjects
and spaces do these governing practices constitute?
Policy is both process and product in that it ―involves the production of the text, the
text itself, ongoing modifications to the text and processes of implementation into practice‖
(Taylor, Rizvi, Lingard, and Henry, 1997, p. 23). It is difficult for me as researcher to gain
access to the processes of production and modification of policy documents, which are
confined to the policy panels and higher authorities of the PRC government. Instead, this
study focuses on analysing the nature and development of national policy documents from
1992 to 2010, as well as examining how they are implemented, or responded to, by one
particular university in China. While part two conducts a critical analysis of China‘s higher
education policy through the analytical lens of governmentality, part three undertakes a case
study to investigate the outcomes of these policies.
Part three addresses Aim 3, which involves a case study of the ways in which a
specific Chinese university reconfigures itself in the local context of China. A case study
approach can be described as ―the study of the particularity and complexity of a single case,
coming to understand its activity within important circumstances‖ (Stake, 1995, p. xi). An
instrumental study of one case is used in order to facilitate the understanding of the reform of
China‘s higher education policy (Stake, 2000). Chapter Seven adopts a situated method of
narration to examine what kinds of subjects and spaces are constituted on the part of
Pioneering University in response to China‘s higher education policy and international
influences (Larner and Le Heron, 2002). Details of this part will be presented in Chapter Four,
Section 4.5.3: Investigating the local imaginary of one contemporary Chinese university.
Part four addresses Aim 4, which assembles the characteristics of contemporary
Chinese universities at a national and local level respectively. Chapter Eight summarises the
findings from the policy analysis and the case study of a single Chinese university. It then
compares university restructuring between the global, national and local level. Details of this
9
part will be presented in Chapter Four, Section 4.5.4: Constituting the imaginaries of
contemporary Chinese universities.
1.5 Significance of the study
This study conducts a policy analysis of deep reforms in the higher education sector of China
from the years 1992 to 2010. The study is significant for four reasons.
First, my study delivers an overall picture of higher education reform that is essential
to China‘s social and economic development. As a nation with the largest proportion of the
world‘s population, China is on the rise as a global power. In 2010, China‘s GDP became the
second largest internationally in spite of the global economic crisis. It has maintained an
average annual rate of increase at 9.8% for 30 years since the reform and opening-up policy
started in 1978 (Sun and Yang, 2008). With the establishment of a socialist market economy
in 1992 and the strategy of rejuvenating the nation through science and education in 1996, the
higher education sector has experienced major reforms and has been an essential driver of
China‘s development (Wang and Liu, 2009). This analysis of China‘s higher education policy
from 1992-2010 elucidates the ways in which the higher education sector is adjusting and
gearing toward enhanced social and economic development.
Second, the study compares the entity of the enterprise university emerging
internationally with the features of contemporary Chinese universities. Historical and current
literature reveals that a particular type of university, the enterprise university, has arisen in
the context of globalisation (Chan and Lo, 2008; Clark, 1998; Clark, 2007; Etzkowitz, 2002,
2008; Hawkins, 2008; Larner and Le Heron, 2005; Marginson, 2010; Marginson and
Considine, 2000; Mok, 2008, 2006; Olssen, 2002; Slaughter and Leslie, 1997). Being
economically competitive and seeking academic prestige are two distinctive features of
enterprising universities. This research investigates how China‘s higher education sector
responds to pressures of restructuring and national needs for social and economic
development. The significance consists in discerning the characteristics of contemporary
Chinese universities, with its particular social, economic, political, and cultural settings.
Third, my study uses the conceptual framework of governmentality to examine
China‘s higher education policy. In specific terms, it examines the political rationalities and
technologies that underpin China‘s higher education reform. As the existing literature shows,
the governmentality framework has been applied predominantly in Western contexts, with a
10
limited number of studies applying governmentality to the study of non-Western contexts.
Therefore, the significance of the study consists in scrutinising the compatibility of a
governmentality framework to the Chinese context.
Finally, the study adopts Foucault‘s notion of critique to articulate the process of how
discourses and practices shape the phenomenon of higher education reform in China. As
Foucault (1988) observes:
A critique is not a matter of saying that things are not right as they are. It is a
matter of pointing out on what kinds of assumptions, what kinds of familiar,
unchallenged, unconsidered modes of thought, the practices that we accept
rest. … Criticism is a matter of flushing out that thought and trying to change it:
to show that things are not as self-evident as we believed, to see that what is
accepted as self-evident will no longer be accepted as such. Practising criticism is
a matter of making facile gestures difficult. (p. 154)
Therefore, for Foucault, critique aims to ―identify and expose the unrecognized forms of
power in people‘s lives, to expose and move beyond the forms in which we are entrapped in
relation to the diverse ways that we act and think. … or to denaturalize the phenomenal world
(Olssen et al., 2004, pp. 39-42). Central to this conception of critique is the revelation of
power relations in which subjectivities are constituted. Thus, critique endeavours to inform
people of how their subject positions are shaped by government mentalities and strategies
(Rose and Miller, 2010). In this regard, a genealogical methodology, which is used to
interrogate and write the history of the present, can help fulfil the task of critique. By
employing the genealogical methodology, this study critiques China‘s higher education
policy during the historical period 1992 to 2010 in order to disclose how the reform of
China‘s higher education system is governed and regulated by the discursive and material
practices of public policies.
1.6 Researcher identity
In the context of research methodology, the notion of reflexivity is used more
specifically to indicate an awareness of the identity, or self, of the researcher
within the research process. Reflexivity means the tendency critically to examine
and analytically to reflect upon the nature of the research and the role of the
researcher in carrying out and writing up empirical work. (Elliott, 2005, p. 153)
It is significant that while researchers need to know the nature of the research, they
also have to be aware of their own identity in conducting research. Therefore, researcher
identity and positionality is an indispensable part of any research project. Researchers‘
11
experiences and their chosen theoretical knowledge exert a considerable influence on ―their
relationships with research subjects, their interpretation of research evidence, and the form in
which the research is presented‖ (Elliott, 2005, p. 155). For this reason, I will now reflect on
how my experiences and knowledge have contributed to this particular conceptualisation and
writing of the study.
As reflexivity attaches importance to ―biography‖ (Griffiths, 1998, p. 143), I will first
introduce my educational background. I am a product of China‘s higher education system. In
2001, two years after the expansion policy of China‘s higher education sector was
implemented, I participated in the national university entrance examination and gained access
to higher education. Although there was expanded opportunity for students to participate in
higher education, competition for entrance to good universities still remained. While the
purpose of entering a prestigious university is for traditional Confucian values and the
assumption that a good scholar would make a government official, attending a good
university today is also aimed at securing a good job and prospective future. Consequently,
the number of graduates with three-to-five years of higher education who expected to secure
good employment on the basis of their university certificates or diplomas increased
dramatically. Meanwhile, the employment market for these qualified graduates did not
expand at the same rate as the higher education sector. Therefore, many Chinese students like
myself felt the pressure of an uncertain future upon graduation. In the face of this uncertainty,
there were three choices: find a job, participate in the entrance examination for civil servants,
or sit for the entrance examination to enter postgraduate studies.
In January 2005, I made the decision to sit for the entrance examination into
postgraduate schools and was accepted into Pioneering University—the case study university.
At that time, I was at a loss as to why I had made that choice. Was I shying away from the
pressure of finding a good job? Did I assume that I would secure a better job in the future
with postgraduate qualifications? Or was I interested in pursuing academic study? I have to
confess now in retrospect that the first two reasons outweighed the third one at that time, and
I have discovered from conversations with my peers that many of us had similar ideas.
However, while we assumed that pursuing further education would make us more
employable, the number of postgraduate students graduating from universities in China was
increasing as the postgraduate sector also experienced unprecedented expansion. Just as we
felt the employment pressure on graduation from universities, we felt the same pressure on
12
graduation from postgraduate schools. The choices were the same and I made a similar
decision.
I chose to pursue doctoral study and seized the opportunity that arose from a China
Scholarship Council to pursue doctoral study abroad. I enrolled as a doctoral candidate at the
Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. I have to
confess that my hopes for a secure future still weighed on my mind. However, the rewards of
academic study became more significant with commencement of my study at QUT. With the
help of my supervisors, I found the topic that I was going to study—higher education policy
in China from 1992 to 2010—more interesting and significant. This topic is related to my
own educational experience, and has helped me to have an in-depth understanding of my
experience. I now understand that I am a subject of policy on expanding the higher education
sector in China, following the introduction of the socialist market economy in 1992.
Therefore, I became interested in studying higher education policy in China and decided to
investigate the ways in which these policies have influenced the nature of higher education. A
Foucauldian approach (Foucault, 1977, 1982, 1988, 1997b, 1997c, 2000a, 2000c, 2008)
enabled me to do this.
Griffiths (1998) suggests that conducting research within frameworks designed by
other researchers is worthwhile. My study is located within the framework of a Foucauldian
approach. Concepts such as genealogy, critical policy analysis and governmentality are
central to my study. The value of a genealogical methodology for this study consists in its
critique—to expose the nature of particular social phenomena. In this regard, policy analysis
is an appropriate approach to conduct critique. Furthermore, I found that policy analysis can
be carried out critically when it is used with the conceptual framework of governmentality
(Foucault, 2000a; Miller and Rose, 2008; Rose and Miller, 2010). Governmentality helps to
understand policies as programmes of government and to scrutinise them as rationalities and
technologies for governing (Miller & Rose, 2008). The value of a governmentality
framework lies mainly in its examination of power relations through policies and
programmes in which subjectivities are constituted. Therefore, genealogy, critical policy
analysis and governmentality are major components of the theoretical and methodological
framework adopted for this study.
This self-reflection indicates aspects of my educational experience and theoretical
knowledge in framing my researcher identity. As I know that I am a product of the Chinese
education system, with the theoretical knowledge that I acquired after I commenced my
13
doctoral journey, my research project takes shape and unfolds in the remainder of the study.
Moreover, reflexivity consists not only in the reflections of personal experience and
knowledge, but also in the ―responsibility of researchers for their own practices‖ (Griffiths,
1998, p. 141). Accordingly, my responsibility is to develop a critique of China‘s higher
education policy in order to reveal how political discourses and practices have contributed to
the reform of China‘s higher education system, as well as what kinds of subjects have been
constituted in this process.
1.7 Structure of thesis
The thesis comprises seven chapters. Following this introductory chapter, Chapter Two
engages in a review of existing literature. First, a historical overview of China‘s higher
education is provided. This is structured into four periods: before 1949, from 1949 to 1976,
from 1977 to 1991, and since 1992. Second, the literature review moves from the Chinese
context to a broader global context by reviewing the concept of globalisation and its impact
on the global higher education sector. Third, the review focuses on the literature of the
enterprise university, which is conceptualised as an effect of the impact of globalisation on
higher education. Significantly, it sheds light on the specific research aim of constituting a
global imaginary of the enterprise university.
Chapter Three establishes the theoretical framework of the study, which draws on
notions of social imaginary (Castoriadis, 1987; Taylor, 2002) and governmentality (Foucault,
2000a; Miller and Rose, 2008). This theoretical framework offers different ways of
understanding and conceptualising particular social phenomena. The focus of the study—
higher education reform in China—is perceived as a significant phenomenon that is
experienced and shared by social subjects rather than as an objective phenomenon happening
outside of the public sphere. Moreover, Chapter Three states the significance of the study: it
applies the conceptual framework of governmentality to a Chinese context in consideration of
the fact that a majority of governmentality studies are situated in Western contexts.
Chapter Four outlines the methodological framework and articulates the research
design for this study. The methodology of genealogy and the approach of critical policy
analysis in the conceptual framework of governmentality are adopted by the present inquiry
to investigate China‘s higher education policy from 1992 to 2010. The method of case study
14
is then applied in the examination of a specific Chinese university. Four components of
investigation are involved.
Chapter Five and Chapter Six conduct a critical analysis of higher education policy at
the national level of China. Within the broader context of globalisation, higher education in
China has been undergoing deep reforms. Particularly with the opening-up policy and the
introduction of a market economy in 1992, it was considerably influenced by neoliberal
policy. However, China is a socialist country and has its own social, political and economic
characteristics. The reform of China‘s higher education sector is enabled and constrained by
Chinese forms of governance such as national plans. In this regard, this chapter examines
eight national policy documents addressing higher education reform in order to attain a
critical understanding of this phenomenon. Governmentality is the analytical lens through
which these policies are scrutinised and discussed. In specific terms, Chapters Five and Six
investigate governmental rationalities and technologies that underpin China‘s higher
education policy, as well as subjects and spaces that are shaped by political discourses and
practices. Accordingly, these two chapters help to achieve the research aim of constituting a
national imaginary of contemporary Chinese universities.
Chapter Seven undertakes a case study of one specific Chinese university. It focuses
on this university‘s response to national higher education policies and global trends in
university restructuring. The case study is instrumental in that it plays a supportive role in
understanding the nature of higher education reform in China. A situated method of narration
is used to examine how the university is positioned, or positions itself, in the context of
China‘s higher education reform and a globalising economy. Significantly, Chapter Seven
helps to achieve the research aim of constituting a local imaginary of one particular Chinese
university.
Chapter Eight concludes the study by summarising key findings from the literature
review on the global imaginary of the enterprise university in Chapter Two, the national
imaginary of contemporary Chinese universities through a critical policy analysis in Chapters
Five and Six, and the local imaginary of one specific Chinese university in Chapter Seven. It
then discusses the significance and implications of the study. It also points out the limitations
and suggestions for further research.
15
1.8 Chapter summary
This first chapter has outlined the research background that provoked and informed the
present study. In general, my proposed study aims to critique higher education policy in
China. The critique is undertaken within the analytical framework of governmentality, which
helps to examine how political reasons and techniques operate upon the process of higher
education reform. In this way, the study reveals how these forms of thinking and acting
influence, shape and transform subjectivities and spatialities during the process. Its main
contribution is that it applies the conceptual framework of governmentality to the Chinese
context. The next chapter provides a historical review of China‘s higher education and
presents a critical review of globalisation and its impact on the global higher education sector.
16
17
CHAPTER TWO
HISTORICAL AND GLOBAL CONTEXT
OF HIGHER EDUCATION REFORM IN CHINA
2.1 Introduction
This chapter reviews the literature on the historical and global context for the recent reform
occurring in China‘s higher education sector. The historical review of China‘s higher
education institutions illustrates the influence of China‘s history and cultures on the
transformation of China‘s universities. Four historical periods are examined: before 1949,
from 1949 to 1976, from 1977 to 1991 and since 1992. The period 1992-2010 is the time-
span for the present study, and this is contextualised with reference to forces of globalisation.
Then, the chapter undertakes a critical examination of the phenomenon of globalisation and
its impact on the higher education sector worldwide. A trend in university restructuring is
identified based on the literature review. One effect of this international trend is the
emergence of what the literature refers to as the ―enterprise university‖ (Marginson and
Considine, 2000). The enterprise university is a multi-dimensional concept, which has been
influenced by neoliberal policy, the knowledge economy, academic cultures, and
developments in information and communications technologies.
2.2 Higher education in China: A historical review
China has a long history and distinctive cultures. Its educational system is deeply immersed
in, and influenced by, its national history and traditional cultures. Although there were
institutions of higher learning in China traditionally, the modern university did not emerge
until the late nineteenth century after China was forced to confront external, largely European
forces. The first section of this chapter presents a historical review of China‘s higher
education institutions, with an emphasis on the period from 1992 to 2010, as this is the focus
for the study.
2.2.1 Higher education in China: Before 1949
This section first clarifies the concept of ―university‖ for the purpose of understanding the
issues of higher education in China. The term, university, originated in a European context.
18
According to Hayhoe (1996), two significant values distinguish the European university,
namely, autonomy and academic freedom. Autonomy for the university refers to the ―control
over what should be taught in the university, the selection of students, their admission into
the responsibilities and privileges of masters, and most aspects of internal structure and
organisation‖ (p. 5). In this sense, universities are conceptualised as institutions in which
scholars have autonomy in organising and managing their own affairs such as teaching and
research. Academic freedom could be interpreted as ―the essential precondition for individual
scholars within the community to search out and advance knowledge in their particular fields,
in accordance with the traditions and rules they regard as valid‖ (Hayhoe, 1996, p. 5). In this
regard, academic freedom is related to the early divisions of the curriculum into the faculties
of arts, medicine, law, theology, as well as corresponding research programmes.
In contrast to this European context, none of China‘s traditional higher education
institutions might be accurately called a university. Instead, Hayhoe (1996) summarises two
facets of the Chinese experience, which constitutes the traditional imaginary of China‘s
universities. One was the imperial civil service examination system (keju zhi) and its cognate
institutions—Hanlin Academy (Hanlin Xuefu), the Imperial College (guozijian), the
institution for supreme learning (taixue), and the whole system of institutions at provincial,
prefectural and the county levels. They constituted a ―ladder of success‖ through a series of
examinations, culminating in the palace examination in the presence of the emperor. As will
be explained, the other facet was the scholarly academy.
The imperial civil service examination system commenced around 400 Common Era
(C.E). It was developed into a rigorous system during the Song dynasty (960-1279) when Zhu
Xi, the neo-Confucian scholar, standardised classical texts—the Four Books and Five
Classics—for the examination. This system was finally abolished in 1905 during the final
period of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) (B. W. Guo, 2007; D. H. Liu, 2008a). The Hanlin
Academy was the means of access for those who aspired to reach the highest office in the
feudal empire. The Imperial College was the educational institution for the sons of high
officials (D. H. Liu, 2008b). The institution for supreme learning, also located at the centre of
the feudal empire, was the site where those from other levels of Chinese society studied and
prepared for examinations (D. H. Liu, 2008b). The metaphor of the ladder or steps to success
through this system of examinations was endorsed by the Confucian assumption that a good
scholar would become a government official. This belief still exerts a strong cultural
influence on citizens in modern China. As noted, the other constituent of the education
19
system was the scholarly academy (shuyuan), which was usually headed by one great scholar
who attracted disciples and colleagues through the virtuosity of his scholarship (Wang, 1985).
Neither the institutions for the imperial civil service examination system nor the
scholarly academies had autonomy. The former were characterised by a community of
scholar-officials who held a scholarly monopoly based on their loyalty to the emperor and the
classical texts (Hayhoe, 1996). The latter had the greatest autonomy in the Song dynasty, but
gradually lost autonomy in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing dynasty when feudal
autocracy tried to repress their development (Sun and Huang, 2007; Wang, 1985; C. S. Zhang,
2006). Therefore, these scholarly academies were characterised by a fragile and fragmented
autonomy in that they had the power of introducing heterodox texts, and thus were
oppositional to, and suppressed by, the empire in some periods of China‘s history. However,
in other periods they were co-opted into the service of the imperial examination (Wang,
1985).
Therefore, academic freedom was not a feature of either system. In the institutions for
the imperial examination system, the inner circle of scholar-officials who arranged
examinations and controlled the knowledge within the classical texts had absolute intellectual
authority. Furthermore, there was no specialisation of knowledge in the European tradition
(Wang, 1985). Although scholars and students in the scholarly academies could freely
communicate and discuss social issues (C. S. Zhang, 2006), they dealt mainly with issues
around the definition and interpretation of the classical texts, and their applications to
governmental affairs (Ji and Zhu, 2006).
China experienced tremendous disturbance with foreign incursions, civil wars and
revolutions during the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. The
acknowledged date for the emergence of the first modern university in China was 1895 when
Beiyang gongxue, the forerunner of Tianjin University, was founded, followed by Nanyang
gongxue, later Jiaotong University, in 1896, both established by provincial gentry and
scholar-officials in their efforts to strengthen the nation so as to fend off foreign intrusions
(Hayhoe, 1996, p. 37).
China‘s higher education in the Republican period (1911-1949) was influenced by
Western values and models when a succession of scholars went to study in Europe and North
America and then returned to contribute to the revitalisation of China. One of the most
prominent figures was Cai Yuanpei who pursued study in Germany and France from 1906 to
20
1910 and then went to Europe again in 1912 for another five-year period of study. After Cai
returned to China in 1917, he took up the chancellorship of Peking University and introduced
the German values of autonomy and academic freedom. In his vision, a modern Chinese
university enjoyed autonomy—which was characterised by the idea of ―professorial rule‖ and
academic freedom which provided an atmosphere where any viewpoint, provided it was
based on scholarship, could be aired, debated and discussed (Lubot, 1970). With Cai‘s
determination and effort, Peking University became the centre contributing to social and
cultural transformations. These transformations led to the outbreak of the ―May 4th
Movement‖—an enlightenment movement launched by scholars and students with anti-
imperialist and anti-feudal ethos—in 1919, two years after Cai became the chancellor (Sun,
2008).
Under the regime of the Nationalist government (1927-1949), higher education was
influenced by European patterns of tight central control and academic standardisation through
such measures as establishing municipal and provincial level entrance examinations,
graduation examinations and criteria for the appointment of faculty members (Hayhoe, 1996).
Cai‘s ideas of autonomy and academic freedom could not find expression under this regime.
If the Nationalist model represented traditional Chinese education characterised by the
examination system and academic standardisation, the Communist model in this period stood
for the other facet of scholarly academies. Suppressed by the Nationalist government, the
Chinese Communist Party retreated after the Long March from Jiangxi Province to Yan‘an in
Shaanxi Province and other more remote regions. Yan‘an University was established in 1941.
In the Yan‘an model, intellectual freedom flourished with flexible class and lecture times,
while students were expected to engage in reading and self-study as well as to participate in
practical tasks, debates and discussion over theoretical and practical issues (Wang, 1985).
Hence, the Yan‘an model resembled the scholarly academies in terms of intellectual
atmosphere. However, this should be differentiated from academic freedom in the Western
sense as well as in Cai‘s ideas. Intellectual freedom in the Yan‘an model was limited in the
sense that it was guided by the ideas of Mao Zedong Thoughts—Mao and the Chinese
Communist Party‘s (CCP) adaptation of Marxism and Leninism to Chinese conditions
(Hayhoe, 1996). Discussions and debates were based on Mao Zedong Thoughts for the
revolutionary cause. Political intervention was included in the notion of intellectual freedom.
There was limited autonomy because the university was largely a branch of the border-region
government for the training of its cadres and was administered by the CCP Central
21
Committee. The Yan‘an model was later adopted as the model for universities during the
―Cultural Revolution‖ (1966-1976).
In conclusion, China‘s higher education prior to 1949 was generally characterised by
co-existence of the authoritarian, centralised higher education system and the relatively free
and popular style of institutions. Meanwhile, this traditional pattern was influenced by
Western models in different periods, and two core concepts of the European university—
autonomy and academic freedom—were eventually introduced to China‘s universities.
2.2.2 Higher education in China: 1949-1976
In October 1949, the Chinese Communist Party was victorious in the civil war and founded
the People‘s Republic of China. Given the state of the Chinese economy and the neglect of
educational institutions during the prolonged civil war period, the CCP endeavoured to build
a strong nation as rapidly as possible. As higher education played an important role in nation-
building, the higher education sector was subjected to a series of reforms.
As a result of the intensification of international relations exacerbated by the Cold
War and the Korean War, China looked to the Soviet Union for foreign and domestic policy
guidance. In the higher education sector, this was manifested as an all-out emulation of
Soviet Union practices to establish a socialist education system in order to fit development of
the centralised state-planned economic system in China from 1952 to 1957 (Brandenburg and
Zhu, 2007; Hayhoe, 1996; Zhao, 1998). This period of reform, carried out under the guidance
of educational experts from the Soviet Union, could be summarised by the phrase ―the
reordering of colleges and departments‖ (yuanxi tiaozheng) (Brandenburg and Zhu, 2007, p.
14). Specifically, the reform agenda involved a geographical rationalisation of higher
education provision and a rethinking of curricular patterns and institutional identities (Zhao,
1998, p. 29). For the purpose of administration and planning, China‘s higher education sector
was divided into six major regions with each region having one or two comprehensive
universities, one or two polytechnic universities, one major normal university, one to three
agricultural universities, and several other specialist institutions (Hayhoe, 1996).
A hierarchy emerged amongst the different types of new institutions during this
period. The People‘s University was pushed to the apex of this hierarchy with the task of
developing an authoritative canon of Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong Thoughts for the
social sciences. Next were polytechnic universities, which concentrated on the applied
22
sciences. Below polytechnic universities were comprehensive universities, which delivered
classic disciplines of the European tradition such as the arts, sciences, philosophy,
psychology, and law. Normal universities had a similar set of disciplines to comprehensive
universities, with the addition of education, fine arts and music. At the lowest level were
specialist institutions, which were closely identified with particular government ministries or
production areas such as agriculture, health, finance, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, and
textiles (Hayhoe, 1996). For better direct control and central planning, all comprehensive,
polytechnic and normal universities were administered by the Ministry of Higher Education,
while specialist universities were administered by corresponding government ministries.
This kind of reform resulted in several problems such as fewer options for
interdisciplinary cooperation and cross-disciplinary research due to a dramatic decrease in the
number of comprehensive universities and departments of humanities and social sciences.
Graduate job assignments were more narrowly focused because universities were divided and
specialised into different and constricted fields. Moreover, the pragmatist reform of higher
education under a Soviet model privileged a highly disciplined elite corps of specialists in all
areas needed by the new socialist China (Brandenburg and Zhu, 2007). This pragmatist
model went against Mao‘s populist vision for a pedagogical pattern that was more deeply
rooted in traditional Chinese cultures and participated in mostly by the mass of workers and
peasants (Hayhoe, 1996). This conflict again reflected China‘s traditional pattern of
university systems: the authoritarian, centralised, and hierarchical higher education system, as
well as the popular style. This conflict contributed to the ―Great Leap Forward‖ (1958-1959)
and the ―Cultural Revolution‖ (1966-1976).
The Great Leap Forward symbolised a split with the Soviet model of development.
Under Mao‘s populist vision, the higher education sector began to serve the masses from the
working-class and peasant backgrounds, thus serving a form of proletarian politics. Instead of
a centralised and hierarchical system, the administration of all higher education institutions
was now devolved to the jurisdiction of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities
(Wang, 1994). The measure of devolution mobilised the people, and was reflected in the stark
increase in the number of student enrolments and the number of institutions, with the former
rising from 441 000 in 1957 to 961 623 in 1960 and the latter from 229 to 1 289 (Ministry of
Education, 1984). However, curricula of the majority of institutions comprised half-work and
half-study, and students had to engage in productive labour to such an extent that manual
labour often replaced study time, resulting in the deterioration of educational quality (Zhao,
23
1998). At the same time, the three-year famine (1959-1961) and economic failure resulted in
the reduction of higher education institutions to 434 and 674 436 enrolments in 1965
(Ministry of Education, 1984). Just as the conflict within China‘s traditional higher education
system triggered the Great Leap Forward, this conflict culminated partly in the Cultural
Revolution.
The Cultural Revolution was the effect of clashes between Mao‘s populist vision and
the pragmatist Soviet model. Specifically, these clashes were reflected in
… the (Mao‘s) intention for the nonformal (or populist) track of education to take
over from the formal (or authoritative), for all elitism and selectivity to be
abolished in favour of open access to education for the broad masses of peasants
and workers, and for successful economic and political development to be
engineered from below, by grass-roots activism, rather than from above, by
technological expertise and macro-planning. (Hayhoe, 1996, p. 99)
Therefore, the specialism of the Soviet model was abolished and the Yan‘an model, which
once contributed to the development of Communists in the Liberation period (1946-1949, a
civil war between the Nationalist regime and Communist regime ravaged China and the CCP
emerged victorious), was employed for struggle of the populist against the pragmatist. Mao‘s
epistemology—―knowledge arose directly from social and productive practice and was, in
turn, refined through further practice‖ (Hayhoe, 1996, p. 102)—dominated and helped to
shape a close link between higher education and social production. Curricula were based on
Mao Zedong Thoughts as well as on basic technical training (Wang, 2008a), in which case
little academic freedom occurred. During this period, campus factories or farms were
constructed for better social and productive outcomes. In addition to productive practice,
political struggle was another dominant feature within the institutions. There was no
autonomy once the Red Guards, made up of radical students mobilised for political struggle,
took over the administration of higher education institutions (Zhao, 1998). Under these
circumstances, the whole higher education sector was in great turmoil. Student enrolments
ceased from 1966 to 1969, and in 1971 the national university entrance examination system
(gaokao) was abolished (Ministry of Education, 1984).
In summary, the development of higher education during this period from 1949 to
1976 might be seen as ―a swing of the pendulum from the highly authoritarian academic
centralism that represented a kind of melding of state Confucianism with Soviet/European
academicism to an opposite extreme of populism and integration into society‖ (Hayhoe, 1996,
p. 106). However, triumphing over the Soviet model, the populist alternative under the
24
Yan‘an model did not prove to be appropriate for development of higher education in this
period either. With the end of a decade of Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping emerged as
the leader of China and initiated a series of reforms from the late 1970s onwards.
2.2.3 Higher education in China: 1977-1991
In December 1978, the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CCP ushered
in a new phase of reform and opening-up of China. Government policies shifted from the
emphasis on political struggle to an emphasis on economic construction. Accordingly, the
education system saw a shift from serving political struggle to serving socialist modernisation
(Cheng, 2006; Pan and Xiao, 2008a, 2008b). In September 1982, the Twelfth National
Congress of the CCP identified education as one of the five strategic priorities—together with
agriculture, energy, communication, and science—for development of the national economy
(Cheng, 2006). In this context, the higher education sector underwent a series of reforms.
The national university entrance examination system was restored in 1977. About 5.7
million candidates took part in the examination that year and 4.7% of them were admitted
(Tang, 2007). Consequently, enrolments across the whole higher education sector underwent
a rapid growth. The three levels of formal or general higher education institutions—national
institutions, provincial institutions and newly established municipal vocational institutions—
increased from 625 319 in 1977 to 1 703 115 in 1985 (Hayhoe, 1996). The non-formal higher
education sector—the adult education institutions which carried out a re-education
programme mainly to educate the old revolutionary cadres to fit the new modernisation
goals—reached 1 725 039 in 1985 (Hayhoe, 1996). At this time also, the first group of state-
funded students was sent to study abroad under Deng‘s instructions, with most of them
middle-aged faculty members from higher education institutions (X. S. Zhang, 2008).
This period of reform (1977-1985) restored the system of the pre-Cultural-Revolution
period: ―a centralised administrative structure at the national level, a nation-wide unified
university entrance examination, unified enrolment, a system of job assignment, and unified
curricula‖ (Zhao, 1998, p. 40). Before long, however, the restored system was considered
outdated and not suited to the needs of economic development during the period of reform
and opening-up policy. As a result, in 1985, the Decision on the Reform of China’s
Educational Structure (Chinese Communist Party, 1985) (hereafter 1985 Decision) was
issued to establish an educational system to improve economic development. The main
25
content of the 1985 Decision document is summarised as follows (Cheng, 2006; Hayhoe,
1996; Zhao, 1998).
First, a period of the devolution of authority and enhancement of institutional
autonomy can be identified. Universities were centres of teaching and research, which had
control over curricula, the selection of textbooks and funds apportioned by the government.
Second, a division of responsibility was created between the president of the
university and the CCP. The university president was in charge of administrative works such
as teaching, research and the employment of teachers. However, the university president was
under the leadership of the university-level CCP Committee. In this way, the CCP was in a
leadership position and controlled university operations.
Third, reforms of the enrolment system and the system of job allocation upon
graduation were introduced. The reformed enrolment system combined enrolments through
the state plan, enrolments entrusted by employing units and enrolments of self-funded
students outside the state plan. The reformed job assignment system for graduates was based
on the following principle: under the guidance of the state plan, graduates were now able to
select jobs of their own will; institutions recommend and employers pick the best of the
candidates.
Fourth, emphasis was placed on the construction of ―horizontal links‖. That is,
partnerships were formed between different higher education institutions and institution-
industry partnerships were encouraged.
This period of reform brought about positive changes for China‘s higher education
sector. These arose from the shift to serving national economic development. Now
institutions had a level of autonomy they did not have after the founding of new China when
the whole higher education sector was tightly controlled by central authorities for reasons of
political struggle. With an increase in autonomy, Chinese universities began to rebuild their
identities and this was reflected in curricular change and the reintroduction of research into
institutions. As for curricular change, this time period was one of curricular experimentation,
―in which universities made choices in the development of new programmes and the reform
of old ones that were based both on academic concerns and on changing professional training
needs arising from the economic reforms‖ (Hayhoe, 1996, pp. 123-124). The reintroduction
of research ―brought with it a different attitude toward knowledge, as something tentative,
subject to constant questioning and change, rather than something canonical and absolute, to
26
be accepted without discussion or question‖ (Hayhoe, 1996, p. 124). Research institutes
inside campuses emerged and developed in this period. The development of research not only
helped to constitute unique institutional identities but also to win funding sources according
to the academic merit of proposals judged by a panel of peers as learnt from Western
approaches (Hayhoe, 1996). Other changes brought about by the increase of institutional
autonomy were the commercialisation of some programmes to attract self-paying students
and partnerships with industries, all of which increased universities‘ incomes.
However, problems arose during this period of reforms. The legacies of the state-
planned system—such as enrolments within the state plan in the reinvented enrolment system
and the guidance of state plans in the reformed job assignment system for graduates—are
evident in the 1985 Decision document. Although institutional autonomy had increased, the
university-level CCP Committee, which represented the CCP‘s central authority, still played
a major role in the university administration. Moreover, the reforms failed to improve
funding level (Xin, 1993), and this was exacerbated by the national economic recession from
1989 to 1991.
In brief, this period of restructuring shifted from serving political goals to serving the
needs of the national economy. Although benefits such as the enhancement of institutional
autonomy had been achieved, relics of the planned system still fettered educational reforms.
Against this background, during his Southern tour in 1992 Deng Xiaoping proposed the
establishment of a ―socialist market economy system‖. At the Fourteenth National Congress
of the CCP later in the same year, the principal aim of reform was to establish a socialist
market economy. Such reforms brought education reform onto a new track.
2.2.4 Higher education in China: Since 1992
If the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CCP in 1978 set the goal of
economic development and ushered in reform and opening-up policy, the Fourteenth National
Congress of the CCP in 1992 accelerated economic development with introduction of a
socialist market economy system. In this context, the higher education sector, which produces
human capital for social and economic development, experienced a new round of reforms in
order to readjust to the deepening of economic reform. This period from 1992 to 2010, during
which the most profound restructuring of higher education since the founding of new China
occurred, is the focus of my study. Six closely related characteristics of this period from the
27
literature include further decentralisation, diversification, massification, reconfiguration of
elite institutions, cooperation, and internationalisation (Brandenburg and Zhu, 2007; Chen,
2002; Cheng, 2006; Li, 2004; Pan and Xiao, 2008a; Yang et al., 2007; Zhao, 1998; Zhao and
Guo, 2002). The next section discusses the first characteristic: further decentralisation.
1) Further decentralisation
The policy choice of devolution and decentralisation of authority was introduced in
the 1985 Decision document. The increased institutional autonomy brought about positive
changes in China‘s higher education sector. This policy direction was further developed in
the Outline of China’s Education Reform and Development (Chinese Communist Party and
State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993) (hereafter 1993 Outline) and the
Programme of Educational Revitalization for the Twenty-first Century (Ministry of Education,
1998b) (hereafter 21st Century Programme). Thus, outside the institutions, a two-tier
administrative system of the central government and local governments, with local
governments—provincial, autonomous regional or municipal—as the main agencies of
administration, was established. Furthermore, universities had more internal autonomy in
areas such as enrolment, disciplinary adjustment, appointment and dismissal of teaching staff,
use of funds, evaluation of professional titles, wage distribution, as well as international
cooperation and exchange (Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s
Republic of China, 1993). In addition, a dual authority structure—responsibility taken by a
university president under the leadership of the CCP Committee—was legislated by the
Higher Education Law of the People’s Republic of China (passed on August 29, 1998, in
effect from September 1, 1999).
As a policy strategy, decentralisation involved the combination of central government
administration and market mechanisms at the micro level. The government adopted
administrative and legislative tools such as legislation, fund appropriation and policies to
carry out administration at the macro level. Meanwhile, institutions had autonomy to respond
to market demands through tailoring programmes toward the needs of students and the labour
market. Another aspect reflecting a market model was the accountability mechanism, in
which institutions, presidents, deans, researchers, and teachers were held accountable by
mechanisms of quality control and performance (Vidovich et al., 2007). For example,
28
publications and research grants became the main criteria for measuring research
performance (Vidovich et al., 2007).
2) Diversification
Diversification in this period included three dimensions: the diversification of higher
education provision, a range of funding sources, and diversified types of higher education
institutions. Each of these will now be discussed.
First, the 1985 Decision document initiated a shift from the full provision of higher
education by the state to the sharing of higher education provision between public and private
entities. This meant a growth in the number of privately-funded higher education institutions.
However, in practice, the private sector was viewed as lower in status to the public sector and
developed more slowly (Cheng, 2006). In view of this situation, the 1993 Outline proposed a
guideline for propelling the development of the private sector. This entailed active
encouragement, strong support, proper guidelines, and sound management (Chinese
Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993). In a similar
vein, the Higher Education Law (1998) legislated that the private sector could be established
and operated by social entities such as public and private enterprises, local communities,
overseas Chinese, and other individuals. The purpose of these policies was to improve the
status of the private sector and support growth.
As a result of government intervention, the private sector experienced a period of
rapid development. According to statistics, the number of private higher education
institutions fully accredited by the Ministry of Education with the authority to grant their own
graduation diplomas grew from 42 in 2000 to 295 in 2007 (He, 2008; Y. Liu, 2008). The
number of total enrolment rose from 68 300 in 2000 to 1 337 942 in 2006 (Y. Liu, 2008;
Ministry of Education, 2007b).
Expansion of the private sector also led to the emergence of a new type of private
higher education institution, the independent college. Independent colleges, delivering
undergraduate courses, were the product of cooperation between regular universities or
colleges and social entities. These institutions had a range of independent features including
their own legal status, financing and accounting systems, enrolment programmes, diplomas,
and campuses. By 2007, the number of independent colleges reached 317 (He, 2008).
29
Another form of diversification during this period involved changes to the sources of
funding. Due to the lack of public funding, there was a shift from complete dependence on
state funding to a diversified funding channel such as charging tuition fees, using bank loans,
and sale of academic services (Brandenburg and Zhu, 2007; Zhao, 1998; Zhao and Guo,
2002). For example, although students had not been charged tuition fees since the founding of
new China in 1949, the 1985 Decision document proposed that students who were not within
the state-planned allocation should pay a certain amount of fees (Chinese Communist Party,
1985). Following this decision, the 1993 Outline prescribed that higher education was non-
compulsory education and students should pay a percentage of their tuition fees (Chinese
Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993). Tuition fees
became an important funding source for higher education institutions. Fees increased from
about 20 Australian Dollars (AUD) per semester in 1989 to approximately AUD 1 015 per
semester in 2007 (Q. Guo, 2007). RMB is the unit of Chinese currency. An indication of the
equivalent cost in Australian terms can be calculated according to the daily exchange rate of
April 11, 2009, 1 RMB equals 0.203 AUD. Such increases in tuition fees illustrate both the
diversified sources of university funding and represent the marketisation and
commercialisation of high education services.
Further diversification has involved the types of higher education institutions. This
was evident in the emergence of distance education. Early distance education in China took
the form of correspondence colleges, radio and television universities (Brandenburg and Zhu,
2007). With development of information technologies, modern distance education started to
occur on the Internet, and this was considered an essential constituent of life-long learning
system. According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, there were 69 experimental
higher education institutions for distance education in China with a total enrolment of 3 104
800 in 2007, compared with 4 610 800 of total enrolments in regular higher education, and
630 700 enrolments in adult higher education (Ministry of Education, 2008a). The
diversification of higher education provision, a range of funding sources, and the diversified
types of higher education institutions have paved the way for the following expansion, or
massification.
3) Massification
30
Massification, in the context of the present study, refers to making education available
to the masses in China. In May 1999, the State Council made the decision to expand the
higher education sector further. There are three reasons for the expansion, which are
summarised as follows (Cheng, 2006).
First, the assumed rapid economic development required more human resources at the
university level, and this prompted an increasing emphasis on the role of higher education.
Comparisons between participation rate in China and other nations highlighted this fact. For
example, in 1999 the average duration of education in the age group 25-64 years was 7.97
years in China, compared with the 13.17 years in America and 12.78 years in Japan. By 1995,
the gross enrolment rate of China‘s higher education was 7.2%, compared with 80.9% in
USA and 71.8% in Japan. Therefore, development of higher education was urgently needed
to offset this difference in labour force quality with developed countries.
Second, as noted earlier, despite the fact that tuition fees kept increasing, demand for
higher education continued to grow. This could be because of the Confucian values that a
good scholar would become a government official, or that a high quality education is required
for employment in official posts, together with the deeply-rooted belief that knowledge could
change one‘s destiny. More chances of participating in higher education might lead to
attainment of a promising future.
Third, expansion of the higher education sector stimulates consumption in a number
of related industries such as real estate and logistics. A growing number of students become
consumers of higher education as well as customers of logistical services such as food and
accommodation. This contributes to university income and funds for development which, in
turn, promotes expansion.
Under these circumstances, enrolments increased from 1 083 000 in 1998 to 1 600
000 in 1999 (Cheng, 2006). By 2002, enrolments reached 3 200 000, and the gross enrolment
rate of higher education reached about 15% which entered the threshold of a mass higher
education by international standards (Trow, 2005). Table 2.1 (Ministry of Education, 2007c)
reflects the growth in the gross enrolment rate of China‘s higher education from 1990 to 2007:
31
Table 2. 1
Gross enrolment rate of China’s higher education sector from 1992 to 2007
Table 2.1 shows that the gross enrolment rate increased gradually from 1992 to 2007,
with rapid growth after the year 1999. However, this expansion in enrolments also highlights
the issue of quality. Around the same time as the process of massification, two state projects
were implemented: ―Project 211‖ and ―Project 985‖. Under these projects, universities could
also be considered elite institutions. This claim will be elaborated as follows.
4) Reconfiguration of elite institutions
The ―Project 211‖ was first proposed in the State Council’s View on the
Implementation of “Decision on the Reform of China’s Educational Structure” (State
Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1994) in 1994. The project was launched in 1995
for the purpose of establishing China‘s 100 top-level universities and key disciplines in the
twenty-first century. During the first phase (ninth five-year plan: 1996-2000), 90 universities,
602 key disciplines and 2 public service systems were involved in the project, with an overall
fund of approximately AUD 3.78 billion (Ministry of Education, 2008d). In the second phase
(tenth five-year plan: 2001-2005), 107 universities, 821 key disciplines and 3 public service
systems were involved, with an overall fund of AUD 3.81 billion (Ministry of Education,
2008d).
In May 1998, on the celebration of the centennial of Peking University, Jiang Zeming,
then president of China, declared that China required some first-rate universities by
international standards for the realisation of modernisation goals (Ministry of Education,
2008c). Following Jiang‘s proclamation, the Programme of Educational Revitalization for the
Twenty-first Century (Ministry of Education, 1998b) was formulated to develop world-class
universities and high-level research universities in China. The problematisation of the
concept of ―world-class‖ universities will be provided in Section 7.2, which examines one
specific instance of reform in the local context of China. The programme‘s first phase, the
―Project 985‖ (1999-2003), named after the year and month of Jiang‘s speech, was initiated,
Year 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Gross
Enrolment
Rate (%)
3.9 5.0 6.0 7.2 8.3 9.1 9.8 10.5 12.5 13.3 15.0 17.0 19.0 21.0 22.0 23.0
32
including 34 universities with an overall fund of approximately AUD 2.9 billion. In 2004, the
2003-2007 Action Plan for Invigorating Education (Ministry of Education, 2004) continued
to implement the ―Project 985‖ and the second phase of construction was started, including
16 universities with an overall fund of AUD 3.9 billion.
The ―Project 985‖ and the ―Project 211‖ were two important programmes aimed at
building elite higher education institutions and to assure quality in higher education
development. Pioneering University, the case-study university in my research, was involved
in both projects. Another strategy to assure the quality of higher education in China was
cooperation, which will be discussed in the following section.
5) Cooperation
In the 1990s, a radical amalgamation of higher education institutions occurred in
China, evidenced by the fact that a total of 612 higher education institutions have been
merged into 250 (Li, 2000). According to Chen (2002), there were two kinds of mergers. One
was to merge closely located institutions sharing the same or similar disciplines but affiliated
with different government ministries. The other was to construct larger and stronger
universities through combining leading universities with the ones with relatively narrow
setup of disciplines. Both kinds of mergers attempted to improve institutional quality and
competitiveness to varying degrees. However, the former was conducted mainly for the
efficiency and effectiveness of administration, while the latter was devised to build world-
class universities. For instance, in 1988, Zhejiang University, being an established and
leading university, merged with Hangzhou University, Zhejiang University of Agriculture,
and Zhejiang University of Medical Science (Chen, 2002). After the amalgamation, the new
Zhejiang University became a top-level university in China (Zhejiang University, 2009).
Another important form of cooperation during this period was partnerships between
universities and industries such as consultation services for industries, technology service
contracts, patent licensing, university science parks, and university affiliated enterprises
(OECD, 2007; Vidovich et al., 2007; Zhao, 1998; Zhao and Guo, 2002). This kind of
cooperation provided an important funding source for universities and promoted their
innovative capacity. For example, with reference to the concept of the university science park,
which is a group of science institutions brought together for development of innovative
technologies, statistics from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) and the Ministry
33
of Education indicate that by 2008, 69 university-based science parks had been established
(Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Education, 2006, 2008). Significantly,
by 2006, 62 national university science parks had approximately 6 720 enterprises under
incubation, generating a total income of approximately AUD 6 billion (―Development of the
national university science parks in 2006‖, 2007). As the first five characteristics of China‘s
higher education reform since 1992 are all within a national context, the last one is concerned
with an international context.
6) Internationalisation
The emphasis on cooperation led to China developing international relationships to
allow the export and import of higher education resources. That is, a greater number of
Chinese students began travelling abroad to further their studies and more foreign students
were attracted to study in China. According to statistics (Ministry of Education, 2009), 179
800 Chinese students were studying abroad in 2008; 1 391 500 Chinese students in total
studied overseas from 1978 to 2008. Several projects such as the ―Initial Scientific Research
Funding for Returnees‖ encouraged overseas Chinese students to return and work in China.
This programme was designed to support returnees with research, professional development,
and training, and funded 17 975 returnees at a cost of approximately AUD 108 million in the
period leading up to 2008.
Meanwhile, China has attracted many foreign students to study there. In 2008, 223
000 foreign students from 189 different countries and regions arrived in China to study, and
in total 1 460 000 students had studied in China since the founding of the new China in 1949
(Ministry of Education, 2009). Significantly, these foreign students promoted cultural
communication between China and other countries. Moreover, in order to promote the
Chinese language worldwide and to spread knowledge and understanding of Chinese cultures,
by 2008, 305 Confucius Institutes had been established in 78 overseas countries (Ministry of
Education, 2009). These institutes provided another way of exporting Chinese education.
Furthermore, as argued by Yang (2010), the Confucius Institute programme is a strategy that
the Chinese government uses to expand China‘s international influence.
These six developments demonstrate shifts in China‘s higher education from 1992.
Nevertheless, these shifts were tempered by the problems that confronted China‘s higher
education system. Problems arising from the higher education reforms include the issue of a
34
regulated autonomy, structural misbalance of higher educational levels, the lower status of
the non-government funded higher education sector, effects of massification, unbalanced
regional development of higher education, and ―brain drain‖ to foreign countries.
1) Regulated autonomy
University autonomy was restricted by direct political intervention and indirect
market regulation. With the policy strategy of devolution and decentralisation, China‘s higher
education institutions enjoyed more autonomy than before. However, with this independence
came direct political intervention from the university-level CCP Committee. Universities did
have autonomy in certain areas, but the operation of the university was tightly controlled by
the Committee. Also, this policy strategy was accompanied by an accountability mechanism.
Institutions, presidents, deans, researchers, and teachers were held accountable by market
mechanisms of quality control and performance such as the university ranking, publications,
research grants, and teaching assessment (Yang et al., 2007). Therefore, the Chinese
government utilised both state and market control mechanisms, the effect of which was often
achieved at the expense of academic autonomy (Yang et al., 2007). This phenomenon could
be described as ―decentralised centralism‖ (Karlsen, 2000) or ―regulated autonomy‖ (Yang et
al., 2007). As a result, this regulated autonomy was far from the autonomy and academic
freedom described by Hayhoe (1996) in the European tradition and pursued earlier by Cai
Yuanpei.
2) Structural misbalance of higher educational levels
A degree of structural imbalance existed among different levels of China‘s higher
education institutions. According to Y. Y. Zhang (2006), the three levels of higher education
institutions should follow a pyramid pattern; that is, 2-to-3-year colleges for professional
training at the bottom, 4-to-5-year undergraduate universities in the middle, and 5-to-6-year
graduate schools at the top. However, in China, the pattern turned out to be a large middle
group with a small number at the bottom and a small but rapidly growing top group (Lou et
al., 2006; Wei, 2008; Y. Y. Zhang, 2006). This phenomenon could be interpreted by the
ladder of success noted earlier: the one who stood at a higher place was deemed more
successful. Driven by this traditional value, institutions began to upgrade by climbing
upwards: from professional training colleges to universities, from specialist universities to
35
comprehensive universities, from undergraduate teaching-oriented universities to research
universities with master‘s and doctoral degree programmes, and from common
comprehensive universities to world-class universities. Some vocational colleges simply
changed their names to universities (D. Y. Liu, 2008). One impact of these changes was a
lack of technical workers graduating from vocational colleges and entering the labour market
(Y. Y. Zhang, 2006).
3) Low status of the private higher education sector
As noted earlier, non-government higher education institutions held lower status than
government funded ones. In Australia, private education enjoys a similar status with that of
public education. However, the situation is different in China. Although the private sector
contributed to the expansion of higher education, it tended to absorb those secondary school
students who failed to gain entrance to the public system (Hayhoe, 1996; Y. Y. Zhang, 2006).
Moreover, the shortage of funding and a lack of high-level teaching staff undermined the
quality of what these institutions could offer. Therefore, private education providers were
generally considered to be of an inferior status in the ladder of success.
4) Effects of massification
There were three major effects of massification. The State Council launched its
expansion agenda in May 1999 and demanded immediate implementation. Therefore, higher
education institutions were not prepared to deal with increasing enrolments in terms of
campus infrastructure and teaching staff. This lack of preparation was evident in a range of
examples. Students had to face following problems: dormitories were so crowded that up to
twelve students had to live together; classrooms were so crowded that some students had to
bring chairs to class; and libraries did not have sufficient books for students (Lou et al., 2006).
The biggest problem was the shortage of lecturers. The average lecturer-student ratio
decreased from 1:9.7 in 1998 to 1:17.04 in 2000, with some underdeveloped regions reaching
more than 1:30 (Lou et al., 2006). The growth in the number of teaching staff had not caught
up with that of students by 2005, with a teacher-student ratio of 1: 17.14 at that time (Pan,
2007). The overall consequences were increasing student enrolments, lack of educational
resources to meet the growth of the number of students, and lack of teachers. Pan (2007)
argues that the quality of higher education has decreased in China.
36
The second problem was the lack of funding. In 2006, public educational funding
occupied only 3.01% of the total GDP, far from the 6% which was considered as a
cornerstone for the modernisation of China‘s education (G. Zhang, 2008) and still far from
the 4% prescribed in the 1993 Outline document for the goal of the year 2000 (Chinese
Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993). Among the
total funding for higher education in 2006, the percentage of governmental investment was
42.6 % and non-governmental investment was 57.4%, compared with the 79% of
governmental investment and 21% of non-governmental investment in Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries (G. Zhang, 2008).
In addition to tuition fees, loans became another important part in the non-
governmental investment. Loans meant the loans that higher education institutions ―borrow
from financial organisations according to national policies, and used for research, affiliated
enterprises, the socialisation of logistics and capital construction, and so forth, as well as the
international loans that they obtain through related governmental agencies to finance teaching
and research‖ (OECD, 2007, p. 58). On September 12 2007, Zhou Ji, then Minister of
Education, announced that China‘s higher education sector was already in a debt of AUD
40.6 billion (Ministry of Education, 2007a). For instance, Jilin University, one of the most
indebted universities, signed a total contract of AUD 1.1 billion loans from three different
banks from September 2000 to May 2003. By March 2007, Jilin University declared that it
was AUD 0.61 billion in debt (L. Wang, 2007).
The third major effect of massification was difficulties students faced in finding
employment after graduation. According to one report (Du, 2008), in 2008, there were
approximately 5.6 million graduates from China‘s higher education institutions, but the actual
employment rate was less than 70%. Expansion of higher education was only one of the
reasons for this difficult situation, because more graduates competed for limited job
vacancies. Two other factors impacted on student unemployment. One factor was that
students sought work on the southeast coast and urban areas of China rather than looking for
work in central-western regions and rural areas (Lou et al., 2006). The other factor was that
students tended to choose those specialties or disciplines which seemed to have good
prospects for employment, but the supply of which outnumbered the demand in the labour
market after a few short years. Therefore, the problem of unemployment was driven not only
by the increased graduate numbers but also by the number of those students who decided to
seek employment in China‘s developed regions as well as specialised areas of employment.
37
5) Unbalanced regional development in higher education
The disparity between southeast coastal areas of China and central-western regions as
well as the gap between urban and rural areas was not only social, historical, economic, and
political problems but also educational problems. For instance, in 2003, the average gross
enrolment rate of China‘s higher education was 17%. Beijing reached 52% that year, but
some western provinces or autonomous regions recorded rates far below 15% (Lou et al.,
2006). These statistics indicate a deep structural inequality: if the possibility for a child from
rural areas to access higher education was 1%, the possibility for a child from urban areas
was 13% (Lou et al., 2006). Even worse, of the few rural students who participated in higher
education, most were in vocational colleges. Even a fewer number of them entered top
universities. For example, the proportion of rural entrants in Tsinghua University was 17.6%
in 2000, and it was 22.3% in Beijing Normal University in 2002 (Wang and Liu, 2009). This
unbalanced development was further exacerbated by the brain drain from the central-western
regions and rural areas of China to the southeast coastal and urban areas of China. For
example, during the ninth 5-year plan (1996-2000), 1 500 graduates with at least a master‘s
degree qualification left the poorer inland Shanxi Province for coastal areas, a number equal
to the total faculty members of two modern universities (Gao, 2004).
6) ―Brain drain‖ to foreign countries
A great number of high-level Chinese students tended to stay in foreign countries
after they finished their study overseas. Among the 1 391 500 Chinese students studying
overseas from 1978 to 2008, only 390 000 had returned by 2008. 735 400 were enrolled in
bachelor‘s, master‘s and doctoral courses, or engaged in post-doctoral research, or studied as
visiting scholars. Hence, China‘s higher education sector faced the problem of a brain drain
of university students to foreign countries (Brandenburg and Zhu, 2007; OECD, 2007).
2.2.5 Summary
China‘s higher education sector has experienced many reforms, which are full of vicissitudes
and changes. Hayhoe‘s (1996) notion of China‘s traditional higher education system could be
applied again to reflect its historical development:
38
The authoritarian and centralising structures of the bureaucratic institutions of
higher learning linked with the civil service examinations, and the relatively
progressive and flexible style of organisation in the shuyuan (scholarly academies)
and other nonformal institutions which, historically, provided an important
counterbalancing force. (p. 249)
Currently the authoritarian power of the CCP seemed to be in control of China‘s higher
education through its use of direct central control. In contrast, the non-formal or the private
sector of China‘s higher education was placed in an inferior position to the formal sector due
to the traditional value and perception of the ladder or steps to success. Although the reforms
since 1992 brought about some positive changes, many problems still confronted China‘s
higher education sector.
This section has detailed the literature on the historical development of China‘s higher
education, with an emphasis on the period since 1992. Significantly, these studies have only
shed light on specific perspectives of the restructuring of China‘s higher education sector. As
noted, such studies have included issues and problems in the development of China‘s higher
education (Pan, 2007; B. Y. Wang, 2007; Wei, 2008); the structure of China‘s higher
education (Feng, 2005; He and Mi, 2007; Ma, 2007; Y. Y. Zhang, 2006); the nature of non-
governmental education (Y. Liu, 2008; Zha, 2006); issues to do with the accountability and
autonomy of China‘s higher education (Vidovich et al., 2007; Yang et al., 2007); the
amalgamation of Chinese higher education institutes (Chen, 2002); the massification and
demographic change of China‘s higher education (Brandenburg and Zhu, 2007); Chinese
experience of the learning society (Pu, 2006; Yang, 2007a), equity in access to higher
education in China (Wang, 2011; Yu and Ertl, 2010), and the financing and funding of
China‘s higher education (Wang, 2001; Yang et al., 2010; Zhao, 1998).
There are studies that cover a broader picture of higher education reform in China, but
the time period of Li‘s (2004) study is limited from 1998 to 2003. The work of Hayhoe (1996)
is more historical. Tsang‘s (2000) study of the changing policies of higher education in China
focuses on the period from 1949 to 1999. Wang and Liu (2009) and Lou, Jiang and Liu (2006)
sketch China‘s higher education reform since 1978 rather than focusing on policy analysis.
Hence, this study aims to fill the gap in the literature and conduct a policy analysis of the
most profound reform of China‘s higher education system from 1992 to 2010. Significantly,
this study aims to capture an overarching perspective of this current period of reform in
China.
39
Moreover, the present study adopts Hayhoe (1996)‘s observation that, in addition to
understanding China‘s higher education from its traditional system, international influences
also play an important role in the reform of the higher education sector. Hence, given that the
historical period of this study—from 1992 to 2010—is embedded in the context of
globalisation and the knowledge economy, it is necessary to review the phenomenon and
impact of globalisation on the higher education sector in a global context.
2.3 Globalisation and higher education
This section looks beyond the national context of China into the global context. It is
structured as follows. First, debates about globalisation theories are articulated and four
dimensions of globalisation—neoliberal policy, the knowledge economy, global culture, and
technological developments—are outlined. Second, the significance of the roles played by
international organisations such as the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development is discussed. Third, this review examines the impact of
globalisation on the higher education sector and the ways in which it contributes to global
trends in university restructuring.
2.3.1 Globalisation
No singular account of globalisation has acquired the status of orthodoxy in the existing
literature (Held and McGrew, 2005). Therefore, it is difficult to define globalisation because
the concept varies in meaning when approached from different theoretical perspectives.
According to Harvey (1989), globalisation can be conceptualised in terms of ―time-space
compression‖ which refers to the way in which electronic communication erodes the limits of
distance and time in social life. The approach favoured by Giddens (1990) construes
globalisation as ―action at a distance‖ which means ―the intensification of world-wide social
relations, which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by
events occurring many miles away and vice versa‖ (p. 64). Globalisation can also be
theorised in terms of a ―network society‖ which is a new system where the key social
structures and activities are organised around electronically processed information networks
(Castells, 1996). Given the difference in definition due to different research perspectives,
theories of globalisation are subject to debate.
40
2.3.1.1 Three major debates
Held, McGrew, Goldblatt and Perraton (1999) have distinguished three schools of thought on
globalisation: the hyperglobalists, sceptics and transformationalists. These schools of thought
are elaborated as follows.
Hyperglobalists share a belief that globalization is primarily an economic
phenomenon and argue that economic globalisation brings about a denationalisation of
economies through establishment of transnational networks of production, trade and finance
(Held et al., 1999). From the viewpoint of hyperglobalisers, a new world order prefigures the
demise of the nation-state. This contention is explicated as follows:
Since the national economy is increasingly a site of transnational and global flows,
as opposed to the primary container of national socio-economic activity, the
authority and legitimacy of the nation-state are challenged: national governments
become increasingly unable either to control what transpires within their own
borders or to fulfil by themselves the demands of their own citizens. (Held et al.,
1999, pp. 4-5)
In this respect, nation-states are increasingly becoming sites enabling transnational
organisations to promote regulations and practices to manage global economic affairs
(Ohmae, 1995, p. 149). Hyperglobalists argue that nation-states do not have power to manage
their own affairs nationally without considering global concerns. However, this contention is
subject to criticism.
By contrast, sceptics consider the hyperglobalist account as exaggerated. Based on
statistical evidence of global flows of trade, investment and labour from the nineteenth
century, sceptics maintain that the extent of globalisation is not unprecedented and reflects
only heightened levels of internationalisation (Held and McGrew, 2005; Held et al., 1999). In
this view, nation-states are still the primary architects of internationalisation. Rather than
being out of control, internationalisation relies on the regulatory power of national
governments to ensure economic development. The concept of globalisation is, from the
standpoint of sceptics, an ideological construction that helps to legitimate the neoliberal
project—the creation of a global free market (Gordon, 1988; Hirst, 1997; Hoogvelt, 1997).
Nation-states play an active and central role in the newly emerging space of the global free
market. They—especially those nations advocating neoliberal policies—intervene and
manipulate the so-called free market to find a way of capital accumulation for the sake of
41
national interest (Harvey, 2006). In this way, other nations in a disadvantaged position in the
neoliberal project are increasingly marginalised (Gordon, 1988).
Transformationalists contend that nation-states across the world are undergoing a
process of profound changes as they adjust to a more interconnected but highly uncertain
world (Held et al., 1999, p. 2). They argue that national governments are being reconstituted
by the globalising process:
While not disputing that states still retain the ultimate legal claim to ―effective
supremacy over what occurs within their own territories‖, the transformationalists
argue that this is juxtaposed, to varying degrees, with the expanding jurisdiction
of institutions of international governance and the constraints of, as well as the
obligations derived from, international law. (Held et al., 1999, p. 8)
According to the transformationalist view, nation-states still have effective control over their
own national affairs. However, the process of globalisation transforms state power in that the
practices of national governments are embedded in networks of global governance and
restricted by international laws. For instance, higher education policies are experiencing
reforms with the changing architecture of nation-states, which is increasingly influenced by
global politics, economics and cultures. The three schools of globalisation theories are
summarised in Table 2.2 by Held, McGrew, Goldblatt and Perraton (1999, p. 10):
Table 2. 2
Three schools of globalisation theory
Hyperglobalists Sceptics Transformationalists
42
What’s new? A global age Trading blocs, weaker
geo-governance than
in earlier periods
Historically
unprecedented levels of
global
interconnectedness
Dominant features Global capitalism,
global governance,
global civil society
World less
interdependent than
in 1890s
―Thick‖ (intensive and
extensive) globalisation
Power of national
governments Declining or eroding
Reinforced or
enhanced Reconstituted,
restructured
Driving forces of
globalisation Capitalism and
technology States and markets
Combined forces of
modernity
Patterns of
stratification Erosion of old
hierarchies
Increased
marginalisation of
South
New architecture of
world order
Dominant motif McDonalds, Madonna,
etc. National interest
Transformation of
political community
Conceptualisation of
globalisation
As a reordering of the
framework of human
action
As internationalisation
and regionalisation
As the reordering of
interregional relations
and action at a distance
Historical trajectory Global civilisation Regional blocs/clash
of civilisation
Indeterminate: global
integration and
fragmentation
Summary argument The end of the
nation-state
Internationalisation
depends on state
acquiescence and
support
Globalisation
transforming state power
and world politics
Some of the principal themes of these globalisation theories centre on the flow of
capital, commodities, services, finance, trade, people, information technology, and the
enhanced interdependence and interconnectedness of relationships between nation-states.
Moreover, the changing role and sovereignty of nation-states in the globalising process are
the focal points of these theories. Indeed, these accounts consider globalisation as an
empirical fact or a phenomenon happening outside and being imposed upon the hapless
populations of nation-states.
By contrast, some studies examine globalisation from below, that is, as the collective
public experience. In these approaches, globalisation is conceptualised as social imaginaries
held by particular social groups who imagine and act as collective agents (Appadurai, 2002;
Castoriadis, 1987; Gaonkar, 2002; Rizvi, 2002; Rizvi and Lingard, 2010; Taylor, 2002, 2004),
or as a mode of governance that constitutes global subjectivities (Henry, 2008; Henry,
Lingard, Rizvi, and Taylor, 2001; Larner and Le Heron, 2002; Larner and Walters, 2004a,
43
2004b; Miller and Rose, 2008; Olssen, 2003; Olssen et al., 2004; Peters, 2009; Rizvi and
Lingard, 2010; Rose and Miller, 2010). My study adopts this latter view and considers
globalisation more as a social imaginary and mode of governing practices than a phenomenon
arising externally and having negative impacts inside the borders.
From the research perspective of a social imaginary, the increasingly interconnected
global world is experienced and constructed by individuals and communities at different
social-historical junctures (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010; Taylor, 2004). The concept of
globalisation represents a common consciousness shared by different social groups who think,
imagine and develop a sense of global interconnectedness and interdependence. As a result,
globalisation is perceived as ―ever-changing products of human practices‖ (Rizvi and Lingard,
2010, p. 32). Furthermore, according to Taylor (2004), the imaginary of globalisation is not
only internalised in the awareness of individuals or collectives, but also is shaped by political
discourses and practices. Institutional, national or international policies use globalisation as a
form of governance to structure people‘s thoughts and behaviours. For example, Rizvi and
Lingard (2010) contend that a neoliberal social imaginary of globalisation is designed to
guide and shape people‘s ways of thinking and acting based on discourses and tactics such as
free markets, economic efficiency, fair play, choice, deregulation, and privatisation. The aim
is to constitute subjects that are predisposed towards these discourses and their values. In this
way, these subjects are constructed as autonomous, competitive, entrepreneurial, and
responsible individuals. Theories of social imaginary and governmentality will be introduced
in Section 3.2 and Section 3.3 of Chapter Three respectively. The next section examines the
phenomenon of globalisation from different dimensions.
2.3.1.2 The dimensions of globalisation
Having reviewed the major debates about globalisation, these ideas can be summarised by
adopting a definition from Rizvi and Lingard (2010):
It (globalisation) refers not only to shifts in patterns of transnational economic
activities, especially with respect to the movement of capital and finance, but also
to the ways in which contemporary political and cultural configurations have
been reshaped by major advances in information technologies. (pp. 22-23)
Given that globalisation is a complex social phenomenon, it can be approached from different
dimensions such as neoliberal policy, the knowledge economy, culture and technological
developments. These dimensions are elaborated below.
44
1) Neoliberal policy
Neoliberal policy is one important factor in the process of globalisation. Neoliberal
ideas have become part of the common-sense way in which individuals interpret, operate and
understand the globalised world (Harvey, 2006). Neoliberal policy is based mainly on the
competition mechanism that is intrinsic to a market economy rather than on direct
government intervention (Olssen, 2003). On the surface, neoliberal policy seeks to ―actively
advance and protect the freedom of individual agency and choice, increase efficiency and
effectiveness, and limit the power and scope of the state‖ (Olssen, 2002, p. 19). However,
given that the power of the state is not limited in fact, neoliberal policy seeks to gain an
indirect control through regulating a free market. Hence, individuals or collectives are
governed indirectly through market mechanisms.
Moreover, neoliberal policy is not confined to the private economic domain, but also
extends to such public spheres as health and education. In this regard, nation-states can be
conceptualised as sites of neoliberal values. According to Olssen (2003), the state is seen as:
(T)he active agent which creates appropriate market by providing the conditions,
laws and institutions necessary for its necessary operation … The state seeks to
create an individual that is an enterprising and competitive entrepreneur … (The
state also tries to constitute a subject position of) ―manipulatable man‖ who is
created by the state and who is continually encouraged to be ―perpetually
responsive‖. (p. 199)
In this sense, neoliberal policy represents an ―art of government‖, that is, a kind of alignment
between political rationalities and technologies for the regulation of the individual self
(Foucault, 2000a; Larner, 2000; Marshall, 2001; Olssen, 2003; Olssen et al., 2004).
Individuals are constituted as economic subjects within neoliberal forms of governance. That
is, they are placed into the subject positions of free and entrepreneurial individuals who
conduct their own economic activities for the benefit of themselves.
Consequently, neoliberal policy is one factor in the globalising process. The present
study adopts Miller and Rose‘s (2008) examination of neoliberal policy through the
conceptual framework of governmentality, as shown in Section 3.3. Details of their
framework are demonstrated in Figure 3.2, Figure 3.3 and Figure 3.4. Its influence on the
higher education sector worldwide will be discussed in Section 2.4.1 of this chapter. With
regard to the Chinese context, a review of literature in Section 2.1.4 has shown that neoliberal
policy has had a considerable influence on the higher education sector in China since 1992.
45
Therefore, this study continues by examining the influence of neoliberal policy on China‘s
higher education sector through an analysis of national higher education policy in Chapters
Five and Six and a case study in Chapter Seven.
As noted in Chapter One, the ―Western‖ society is a concept discursively constructed
by political authorities to promote their values such as neoliberal policy. This study reviews a
number of studies with reference to the influence of globalisation discourses on higher
education reform in some Western contexts such as the United Kingdom, the United States,
Australia, and New Zealand. However, according to Bhattacharya (2011), the geographical-
spatial dimension of the construct ―West‖ needs to be problematised. As well, Bhattacharya
exposes the homogenising power of the ―Western alphabet‖ and the colonial inheritance of
this construct.
First, Bhattacharya (2011) argues that the construct of the West is ―geographically
unstable, arbitrary, and shifting‖ (p. 183). No consensus has been reached on the constituent
members of Western society. For example, Japan, a geographically ―Eastern‖ nation, is
considered by Frankenberg (2000) as a member country of the West for its economic power
in the world. In this way, the categorization of the West is a process of ―selective exclusion‖,
which is based on the criteria of ―race, linguistic background, and socio-economic status‖
(Bhattacharya, 2011, p. 182). Moreover, there exist pluralities inside the so-called Western
society (Bhattacharya, 2011). For example, within the physical boundaries of the European
Union co-exist different languages, cultures and histories. Therefore, the West is not a single
grouping of nation-states, but is a complex construct prone to changes.
Second, the ―Western alphabet‖ is considered a ―Western device‖ to create a distinct
―Western identity‖ in order to differentiate the ―Western society‖ from the rest of the world
(Bhattacharya, 2011, pp. 183-187). The hegemonic power of the Western alphabet is assumed
to be its superior status in terms of civilisation because the alphabet is presumably the
endpoint of ―writing power‖ evolution (Bhattacharya, 2011, p. 184). Under this assumption,
the West is the representative of a civilised society, while the ―others‖ such as indigenous and
Oriental cultures are barbaric and inferior, for they use pictographic and ideographic scripts.
In this regard, Bhattacharya contends that it is necessary to disclose this hegemonic account
of the Western culture that has been naturalised in the minds of social groups.
Furthermore, Bhattacharya deems the Western alphabet as instrumental in the process
of colonisation. The coloniser attempts to subjugate the languages and cultures of colonials
46
through the imposition of the alphabet in order to transform these cultures to facilitate
colonisation. Hence, there are deep influences of Western discourses on indigenous cultures,
which are the result of an asymmetry of power relations between different nation-states and
peoples (Bhattacharya, 2011). China, discursively constructed as a traditional Oriental
country, is also influenced by Western forces particularly since the government implemented
the opening-up policy in 1978. In this respect, my study examines how Western discourses
impact on higher education reform in China. It further investigates what kinds of educational
subjectivities are shaped by these discourses. For example, within the 2003-2007 Action Plan
for Invigorating Education, a policy document issued by China‘s Ministry of Education in
2004, there is a strategy to promote the development of university students‘ proficiency in the
English language. Accordingly, Chinese students are constituted as subjects with
comprehensive language ability in English listening, speaking, reading and writing.
2) The knowledge economy
The global economy is undergoing significant changes with the rise of the so-called
knowledge economy. Moreover, the emergence of a global knowledge economy means that
globalisation now extends beyond markets for manufactured products into markets for
technology, knowledge workers and innovation (Ernst and Hart, 2008). According to the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (1996), ―the OECD
economies are increasingly based on knowledge and information. Knowledge is now
recognised as the driver of productivity and economic growth, leading to a new focus on the
role of information, technology and learning in economic performance‖ (p. 3). Similarly, in
its examination of the role of knowledge in advancing economic and social well-being, the
World development report 1998: Knowledge for development (World Bank, 1998) argues that
economies are built not only through the accumulation of physical capital and human skills,
but on a foundation of information, learning and constant innovation.
Nonetheless, according to Peters (2007), the knowledge economy or knowledge
capitalism is, in fact, a late phase of globalisation driven by neoliberalism. Within knowledge
economy discourses, the free market focuses on information, technology and innovation so as
to enhance capital generation, accumulation and further redistribution (Peters, 2007). In this
case, a highly skilled and flexible workforce for enhanced national competitive advantage is
constituted by the discourse of a new global knowledge economy (Henry et al., 2001).
47
Therefore, this study argues that discourses of the knowledge economy—knowledge
is now acknowledged as the ―driver of productivity and economic growth‖ from the OECD
report (1996, p. 3)—are used for legitimating further capital generation through the
production and application of knowledge and the construction of a workforce with the
necessary knowledge. Consequently, knowledge economy discourses are also important
factors in the globalising process. Their influence on the higher education sector worldwide
will be discussed in Section 2.4.2 of this chapter. My study argues that if the 1993 Outline
(Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993) was a
response to the introduction of a socialist market economy in China, the 21st Century
Programme (Ministry of Education, 1998b) can be considered as a direct response to the
knowledge economy. The 21st Century Programme (1998) sets up the objective of reforming
the higher education sector as building an innovation system in China. The purpose of this
innovation system is to develop the knowledge economy for social and economic
development. In this regard, my study seeks to analyse China‘s higher education policy in
order to examine the influence of the discourses of a knowledge economy.
3) Cultural globalisation
The advance of new information and communications technologies facilitates and
accelerates the flows of people, ideas and information around the world (Held and McGrew,
2005). Moreover, immigration and electronic communications also impact on local cultures.
Accordingly, it seems that new forms of hybrid cultures are developing in this globalising
process.
Cultural communication and interaction between individuals, groups, regions, and
nations can foster positive outcomes. For example, friendship can be shaped between two
from different countries‘ cultural communication. However, given that cultural globalisation
involves the expansion of Western cultures across the globe, it promotes particular values that
are supportive of capital accumulation (Olssen et al., 2004). The spread of corporations that
promotes Western patterns of consumption such as McDonalds and Coca-Cola prevails the
world over and can also produce forms of hegemonic culture. In this regard, cultural
globalisation can be envisaged as a form of ―imperialism without colonies‖ (Olssen et al.,
2004, p. 7). Cultural hybridity is, on the other hand, a kind of discourse that is supportive of
capital generation and accumulation. Sidhu (2004), in her study of international education in
48
Australia, argues that discourses of cultural hybridity are used to project an image of friendly,
multicultural campuses of Australian higher education institutions on foreign students in
order to gain a competitive advantage over the United States and the United Kingdom.
Therefore, cultural globalisation is another important dimension in the process of
globalisation. Discourses of cultural hybridity help nation-states to constitute an image of an
inclusive environment for potential foreign visitors in order to be competitive on the global
stage. Its influence on the higher education sector worldwide will be discussed in Section
2.4.3. Domestically, China is a nation with 56 ethnic minorities, each with its own distinct
culture. Internationally, its cultural communication and exchange with the world is becoming
increasingly complex under the opening-up policy. Therefore, the Chinese government is
now in a position where it responds to the forces of cultural globalisation and to its own
internal cultural dynamics. Accordingly, the study analyses higher education policy in China
in order to investigate the ways in which policy programmes since 1992 deal with new forms
of cultural hybridity and the higher education system.
4) Developments in information and communications technologies
Messages are transmitted across large distances with relative ease, so that
individuals have access to information and communication which originates from
distant sources. Moreover, with the uncoupling of space and time brought about
by electronic media, the access to messages stemming from spatially remote
sources can be instantaneous (or virtually so). Distance has been eclipsed by
proliferating networks of electronic communication. Individuals can interact with
one another, or can act within frameworks of mediated quasi-interaction, even
though they are situated, in terms of the practical contexts of their day-to-day
lives, in different parts of the world. (Thompson, 2005, p. 246)
This quotation describes the changes brought about by the development of information and
communications technologies in contemporary life. Such technologies facilitate and
accelerate various kinds of flows as well as promise a better life. However, an improved
quality of life is only possible for a portion of the population who can gain access to these
forms of technologies. The ―digital divide‖, both within nations and globally, has given rise
to a new kind of structural inequality (Olssen et al., 2004, p. 7). The binary logic of inclusion
and exclusion of Castells‘ (1996) ―network society‖, which is a techno-economic system in
which social structures and activities are organised around electronic information networks,
further testifies to the inequalities between the more advanced industrialised countries and the
developing world.
49
Hence, technological development can be considered as a significant dimension in the
process of globalisation. Its influence on the higher education sector worldwide will be
discussed in Section 2.4.4. The digital divide is also prominent in China, as the more
developed coastal regions can afford to access the digital services, but the less developed
western areas are often excluded from many such services. The study examines the
manifestation of this phenomenon in China‘s higher education sector through a critical policy
analysis and a case study.
In summary, the four dimensions of globalisation have their own distinctive features.
Nation-states in the globalised context must deal with those political options that fall on a
continuum between social democratic and neoliberal policy (Henry et al., 2001). The next
section explores how international organisations such as the World Bank and the OECD
impact on the policy continuum facing nation-states and their decision making process for the
higher education sector.
2.3.1.3 International organisations
International organisations such as the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (hereafter OECD) exert influence on nation-states in two ways:
providing financial support and policy advice. This section focuses on examining the World
Bank given its role of financial support and the OECD for its role of policy advice.
1) The World Bank
The World Bank is one of the world‘s largest sources of funding for the
developing world. Its primary focus is on helping the poorest people and the
poorest countries. It uses its financial resources, its staff, and extensive
experience to help developing countries, reduce poverty, increase economic
growth, and improve their quality of life. (World Bank, 2007, cover page)
The World Bank claims to help people and countries at a lower level of economic
development in order to improve the quality of life through providing financial funding. The
underlying mechanism is the imposition of ―structural adjustment‖ advice by which countries
are made, as a condition attached to loans, to cut what is regarded as excessive public
spending in order to enable the development of private economies (Deacon, 2007). In this
way, the World Bank seeks to advise funded countries to reduce public expenditure.
Privatisation of public services is the other end of structural adjustment advice, which can be
50
reflected in the pension or social protection sector and the higher education sector (Deacon,
2007). For instance, the Education Sector Strategy Paper (World Bank, 1999) justifies:
Private financing and provision can expand the number of student places,
especially at secondary and tertiary level. Private financing can also allow public
resources to be better targeted to the poor; give families choices beyond the
public school system; be more efficient than the public sector, when quality is
maintained at a lower unit cost; and increase the potential for innovation in
education, especially in the presence of competitive pressures. (p. 34)
Therefore, the World Bank influences policy-making within nation-states through providing
financial support. Reduction of public expenditure and privatisation of public services are
two principal policy measures the World Bank enforces. With specific reference to China, in
the 1980s, the World Bank assisted China‘s higher education in areas such as ―enrolment
expansion, improved quality of instruction, strengthened research capacity, improved
management and curricular reform‖ (World Bank, 1997, p. 18). Such World Bank funding
influences policy making in terms of China‘s higher education policy development such as
the expansion of the higher education sector in 1999. In the analysis of China‘s higher
education policy from 1992 to 2010, my study examines the ways in which these
developments have been influenced by policy advice from the financial support of
international organisations.
2) The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
The Organisation‘s mission is essentially to help governments and society reap
the full benefits of globalisation, while tackling the economic, social and
governance challenges that can accompany it. It places a high priority on
deciphering emerging issues and identifying policies that work in order to help
policy makers. (OECD, 2008b, p. 10)
The organisation provides a setting where governments can compare policy
experiences, seeks answers to common problems, identify good practice and co-
ordinate domestic and international policies. It is a forum where peer pressure can
act as a powerful incentive to improve policy and which produces internationally-
agreed instruments, decisions and recommendations in areas where multilateral
agreement is necessary for individual countries to make progress in a globalised
economy. Non-members are invited to subscribe to these agreements and treaties.
(OECD, 2008a, p. 6)
As the quotation shows, the OECD claims to be a key player in the global policy
milieu. The OECD operates as a forum where it identifies or sells policies to member
51
governments and where the governments can benchmark policy experiences and find best
practices in a globalised economy.
In contrast to the financial clout of the World Bank, the OECD‘s authority comes
from the perceived quality of its reports and analyses, the receiving end of which is its
exclusive members who are assisted to ―reap the full benefits of globalisation‖ (Henry et al.,
2001, p. 17). Although ―non-members are invited to subscribe to OECD agreements and
treaties‖, its membership is ―limited only by a country‘s commitment to a market economy
and a pluralistic democracy‖ (OECD, 2008a, p. 8). Despite the discourse of ―commitment to
a pluralistic democracy‖, ―commitment to a market economy‖ is in reality the decisive
qualification for membership. In this way, policy advice is underpinned by the mechanism of
a market economy. For instance, the advice for reform in the public sector has transformed
structures and practices of departments and agencies into a corporate management style
(Henry et al., 2001). Henry et al. (2001) argue that the OECD has been the vehicle for the
public sector to assimilate private sector management practices through its advice in research
and other reports.
Therefore, whereas the World Bank tries to impose advice on the nation-states at a
lower level of economic development through loans and funds, the OECD sells advice to
member countries, which vow commitment to a market economy, via reports and advices.
Their advice can be seen as catalyst for national reforms. Although China is not a member
country of the OECD, the OECD carries out studies on China and provides policy advice for
China‘s economic development. Examples are the China and the OECD (OECD Forum 2006)
(OECD, 2006) and the OECD thematic review of tertiary education: Background report for
the P.R. of China (OECD, 2007). In its investigation to China‘s higher education policy, this
study analyses the impact of policy advice from such international organisations as the
OECD.
In the context of globalisation, at the national level, the nation-state endeavours to
restructure itself under external pressures from the globalising process and internal desires for
social and economic development. Meanwhile at the local or institutional level, individual
universities also go to great lengths to reinvent themselves in response to external forces such
as the pressure from entrepreneurial management styles and cutbacks in national funding,
while participating in the internal struggle for funding sources and prestige. In other words,
located at the intersection between knowledge, industry, the professions, government, and
social networking (Marginson and Considine, 2000), universities are experiencing
52
considerable changes. The next section examines global trends in university restructuring in
order to examine the influence of globalisation on the higher education sector worldwide.
2.3.2 Restructuring of the higher education sector: A global trend
Based on a critical review of the literature and empirical studies, Marginson and Considine
(2000) note that although some local features may survive, similar reforms are taking place in
most nations. There is gathering evidence to indicate that university systems, prone to global
imitation, become more uniform on a worldwide scale. In addition, a large number of studies
on the restructuring of the higher education sector in different regions, countries and local
communities attest to the view that the changes are common internationally. These studies are
reviewed as follows.
In the context of the United States, Etzkowitz (2002) analyses the transformation of
the university‘s role into an expanded one that involves teaching, research and service for
economic and social development. He points out that the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology‘s format for university-industry relationships has been copied throughout the
United States and the rest of the world, resulting in the rise of entrepreneurial science.
Hawkins‘s (2008) study is located within a policy context of cutbacks in state funding and
privatisation of the higher education sector. With reference to a case study of the University
of California, Hawkins finds that the university has become more independent, more
entrepreneurial, and more autonomous in fund-raising activities, and its campus spaces
engage in various forms of privatised and commercialised activities. In Academic capitalism:
Politics, policies and the entrepreneurial university, Slaughter and Leslie (1997) also note a
trend toward the privatisation of the higher education sector. For instance, a ―high tuition—
high aid‖ policy was developed ―through which government gave aid to students rather than
institutions, thus making students consumers in the tertiary education marketplace‖
(Slaughter and Leslie, 1997, p. 44). Therefore, institutions have to compete with each other
for students to raise funds. Students, on the other hand, are shaped as consumers who buy
higher education services in order to seek future returns.
Clark (1998) examines five universities in four European countries: Warwick
University and the University of Strathclyde in the United Kingdom, Chalmers University of
Technology in Sweden, the University of Twente in the Netherlands, and the University of
Joensuu in Finland. Focusing on organisation and governance at the institutional level, Clark
53
finds that universities in his study tend to be more enterprising in their search of a unique
institutional identity. For instance, when confronted with decreased government funding,
these universities seek to raise funds from royalties, campus services, student fees, and
partnerships with industries.
In the context of Australia, the reform of Australian universities has also occurred on
a large scale. In their research, The enterprise university: Power, governance, and reinvention
in Australia (Marginson and Considine, 2000) provides 17 case studies of Australian higher
education institutions, covering about half of the Australian higher education sector.
Marginson and Considine (2000) conclude that all Australian universities are now, to a
greater or lesser degree, ―enterprise universities‖, the operation of which is influenced by a
mixed form of management. Market mechanisms drive them to focus on earning
entrepreneurial incomes such as selling education to overseas students. Also, entrepreneurial
attitudes are cultivated amongst academic staff who are held accountable for their
performance. Furthermore, their business style of operation is the result of government
regulation. Simulating the political strategy from the United Kingdom, the Australian
government started to reduce public funding on the higher education sector from 1997
onwards. This strategic move generated an enterprising spirit in Australian universities to
compete for funds.
Overall, Marginson and Considine‘s (2000) case studies suggest that the success of
the enterprise university lies in three elements: an entrepreneurial capacity to create and
exploit income earning opportunities; organisational coherence, bringing with it a capacity to
focus on performance; and strong academic cultures (pp. 237-238). The present study adopts
the concept of the ―enterprise university‖ as ―enterprise‖ captures both economic and
academic dimensions, and the manner in which academic scholarship survives but is
subjected to market mechanisms of competition and performativity. Moreover, the study
undertakes an examination of the reform of contemporary Chinese universities through a
critical analysis of higher education policy. The aim is to compare the enterprise university
emerging at an international level with universities in China in order to discern their
characteristics that are specifically related to China‘s social, economic, political, and cultural
environments.
Olssen‘s (2002) research provides some useful insights for my study. Olssen traces
the influence of neoliberal policy on tertiary-level educational institutions in New Zealand
during the late 1980s and 1990s. First, he discerns neoliberal policy as a dimension of
54
globalisation. Then he examines the influence of neoliberal policy on the higher education
sector in New Zealand. For example, institutions compete for students in order to gain funds
from the government. Institutions operate like private businesses and are administered in a
managerial style for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness. Institutions also compete for
research funding. In particular, Olssen considers that in order to increase market efficiency
through competition, the neoliberal state seeks to create an individual who is a competitive
entrepreneur. From Larner and Le Heron‘s (2005) view, in order to improve efficiency,
quality and performance through calculative practices, New Zealand universities are being
positioned, and are positioning themselves, in the neoliberalising spaces of higher education.
For instance, quantitative indicators are used for evaluations of the performance of academic
staff. They also focus on tracing the creation of accountable, performative and entrepreneurial
academics. Academics are held accountable for their outputs, mainly student numbers and
research products. Therefore, academics become more and more entrepreneurial to improve
their performance in line with the quantitative indicators.
In his book, Education reform and education policy in East Asia, Mok (2006)
assesses the impact of globalisation on the tertiary education sector in East Asia, with
reference to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. The main aim
of his study is to explore the impact of new approaches and ideas related to globalisation,
such as marketisation, privatisation, governance changes, managerialism, and economic
rationalism. Mok finds that the increasingly interdependent economic system has driven
policy changes and education reforms in East Asia.
Moreover, in Policy Futures in Education (Volume 6, Number 5, 2008), a broader
study is conducted on the university restructuring experiences in Asia by different scholars
from different geographical locations. For instance, in his introductory article for this issue,
Mok (2008) argues that similar to their Australian and British counterparts, universities in
Asia are now under constant pressure to become more entrepreneurial and seek alternative
funding sources from the market such as raising tuition fees and strengthening partnerships
with industry and business sectors. In the concluding article of that issue, Chan and Lo (2008)
identify three principal trends in the restructuring process: building world-class universities,
internationalisation and corporatising public universities. For example, Ngok and Guo (2008)
reflect critically on the quest for world-class universities as a national policy priority in China,
particularly in the practical programme of ―Project 985‖. From a review of Chinese literature,
they conclude that a world-class university should have ―first-class academic disciplines, a
55
first-class teaching contingent, first-class student sources, first-class talent training, first-class
scientific research results, first-class administrative and operating mechanisms, powerful
financial strengths and material and technological foundation, state-of-art equipment, and
make outstanding contributions to the country and social development‖ (Ngok and Guo, 2008,
p. 549).
Based on the literature review, the global trend in university reforms can be
characterised by several intersecting features. In the broader context of globalisation, and
under the circumstances of diminishing state funding, universities are readjusting themselves
in an economic way, particularly by deploying corporate styles of governance and
management, with the intention of enhancing their economic competitiveness and academic
prestige. The outcome of this global trend is represented linguistically as ―enterprise
university‖, ―entrepreneurial university‖, ―corporate university‖, and ―academic capitalism‖.
This study employs the enterprise university as used by Marginson and Considine, for the
term ―enterprise‖ captures both economic and academic dimensions, and shows the manner
in which research and scholarship survive but are now subjected to new systems of
competition and demonstrable performance (Marginson and Considine, 2000, p. 5). The
fundamental objective of the enterprise university is to advance institutional prestige and
competitiveness (Marginson and Considine, 2000). Other terms suggest only a one-sided
dimension of the institution, which is dominated by profit-seeking behaviours or an
organisational culture reduced to the business form (Marginson and Considine, 2000).
However, the restructuring of the higher education sector and the emergence of the
enterprise university is a complex social phenomenon. The following section reviews the
literature on the enterprise university at an international level. The reform of China‘s higher
education institutions is investigated in Chapter Five and Chapter Six through a genealogical
analysis of higher education policy at the national level. Specifically, Chapters Five and Six
explore the social subjects and spaces constituted by China‘s higher education policy through
the analytical framework of governmentality. The reconfiguration of contemporary Chinese
universities at the local level is examined through a case study in Chapter Seven.
2.4 Emergence of the enterprise university
Just as globalisation is a complex social, cultural and economic phenomenon, the emergence
of the enterprise university is also an effect of economic, political, cultural, and technological
56
forces. Four dimensions—neoliberal policy, the knowledge economy, academic cultures and
technological developments—are examined in the emergence of the enterprise university.
2.4.1 Neoliberal policy and the enterprise university
In the context of globalisation, neoliberal policy formation at a national level plays a critical
role in the reconfiguration of the higher education sector. Within neoliberal discourses,
governments seek to retreat from strong central control and to reduce public funding by
means of introducing free market forces and then mediating in the market. This policy
approach enables the government to conduct ―action at a distance‖ for better control and to
―do more with less‖ for enhanced efficiency (Ciccarelli, 2008; Marginson and Considine,
2000; Miller and Rose, 2008).
The impact of market forces on the higher education sector is generally a radical
expansion of a global higher education market based on the discourse of competition (Yang,
2003). Specifically, the impact is reflected in a new relationship between the government and
individual institutions, as well as between constituent elements of individual institutions such
as disciplines, academic boards, vice-chancellor‘s committees, faculties, and departments.
Institutions are bound to central policy and funding guidelines by a range of accountability
mechanisms. At the same time, they are given greater autonomy to determine their own
priorities, raise money, and compete for ―customers‖ in the space of a free market (Henry,
2008). Thus, universities are deploying a corporate style of governance and management
(Marginson, 1999; Marginson and Considine, 2000) and engage in market and marketlike
behaviours (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997). Market behaviours refer to profit-seeking activities
such as patenting, royalties, technological services, spinoff companies, corporations, and
university-industry partnerships (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997). Marketlike behaviours refer to
institutional and faculty competition for incomes, whether these are from external grants,
private donations, university-industry partnerships, investment in spinoff companies, or
student tuition fees (Slaughter and Leslie, 1997).
Moreover, through the market the state seeks to create an individual that is a
competitive entrepreneur, or a manipulatable person on whom the state is able to impose
governing activities (Olssen, 2002; Olssen and Peters, 2005; Peters, 2001). According to
Bührmann (2005), the enterprising self has become a hegemonic form of subjectivity
throughout the world, and the self is defined by the steering of action, feeling, thinking, and
57
willing according to the criteria of entrepreneurial efficiency and calculation. In this regard,
higher education institutions are the spaces where the enterprising self is shaped.
2.4.2 The knowledge economy and the enterprise university
Instead of emphasising the competition mechanism, a knowledge economy focuses on
innovation and collaboration which, in turn, enhances competitiveness. Inside institutions,
cross-disciplinary collaboration such as co-authorships, co-editorships and co-hosting of
projects is one form of ―competitive collaboration‖ (Larner and Le Heron, 2005, p. 853).
Between the institutions, mergers and amalgamations of tertiary education institutions also
help to increase competitiveness (Marginson and Considine, 2000; Mok, 2008; Ngok and
Guo, 2008). Outside institutions, within the university-industry-government partnerships
(Etzkowitz, 2003, 2008; Etzkowitz and Zhou, 2007) or nexus (Larner and Le Heron, 2005),
universities dedicate to producing knowledge necessary for innovation and economic
development through the generation of social, intellectual and human capital.
Consequently, under the influence of knowledge economy discourses, university
functions have expanded from traditional teaching and research to contributing to economic
development. ―The university is undergoing a cultural transformation to play a significant
role in knowledge-based society as an entrepreneur‖ (Etzkowitz and Zhou, 2007, p. 1). Thus,
the entrepreneurial university—or enterprise university in the present study—is constituted as
the institution that combines teaching and research with the marketisation of knowledge
(Etzkowitz, 2002, p. 1).
2.4.3 Academic cultures and the enterprise university
Neoliberal discourses of a market economy and knowledge economy discourses of
collaboration and innovation affect and undermine, to some extent, academic cultures in
higher education institutions. Deploying a corporate style of governance, conducting market
and marketlike behaviours, and being engaged in partnerships with industry, universities seek
short-time economic profits at the expense of long-term values of academic cultures
(Marginson and Considine, 2000). With the expansion of non-academic or part-time
academic activities such as technology transfer, service contracts, intellectual property,
partnerships with industry, and the enrolment of fee-paying students, traditional academic
cultures are ―side-stepped‖ (Marginson and Considine, 2000, pp. 241-242).
58
However, by-passing the academic core is considered ―the Achilles heel‖ of
marketisation in the long run (Marginson, 1999). Academic values provide not only the
research knowledge necessary for economic development, but they also contribute to a more
flexible and strategic institutional identity and prestige by means of actively participating in
institutional management and attracting public support. According to Clark (1998), the action
of side-stepping academic values incurs a ―schizophrenic split‖ between the managerial and
the academic, which jeopardises the cultivation of institutional identity and reputation. Clark
(1998) argues that traditional academic values need to be blended with new managerial
values, and that the blending, for the most part, takes place within the academic culture, thus
forming an academic-managerial synergy. Therefore, the enterprise university should value
equally economic competitiveness and cultural-academic prestige. Moreover, in the context
of globalisation, the development of information and communications technologies also plays
an indispensable role in contributing to the emergence of the enterprise university.
2.4.4 Developments in information and communications technologies and the enterprise
university
―Time-space compression‖, ―accelerating interdependence or interconnectedness‖ and ―a
shrinking world‖ are the catchphrases and main trends in a globalising economy. Without the
development of information and communications technologies, these trends would not have
been possible. Technological development is one dimension of the globalising process.
Correspondingly, the emergence of the enterprise university also acquires a technological
dimension. In this dimension, the enterprise university is often described as a ―virtual
university‖ (Robins and Webster, 2002b, p. 5).
The virtual university is the outcome of a new technological revolution, and
contemporary transformations in higher education are closely related with new digital or
virtual technologies (Robins and Webster, 2002a). However, the virtual university, in another
sense, is an emerging market space where universities compete for students, both nationally
and internationally. Moreover, in Marginson‘s (1999) study, distance education universities
tend to have high student-staff ratios, high general staff-academic staff ratios, and to be
relatively week in research. Here again, the economic values of the virtual university are
sought at the expense of academic values. Meanwhile, the digital divide could exclude those
59
who cannot gain access to this kind of technological service (Castells, 1996; Olssen et al.,
2004; Webster, 1995).
In short, the aforementioned literature review examines four distinct but related
dimensions, which constitute the emergence of the enterprise university at an international
level. It can be noted that the reforms of China‘s higher education from 1992 to 2010 have
partaken of the basic nature of the enterprise university: within the policy context of
decentralisation and shortage of state funding; the growth of a diversified funding base such
as charging tuition fees and the sale of academic services; engagement with industry;
competition in national and international markets; and cravings for prestige such as striving
to be world-class universities. However, as noted, these phenomena in China have received
scant attention in the academic literature and a volume of studies on the impact of
globalisation focuses on Western universities and academics (Vidovich et al., 2007).
Therefore, the present study aims to conduct a policy analysis of China‘s higher education,
focusing on how China‘s higher education policy contribute to the reforms of contemporary
Chinese universities at national and local levels.
2.5 Chapter summary
This chapter provided a review of literature on the historical context of higher education in
China, with a focus on the period since 1992. It also emphasised the significance of the
broader context of globalisation and the emergence of the enterprise university at the
international level respectively. Following this, the chapter contextualised the reform of
higher education in China with reference to the characteristics of the enterprise university
emerging internationally. Marginson and Considine (2000) identify two factors shaping
contemporary universities: one is the changes in the character of the government and politics;
the other is those changes in economy and culture internal to universities which point to
global convergence. This study has identified the second factor through literature review on
the global trend in university restructuring and the emergence of the enterprise university at
the international level. It aims to investigate the first factor through a policy analysis of
higher education in contemporary China. This policy analysis is situated within the
theoretical framework to be outlined in the next chapter.
60
61
CHAPTER THREE
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
3.1 Introduction
This chapter elaborates a theoretical framework for the present study, which draws on the
concepts of social imaginary (Castoriadis, 1987; Taylor, 2002) and governmentality
(Foucault, 2000a; Miller and Rose, 2008). These analytical tools provide different ways of
conceptualising social phenomena. For instance, as noted in Chapter Two, there is a range of
accounts about the phenomenon of modern globalisation. Such notions include ―time-space
compression‖ (Harvey, 1989), ―action at a distance‖ (Giddens, 1990), and the idea of a
―network society‖ (Castells, 1996). These accounts are reified descriptions that consider
globalisation as an objective phenomenon happening outside of national borders and imposed
upon particular social groups. That is, it can be deemed as flows, relationships between
nation-states, and the ways that nation-states adapt to the pressures to change culturally and
economically. However, with regard to the theoretical framework developed for the study,
globalisation is conceived as a collective public experience. Accordingly, globalisation
represents a common awareness shared by different social groups who think, imagine and
develop a sense of global interdependence. Moreover, globalisation can also be
conceptualised as an art of government in which individuals are constituted as governable
subjects for particular social, economic and political ends.
The focus of my study is on the reforms in contemporary Chinese universities.
Accordingly, these reforms will be analysed through the theoretical framework in order to
investigate how the imaginary of an increased global interconnectedness and China‘s national
needs are translated into political programmes such as educational reform policies.
Furthermore, this examination will explore what kinds of social subjects and spaces are
constituted in the reform process.
Specifically, the concept of ―social imaginary‖ is introduced first in relation to
Castoriadis‘s work, The Imaginary Institution of Society (1987), and is then developed
through the works of Appadurai (1996, 2001, 2002), Charles Taylor (2002, 2004) and
Gaonkar (2002). Moreover, recent developments and applications of Taylor‘s conception of
the social imaginary are discussed with reference to the work of Steger (2009) in order to
establish its importance for this study.
62
The chapter continues by elaborating the concept of governmentality for the
theoretical framework. First, the significance of Foucault‘s (2000a) introductory study on
governmentality is explored, together with further explanation of the work of Miller and Rose
(2008). Second, applications of governmentality are examined in the works of Simons and
Masschelein (2006), Sidhu (2004), and Hay and Kapitzke (2009). Third, more recent
developments of governmentality studies are presented with reference to the works of Bevir
(2010), Lippert and Stenson (2010), and Gillies (2008). The theoretical framework is further
developed through key concepts such as government, power, subject, and space which are, in
turn, related to the concept of social imaginary. Moreover, it should be noted that a majority
of such studies of governmentality are situated in Western contexts, with some studies taking
place in non-Western contexts (Fimyar, 2008; Sigley, 2006; Tikly, 2003). The significance of
the present study is that it applies the conceptual framework of governmentality to a Chinese
context with specific reference to the development of China‘s higher education policy.
3.2 Social imaginaries
3.2.1 Castoriadis and studies of social imaginary
In his work The Imaginary Institution of Society (1987), Castoriadis portrays the concept of
―social imaginary‖ as follows:
The imaginary does not come from the image in the mirror or from the gaze of
the other. Instead, the ―mirror‖ itself and its possibility, and the other as mirror,
are the works of the imaginary, which is creation ex nihilo. … It is the unceasing
and essentially undetermined (social-historical and psychical) creation of
figures/forms/images. … What we call ―reality‖ and ―rationality‖ are its works.
(Castoriadis, 1987, p. 3)
Hence, according to Castoriadis, the imaginary does not exist in concrete forms such as the
image in a mirror. Instead, it is a way of constructing reality and rationality. For Castoriadis,
it is through the constant and contingent works of the imaginary that people are enabled to
conceptualise reality and to perform rational activities. Imaginaries underpin the views,
beliefs and values of social groups and shape the ways in which they think about social
relationships, and the ways they reflect on the past and anticipate the future. These ways of
thinking structured by social imaginaries guide their actions and behaviours. Accordingly, the
imaginary mediates between reality and thought and is a force that creates a particular socio-
63
historical world. Specifically, the imaginary is the ―constitutive magma of meaning‖ and the
―structuring matrix‖ without which the world would become chaotic (Gaonkar, 2002, p. 7).
Therefore, ―the social world is, in every instance, constituted and articulated as a
function of such a system of significations, and these significations exist, once they have been
constituted, in the mode of what we called the actual imaginary‖ (Castoriadis, 1987, p. 146).
This quotation reflects the interaction between the social world and meaning through the
intermediary agent of an imaginary. While the system of meaning creates and constructs
society, it also provides meaning to existence. In this vein, meaningful existence of society is
constituted and articulated by imaginaries. It is in this sense that the imaginary plays a role of
the constitutive magma of meaning in the construction and representation of the social world.
Furthermore, as Castoriadis (1987) notes,
… this element—which gives a specific orientation to every institutional system,
which overdetermines the choice and the connections of symbolic networks,
which is the creation of conducting its own existence, its world, and its relations
with this signified, the source of that which presents itself in every instance as an
indisputable and undisputed meaning, the basis for articulating what the objects
of practical, affective and intellectual investment, whether individual or
collective—is nothing other than the imaginary of the society or of the period
considered. (p. 145)
The socio-historical world exists in certain orders and forms such as institutions, social
networks and meaningful relationships. These orders and forms do not exist a priori, but are
oriented, determined and created by specific imaginaries of the world. In this respect, the
imaginary acts as a structuring matrix without which the world would be in disorder and
chaos.
Moreover, Castoriadis argues that human beings know themselves, and are known by
others, through the agent of an ―us‖, which designates the collectivity. Such collectivity has
two meanings. The first meaning is that social imaginaries are experienced and embodied by
people, and not merely by dominant powers such as national governments or transnational
organisations. The second meaning consists in the fact that social imaginaries are produced
by the collective power of people. These two meanings of collectivity accord with Foucault‘s
(1982) concept of power, which will be discussed further in Section 3.3.2 of the chapter. First,
power is envisaged as power relations amongst individuals or collectives. Power is not only
possessed by state authorities, but also exists at every aspect of social life. Second, power is
productive. That is, different social bodies such as individuals, communities, nation-states,
and transnational organisations use their forces to construct the social world and make
64
everyday practices meaningful. Another significant aspect of the productivity of power lies in
its network of forces that constitute social subjectivities and shape individual desires to
govern themselves. In this way, the significant features of the social imaginary can be
summarised in relation to a sense of collective power that, in turn, creates a society where
meaning systems are constituted and developed.
The notion of the collective agency of social imaginaries is significant for this study.
In theorising and reframing the concept of globalisation and the enterprise university as
shown in Section 2.3 and Section 2.4 respectively, both phenomena have emerged from
within the collective public experience. Hence, it is through collective imaginaries that social
phenomena such as the process of globalisation and the emergence of the enterprise
university acquire significance. The present study, focusing on the inquiry into China‘s
higher education reform, will also use the collectivity of imaginaries to examine this
particular social phenomenon. As the power that produces social imaginaries can be practiced
by various entities, the study will first examine how the power of national authorities
perceived and translated the reality of China‘s higher education into policies during the
period 1992 to 2011. Next, the study will investigate the ways in which a single university
responded to national policies and produced an educational imaginary at the local level by
constructing corresponding programmes, policies and institutions.
Put simply, the concept of social imaginaries developed by Castoriadis can be
construed as ―a way of thinking shared in a society by ordinary people, the common
understandings that make everyday practices possible, giving them sense and legitimacy‖
(Rizvi and Lingard, 2010, p. 34). However, Castoriadis‘s study on social imaginary,
according to Gaonkar (2002), is limited because it does not attend to how the workings of
imaginaries produce local differences at specific ―social-historical conjunctures‖ (p. 9).
Different social, historical, economic, political, and cultural contexts generate different
imaginaries. Accordingly in this theoretical framework, the works of Charles Taylor (2002),
Appadurai (2002) and Mbembe (2002) are used to further develop the notion of social
imaginaries in terms of its social-historical specificity and multiplicity.
This part of the chapter explores the concept of social imaginary with reference to the
theories developed by Charles Taylor. For Taylor (2002), the research problem is the notion
of modernity, which is referred to as the ―historically unprecedented amalgam of new
practices and institutional forms (science, technology, industrial production, urbanisation), of
new ways of living (individualism, secularisation, instrumental rationality), and of new forms
65
of malaise (alienation, meaninglessness, a sense of impending social dissolution)‖ (p. 91).
Taylor holds that the multiplicity of today‘s modernities lies in divergent social imaginaries
of different social-historical contexts. Taylor‘s work seeks to scrutinise the social imaginary
that has contributed to the emergence of Western modernity.
In broad terms, Taylor is concerned with how the imaginary of Western modernity is
shaped by the moral order of society. Taylor argues that the moral order lays emphasis on the
intricacies of rights and responsibilities that exist among individuals. Taylor also claims that
the moral order is more significant than, and is not restricted by, political forces. According
to Taylor‘s schema, four constants underpin and recur in the moral order of modern Western
societies. The first constant is the mutual benefit between individuals. Second, these mutual
benefits include the means to live, which is secured by the practice of virtue. Third, security
involves freedom, autonomy and rights. As for the fourth constant, freedom, autonomy, rights
and, mutual benefit should be secured by all participants equally.
In Taylor‘s view, the moral order of modern Western societies is underpinned by
these constants which, in turn, shape the imaginary of Western modernity. This view of the
imaginary is characterised by three social forms: the market economy, the public sphere and
self-governing people (Taylor, 2002). Furthermore, Taylor argues that it is through these
three social formations that the specificities of Western modernity can be imagined. First,
society can be seen as an economy constituted by a range of closely related activities such as
production, exchange and consumption. Within the economy, there is also a space of the
market in which these activities are conducted and carried out according to their own laws
and regulations. Second, a society includes a common space, the public sphere, in which
members of society meet and discuss matters of mutual concern and can eventually achieve
consensus or common beliefs about these issues. Finally, according to Taylor, modern
Western society consists of self-governing people who enjoy freedom, autonomy and rights.
Therefore, according to Taylor, the social imaginary of Western modernity is
underpinned by a moral order with four constants and is delineated by the three social
formations: the market economy, the public sphere, as well as free and self-governing
individuals. This conception of Western modernity helps to better understand the framework
of governmentality that will be discussed in the next part of the chapter. This section will
argue that the concept of governmentality has been developed and applied mainly in Western
contexts. While Taylor‘s account of the imaginary of Western modernity is significant, it is
his argument that contemporary modernities manifest in multiple forms that is more
66
important for the current study. Taylor suggests that different manifestations of divergent
social imaginaries exist in a range of socio-historical contexts. As Gaonkar (2002) contends:
Some versions of these three pivotal forms of collective life and agency are
visible (installed and fought over) in almost any non-Western cultural/national
formation that is undergoing the passage to modernity. But those versions –
entrepreneurial culture in Singapore, the Islamic public sphere in Turkey,
democratic self-rule in India – differ from their counterparts in the West in
important ways. That difference should be understood not as a deviation from an
idealised model but as an expression of a location in an alternative social
imaginary. (p. 12)
In this regard, my study adopts the argument of a multiplicity of modernities and attempts to
make a contribution to the specific social-historical context of contemporary China—China‘s
higher education reform and the historical period since 1992 when the introduction of a
socialist market economy brought profound change to China‘s modernisation process.
Correspondingly, the study investigates the imaginary of higher education both in national
and local contexts. The next part of this chapter will discuss another two specific social
imaginaries of modernities. These are the work of Appadurai (2002) from a translocal
perspective, that is, neither fully global nor national nor local, and the work of Mbembe
(2002) from an African perspective. Their work provides further insight to those divergent
social imaginaries that underlie the multiplicity of modernities.
Imagination, according to Appadurai (1996), is a collective social fact: ―the
imagination has broken out of the special expressive space of art, myth, and ritual and has
now become a part of the quotidian mental work of ordinary people in many societies. …
Ordinary people have begun to deploy their imaginations in the practice of their everyday
lives‖ (p. 5). Therefore, social imaginaries in Appadurai‘s eyes lie in the effort of ordinary
people who use imagination in common and daily activities. The imagination from social
groups also includes such social phenomenon as globalisation. In this respect, Appadurai
imagines globalisation from below, namely, from the perspective of ordinary people.
Specifically, what concerns Appadurai (2002) most in the phenomenon of globalisation is the
emergence of non-governmental grassroots movements.
In particular, Appadurai (2002) examines translocal grassroots movements that
combine local activities with global networking in the study of an Alliance between three
organisations based in Mumbai. These organisations are: the Society for the Protection of
Area Resource Centres, an international nongovernmental organisation dealing with the
problem of urban poverty in Mumbai; the National Slum Dwellers‘ Federation, a community-
67
based organisation; and Mahila Milan, an organisation for women which has its base in
Mumbai and also operates a network throughout India. With global links to donor institutions
in Western countries and the local network among the urban poor in fourteen other non-
Western countries, the Alliance constructs transnational networks and carries out cross-
border activities for the benefit of those people in poverty in different localities. This
translocal movement can be conceptualised as an example of cooperation between the global
and the local in order to deepen democracy, or in Appadurai‘s (2002) words, for the sake of a
―deep democracy‖ (p. 23).
The idea of deep democracy not only has traditional democratic features, such as
equity, inclusion, participation and transparency, but also entails grassroots movements that
are undertaken to form transnational networks and conduct cross-border activities so as to
reach the grassroots of society (Appadurai, 2002). Specifically, a range of grassroots
movements form a joint circle to deepen democracy, and include internal, vertical, and
horizontal activities and forces. Horizontal activities are those related to transnational or
international exchange and networks; vertical activities can consist of national or local forms
of cooperation between groups or organisations; while internal activities include processes of
community-based critique and debate about issues of poverty and citizenship (Appadurai,
2002). These movements or exchanges bring about what Appadurai thinks as deep
democracy or ―democracy without borders‖ (p. 45).
Therefore, the social-historical characteristics of Appadurai‘s imaginary of deep
democracy are different from Charles Taylor‘s imaginary of Western modernity and
contribute to an understanding of modernities. Meanwhile, Appadurai‘s idea of globalisation
from below and the social imaginary of a three-levelled circle can be drawn upon to inform
the research questions for my study. The present study also considers globalisation as a
phenomenon from below, namely, as the result of people‘s everyday practices. The
significance of this view of globalisation does not consist in the flows, exchanges, and
communications that occur only external to local contexts. Rather, it is through people‘s
imaginations that these social phenomena acquire significance. The significance of social
imaginaries applies also to the present situation of higher education in China, which is
elaborated as follows.
This study investigates China‘s higher education reform at the national and local level
to disclose what kind of imaginaries have been constituted by collective efforts of people in
China. Through the literature review in Section 2.3 and Section 2.4, the global imaginary for
68
restructuring higher education has been examined. This is explored in more detail in Chapters
Five and Six with reference to the analysis of China‘s higher education policy during the
period 1992 to 2010. The analysis in these two chapters will show how the imaginaries of
global integration and China‘s national reality are translated into education policies and
programmes. Finally, in Chapter Seven, a case study investigates how a local university
responds to national policies and international pressures of reform. With reference to
Appadurai‘s notion of a circle in representing interrelated activities, my study will explore
how the cyclical connections of international influences, national policies and local responses
constitute the imaginaries of Chinese universities.
In contrast to the optimistic account of the Alliance by Appadurai, Mbembe‘s (2002)
work presents a pessimistic account of the imaginary of ―Africanity‖ (p. 252). Mbembe
argues that three historical events—slavery, colonisation and apartheid—have underwritten
the minds of African people, and created an African subjectivity of self-division,
dispossession and degradation. That is, the African people no longer recognise them self, who
are in a state of economic poverty and in an area of ―social death characterised by the denial
of dignity, heavy psychic damage, and the torment of exile‖ (Mbembe, 2002, p. 242). In this
context, Mbembe develops a new imaginary of Africanity that is not haunted by these three
historical events. He follows the modes of Jewish reflection on suffering, contingency and
finitude in order to recuperate the collective memory of the African people from slavery,
colonisation and apartheid.
However, Mbembe (2002) finds three imaginaries that render impossible his efforts.
The first imaginary is concerned with a state of war, that is, the African people trying to
reinvent themselves by ―self-sacrificial violence‖ (p. 251). The second imaginary refers to a
state of religion, that is, the African people waiting for the ―gift of divine healing and
prophecy, the ethics of sainthood, and the ethos of prosperity‖ (p. 269). The third imaginary
signifies an economy of scarcity, that is, the African people expecting an ―economy of
desired goods‖ (p. 271), but to which they have no material access.
Hence, Mbembe‘s account of the social imaginary of Africanity also differs from that
of Western modernity, and in Taylor‘s (2002) term, this form of modernity is characterised
by malaise. The negative imaginary of Africanity has been sown in the minds of African
people since their colonisation. Although Mbembe has sought to create a new imaginary of
Africanity, it is this kind of morbid historical imaginary that the African people cannot escape.
69
The deep inscription of these traumas is powerful when compared with the influence of a
scholar‘s effort to seek alternative ways of thinking and being.
Mbembe‘s work is similar to the concerns of my study, namely, how might a new
imaginary of higher education be envisaged in China today? China has a long history that has
been deeply ingrained through the authoritarian use of government power, as noted in Section
2.2. Chapters Five and Six take this analysis further, as forces of globalisation have
contributed to the transformation of modern imaginaries in China‘s higher education sector in
various ways. Therefore, my study will scrutinise the clashes and tensions between these two
imaginaries and also seek to constitute a new imaginary for China‘s higher education in this
particular socio-historical context.
Castoriadis‘s (1987) study together with the work of Taylor (2002), Appadurai (2002)
and Mbembe (2002) have inspired empirical application and development of the concept of
imaginary. The next section discusses one recent development of social imaginary studies by
Steger (2009).
3.2.2 Recent studies using social imaginary
Steger‘s (2009) work is useful for the concerns of the present study, as it emphasises that
globalisation is multi-dimensional, which has implications for the nature of the social
imaginary. This part of the chapter examines those aspects of Steger‘s theory that cast light
on the relationship between political ideologies, social imaginaries and globalisation in the
twenty-first century. Steger argues that although it is important to conceive globalisation as
an objective phenomenon emphasising global economic, political, cultural, and technological
links, the subjective process of globalisation is of greater significance. By referring to the
subjective process, Steger means ―the thickening of people‘s awareness of the world as an
interconnected whole‖ (p. 9). Steger suggests that transformation of political ideologies
results in changes of people‘s awareness of globalisation. Traditional political ideologies,
according to Steger, are now modified by prefixes like ―neo‖ and ―post‖, examples being
neoliberalism, postcolonialism and postmodernism. However, the reason for the
transformation of political ideologies consists in the emergence of new global imaginaries
(Steger, 2009). Before examining new global imaginaries, this section discusses the
relationship between social imaginaries and political ideologies as elaborated by Steger.
70
In Steger‘s (2009) definition, ideologies refer to ―comprehensive belief systems
comprised of patterned ideas and claims to truth‖ (pp. 11-12). Political ideologies are held,
advocated, used, and contested by different political groups in particular historical and spatial
contexts in order to direct and constrain people‘s action. Furthermore, social imaginaries—
which are ways of knowing and thinking about the world in which people live—play an
―overarching‖ role in constituting ideologies (Steger, 2009, p. 12). While social imaginaries
are deep-seated in people‘s minds, political ideologies are explicit expressions that translate
and articulate implicit social imaginaries by means of using ―core concepts‖ to make ―truth-
claims‖ (Steger, 2009, p. 12). For example, ideologies of nationalism employ key concepts
such as community and security to claim the legitimacy of communal existence. However,
according to Steger‘s argument, nationalism is the expression of imaginaries shared and
produced by the collective power of people, whose knowledge opts for the communal
existence as a nation-state.
Accordingly, based on the discussion of the relationship between social imaginaries
and political ideologies, Steger reconceptualises globalisation, or the global imaginary.
Globalisation is not just a one-dimensional process focusing on global trade, free markets, as
well as flows of goods, services and human resources. Steger views it as constitutive of
multi-dimensions of images, metaphors, myths, and symbols about the globalising process.
He summarises five truth-claims in the new political ideological system that is translated
from the global imaginary: ―1) globalisation is about the liberalisation and global integration
of markets; 2) globalisation is inevitable and irreversible; 3) nobody is in charge of
globalisation; 4) globalisation benefits everyone; 5) globalisation furthers the spread of
democracy in the world‖ (p. 20).
Furthermore, Steger argues that this new political conception of globalisation is
influenced by a neoliberal ideology which centres on a free global market. This political
ideology is produced by powerful transnational bodies such as the World Bank. However, as
social imaginaries are the collective agency of the people, no single ideology translated from
certain social imaginaries can enjoy absolute dominance. For example, Steger refers to
―justice globalism‖ that challenges market or neoliberal globalism (p. 20). Justice globalism
is a form of ideology that translates the global imaginary through the process of a non-
governmental movement—―global justice movement‖ (p. 21). This movement incorporates
key concepts such as equality, global social justice, ecological sustainability and non-
violence, which claim the truth that the deregulated market globalism causes social
71
inequalities, environmental problems, and the profiting of powerful groups at the expense of
powerless groups (Steger, 2009). The challenges justice globalism present to market
globalism is indicative of the tension between two different sets of social imaginaries. In
addition to justice globalism, there exist other political ideologies of globalism that conflict
with market globalism such as equity, freedom and human rights. These tensions of divergent
social imaginaries constitute the multiple modernities as argued by Charles Taylor (2002).
Three significant points can be drawn from Steger‘s work for this study. First, there is
no single account for the process of globalisation, for globalisation is a multi-dimensional
process. Second, the significance of the global imaginary does not consist in the objective
shrinking of time-space, world-wide trade, and flows of all kinds of capitals. Rather, it
consists in people‘s collective imaginations about the global. The third point concerns the
relationship between imaginaries and political ideologies. Political ideologies are constituted
not only by social imaginaries, but also translate and articulate the latter. In this regard,
political ideologies can be considered as arts of government or governmentalities, which will
be discussed in the next section of the chapter. Such forms of governing practices are
representations of social imaginaries at particular socio-historical contexts. Accordingly,
China‘s higher education policy can be envisaged as elements of Chinese arts of governance,
which are translated from social imaginaries in the context of globalisation and China‘s
national reality. My study will examine how these policies are translated from global,
national, and local imaginaries to constitute the present situation of universities in China.
In sum, it is through the constant and contingent works of social imaginary that
people are enabled to conceptualise the social world and behave rationally. The social
imaginary consists in the collective agency by which a society is constructed and meaning is
developed. Moreover, contemporary modernities are multiple, consisting in the divergent
social imaginaries embedded in different social-historical contexts. Distinct socio-historical
contexts produce distinct social imaginaries. In this respect, the present study examines a
specific socio-historical context in China, that is, the social imaginary of China‘s higher
education reform from 1992 to 2010. The next section discusses the conceptual framework of
governmentality.
72
3.3 Governmentality
As noted earlier, Foucault‘s (2000a) seminal work on governmentality provides intellectual
constructs useful for the study‘s theoretical framework. Scholars and researchers agree that
Foucault‘s notion of governmentality has been influential on developments in the social and
political sciences (Dean, 1999; Dean, 2007; Larner and Walters, 2004a, 2004b; Miller and
Rose, 2008; Olssen et al., 2004; Rose and Miller, 2010; Rose, O‘Malley, and Valverde, 2006).
In my study, governmentality is employed as an analytical framework to critically investigate
recent developments in the higher education sector of China. Accordingly, this section
examines theories of governmentality in order to analyse China‘s higher education policy.
First, Foucault‘s (2000a) lecture on governmentality will be briefly reviewed as it provides
insights into the major theoretical aspects of the art of government.
3.3.1 Significance of governmentality
3.3.1.1 Foucault and governmentality
Governmentality, as introduced by Foucault (2000a) in his lecture at the Collège de France in
1978, is an ―art of government‖ which flourished and developed from the middle of the
sixteenth century to the end of the eighteenth century. He suggests a set of questions
indicating theoretical aspects of governmentality such as how to govern oneself, how to be
governed, how to govern others, and how to become the best possible governor. In order to
address these questions, Foucault examines the genealogy of the problematic of government.
First, Foucault investigates La Mothe le Vayer‘s three fundamental forms of
government. These are the art of self-government (morality), the art of properly governing a
family (economy) and the art of ruling the state (politics). Among these three forms of
government, the government of the family (economy) is of central importance. In this aspect,
the art of government consists in introducing the care of the father for his family into the
government of the state. In this way, the art of government is about exercising power towards
its inhabitants, their behaviour and well-being.
Second, Foucault elaborates on Guillaume de la Perrière‘s idea of government:
―government is the right disposition of things, arranged so as to lead to a convenient end‖ (p.
208). In this context, the art of government means governing ―things‖. Foucault continues to
explain what he means by governing the complex, which is composed of people and things:
73
The things, in this sense, with which government is to be concerned are in fact
men [sic], but men in their relations, their links, their imbrications with those
things that are wealth, resources, means of subsistence, the territory with its
specific qualities, climate, irrigation, fertility, and so on; men in their relation to
those other things that are customs, habits, ways of acting and thinking, that
might be accidents and misfortunes such as famine, epidemics, death, and so on.
(pp. 208-209)
Therefore, the object of government is concerned with people and their relations with others,
their surrounding environment, the natural world, social cultures, quality and style of life, and
unforeseeable events. Moreover, the right disposition of things for the convenience of
governing depends on the use of tactics; that is, arranging things in such a way that certain
objectives can be achieved through various means. Related to the tactics are the emerging
governmental apparatuses and knowledges, which constitute the science of the state.
―Statistics‖ is one of these (Foucault, 2000a, p. 212). With the emergence of the statistical
sciences, the nation-state is then governed according to mentalities or rationalities that help
the governor to understand and rule the state.
Finally, Foucault notes that demographic expansion during the eighteenth century led
to further development in governmental mentalities, as the emergence of the concept of
population introduced new problems to the economy. Foucault refers to the use of statistics as
a major technique to deal with the problematic of population for the convenience of
governing. According to Foucault, statistics helps to quantify the nature of population in the
following manner:
It (statistics) now gradually reveals that population has its own regularities, its
own rate of deaths and diseases, its cycles of scarcity, and so on. Statistics shows
also that the domain of population involves a range of intrinsic, aggregate effects,
phenomena that are irreducible to those of the family, such as epidemics, endemic
levels of mortality, ascending spirals of labour and wealth; finally, it shows that,
through its shifts, customs, activities, and so on, population has specific economic
effects. (pp. 215-216)
Consequently, this conception of the function of statistics renders the notion ―population‖ as
the new subject and object of government instead of the family. The population has its own
realities and internal processes such as births, illness and death, which need the intervention
of government. Correspondingly, the nature of the subject of government is changed. Based
on Rose, O‘Malley and Valverde‘s (2006) work, population is not merely ―juridical subjects
who must obey the laws issued by a sovereign authority nor as isolated individuals whose
conduct was to be shaped and disciplined, but as existing within a dense field of relations
74
between people and people, people and things, people and events‖ (p. 87). In this way, the
knowledge of what or who is to be governed and how to govern is transformed with changes
in subjectivity for the people. Government is expected to intervene in the relations between
people, things and events. Furthermore, emergence of the new object of population
constitutes a new form of population management, namely, political economy. Political
economy is based on the knowledge of the relations between population, territory and wealth,
as well as on a form of intervention in the domain of economy and population (Foucault,
2000a). Hence, from the eighteenth century onward, government, population and political
economy have become the main themes of the art of government.
Following this examination of the problematic of government, Foucault (2000a)
summarises the concept of governmentality as:
the ensemble formed by the institutions, procedures, analyses and reflections,
calculations and tactics that allow the exercise of the very specific albeit complex
form of power, which has as its target population, as its principal form of
knowledge political economy, and as its essential technical means apparatuses of
security. (pp. 219-220)
Therefore, the art of government entails necessary knowledge and technologies to exercise
various forms of power. In this way, the state becomes ―governmentalised‖, and it is the
―governmentalisation‖ of the state that is of real importance for modernity—the present
(Foucault, 2000a, p. 220). Generally, the governmentalisation of the state is concerned with
how the material and discursive apparatuses of the state know and govern the lives and
activities of its people, things and events in a particular historical period and territory (Rose et
al., 2006). Hence, the present can be better understood through the lens of governmentality.
In this regard, the following study investigates China‘s current higher education system by
analysing higher education policy through the lens of governmentality. However, the lens
may differ in different contexts. The lens of governmentality in Foucault‘s case is developed
from and used to understand the history of Western society. By contrast, this study is situated
in a non-Western context. The compatibility of the Western lens of governmentality within a
Chinese context will be discussed in Section 3.3.4. The rest of this section in this chapter
reviews further studies and applications of governmentality.
75
3.3.1.2 Miller and Rose on governmentality
Recent work by Miller and Rose (2008) is central to the study‘s theoretical framework as
these sociologists develop governmentality as an analytical tool to examine particular social
phenomena. Following Foucault, Miller and Rose develop the concept of governmentality by
drawing on three main conceptual tools. These include the concepts of action at a distance,
economic calculation, and human subjects.
First, Miller and Rose borrow Bruno Latour‘s (1987) notion of ―action at a distance‖
for analysing the mechanisms of governing in a liberal democratic way. Instruments and
interventions are two important concepts from Latour‘s schema. Instruments include actual
instruments such as tools, scales, measuring devices, and ways of thinking, reflecting, and
analysing. The idea of intervention refers to how governing activities are actually practised,
including the techniques and technologies that make intervention possible. Such instruments
and interventions make possible ―governing at a distance‖ through constituting social
subjects that are free, autonomous, enterprising, and self-regulating.
Second, Miller and Rose (2008) draw on the idea of ―economic calculation‖ (p. 11).
Economic calculation is a domain constituted by certain forms of thinking and acting by
which people manage the economic lives of themselves and others. The interplay between
calculation and management helps the government to know the object of governance and
generates trust in the quantification of social phenomena.
The final conceptual tool is concerned with the constitution of human subjects. Miller
and Rose position their own work on the history of the discourses and technologies of
subjectification, arguing that subjectivity is of paramount importance in the governance of
personal, social, political, and economic life. Specifically, Miller and Rose examine how
discourses problematise individual behaviours and how technologies act on their conduct.
Furthermore, Miller and Rose investigate how these discourses and technologies have the
capacity to shape and manage ―personal conduct‖ without infringing on an individual‘s
autonomy (p. 12).
On the basis of these three conceptual tools, Miller and Rose develop a conceptual
framework of governmentality, that is, ―rationalities of government‖ and ―technologies of
government‖. This part of the chapter unpacks these elements in Miller and Rose‘s
framework as each form of rationality and technology is applied to the analysis of China‘s
higher education policy in Chapters Five and Six.
76
Rationalities of government are styles of thinking, knowing, problematising, and
representing a phenomenon, and ways of rendering reality thinkable in such a way that it is
amenable to programming and technical intervention (Miller and Rose, 2008). Thus, political
rationalities are used to know, analyse, and represent a phenomenon, the aim of which is for
the convenience of technological intervention in social matters. In particular, rationalities
comprise three elements, namely, a moral form, an epistemological character, and language.
The moral form of rationalities
… elaborates upon the fitting powers and duties for authorities. (It) addresses the
proper distribution of tasks and actions between authorities of different types –
political, spiritual, military, pedagogic, familial. … considers the ideals or
principles to which government should be directed – freedom, justice, equality,
mutual responsibility, citizenship, common sense, economic efficiency,
prosperity, growth, fairness, rationality, and the like. (Miller and Rose, 2008, p.
58)
Hence, the first element of governmental rationalities relates to the question of who to
govern and according to what logics? Different types of authorities are conferred with
corresponding powers and are assigned with different tasks to act. Moreover,
authorities need to consider certain principles before the actual practices of government.
The second element of political rationalities, the epistemological character of
rationalities, is ―articulated in relation to some conception of the nature of the objects
governed, namely, the society, the nation, the population, and the economy. In particular, it
embodies some account of the persons over whom government is to be exercised‖ (Miller and
Rose, 2008, p. 58). This element of governing rationalities is concerned with the question of
who or what to be governed and why they should be governed? Whether it is an individual, a
collective group, a whole population, or a nation, political authorities need to be equipped
with the knowledge of the objects of governance well before the practices of government.
The third element, language, is considered as a kind of ―intellectual machinery or
discursive apparatus for rendering reality thinkable in such a way that it is amenable to
political deliberations‖ (Miller and Rose, 2008, p. 59). Here, language is viewed as a
discursive apparatus of government to articulate and represent reality. According to Rose and
Miller (2010), the examination of political discourses not only reveals the ―systems of
thought‖ on which government authorities rely to specify the problematic sites for
management, but also discloses the ―systems of action‖ that they utilise to create material
effects of governance (p. 275). Rose, Miller and Valverde (2006) argue that language, this
77
intellectual technology or discursive apparatus, does not directly shape realities and
subjectivities. It is only one element for rendering reality thinkable and governable. It has to
work with other material apparatuses to form a network so as to create subjectivities. The
network is, in fact, a ―network of powers‖ which will be discussed in the technologies of
government.
In this way, Miller and Rose perceive rationalities of government as concerned with
the morality of authorities, the knowledge of the objects of administration, and the language
for representing reality. These three constituents help to know, problematise, and represent a
social phenomenon. Following this, programmes of government are introduced to articulate
the reality represented in the rationalities in a justifiable and amenable way. According to
Miller and Rose (2008), the programmatic of government is the ―realm of designs put
forward by philosophers, political economists, physiocrats and philanthropists, government
reports, committees of inquiry, White Papers, proposals and counterproposals by
organisations of business, labour, finance, charities and professionals that seek to configure
specific locales and relations in ways thought desirable‖ (p. 61). Hence, programmes are the
result of design and formulation within political rationalities (Rose et al., 2006). Rationalities
are articulated through programmes in a way that is operable by certain technologies of
government. In this respect, programmes are both the intermediary between, and the
articulator of, rationalities and technologies of government. Programmes are the result of
political rationalities and need to be implemented by means of governmental technologies.
This raises the question: What are technologies of government?
The operation of government is not only to describe and understand the social world
in a thinkable way, but also to put rationalised programmes to effect in a material way.
According to Miller and Rose (2008), technologies of government are ways of acting upon
the conduct of individuals through technological interventions in order to transform that
conduct for the convenience of managing or governing. Technologies of government
comprise a ―complex assemblage of diverse forces—legal, architectural, professional,
administrative, financial, judgemental—such that aspects of the decisions and actions of
individuals, groups, organisations and populations come to be understood and regulated in
relation to authoritative criteria‖ (Miller and Rose, 2008, p. 63). Therefore, technologies of
government are a network of powers. This network of powers takes effect under two
conditions. First, a network has to be materialised in persistent forms such as machines,
architecture, school curricula, books, and techniques for calculation. Then, such networks
78
structure the lives of those caught up in these materialised forms by placing them into subject
positions. Therefore, governmental technologies need to first generate mechanisms or
strategies, and then constitute subjectivities in certain spaces when they act on individual
conduct. In this way, a network of powers is substantialised by materialised forms of
apparatuses and subjectivities.
Rose and Miller (2010) summarise the concept of governmentality by defining it as ―a
whole range of apparatuses pertaining to government and a certain body of knowledges and
‗know-how‘ about government, the means of its exercise and the nature of those over whom
it was to be exercised‖ (p. 272). Social and educational governance is framed by the
rationalities and technologies of government, which are mediated by programmes of
government. The conceptual framework of governmentality can be illustrated in Figure 3.1:
Rationalities of Government
Knowledge
of the
objects of
government
Morality
of
authorities
Language of
representation
(or discursive
forms of
apparatuses)
Figure 3. 1. Conceptual framework of governmentality
Through this conceptual framework, Miller and Rose (2008) view neoliberalism not
so much as a political ideology as forms of mentalities and practices of governing. This
neoliberal governmentality is a kind of alignment between political rationalities and
technologies for the regulation of social phenomena and individual behaviours. A neoliberal
mode of government is ―a family of ways of thinking about how government is to be
exercised, stressing the importance of fostering the self-organising capacities of natural
spheres of market, civil society, private life, individual‖ (Rose, 1999, p. xxii). Neoliberal
Technologies of Government
Network of powers
Materialised forms of
apparatuses
in Subjectivities Mechanisms
or strategies Spaces
Governmentality
Programmes of
Government
79
governmentality, or ―human science‖ as termed by Rose (1999, p. viii), is based on the
principles of individual freedom, autonomy, choice, as well as on the rules of a limited role
for political authorities in intervening social matters. Specifically, programmes of neoliberal
government can be policy documents and reports, as shown in Figure 3.3. Rationalities and
technologies of neoliberal government are elaborated in Figure 3.2 (Miller and Rose, 2008, p.
79) and Figure 3.4 (Miller and Rose, 2008, pp. 80-81) respectively.
80
Rationalities
of
Neoliberal
Government
Knowledge of the
objects of government
Because the ―welfare state‖ depends on bureaucracy, it is
subject to constant pressure from bureaucrats to expand their
own empires, fuelling an expensive and inefficient extension
Because the ―welfare state‖ cultivates the view that it is the
role of the state to provide for the individual, it has a morally
damaging effect upon citizens, producing ‗a culture of
dependency‘ based on expectations that government will do
what in reality only individuals can
Morality of authorities Scepticism over the capacities of political authorities to govern
everything for the best
Vigilance over the attempts of political authorities to seek to
govern
Language of
representation
(or discursive forms of
apparatuses)
Market (to replace planning as regulators of economic activity)
Commodified forms (to replace those aspects of government
that welfare construed as political responsibilities)
Economic entrepreneurship (to replace central regulation, as
active agents seeking to maximise their own advantage)
Active entrepreneurship (to replace the passivity and
dependency of responsible solidarity as individuals are
encouraged to strive to optimise their own quality of life and
that of their families)
Figure 3. 2. Rationalities of neoliberal government
Programmes of Neoliberal Government
Policy documents, reports, and so on
Figure 3. 3. Programmes of neoliberal government
Technologies of Neoliberal Government
Materialised forms of apparatuses
in Subjectivities Mechanisms or
strategies
Spaces
Action-at-a-distance
mechanisms
Hospitals Managers (as an intermediary between expert
knowledge, economic policy and business decisions)
Self-regulated and entrepreneurial individuals (who
enjoy the autonomy or freedom to make their
decisions, pursue their preferences and seek to
maximise the quality of their lives in a contract in
which individuals and society had mutual obligations)
… …
Figure 3. 4. Technologies of neoliberal government
81
Therefore, neoliberal governmentality can be investigated through the framework
displayed above. The most significant benefit of governmentality consists in its role as an
analytic framework through which social phenomena can be studied and denaturalised. My
study uses the conceptual framework of governmentality developed by Miller and Rose (2008)
to analyse higher education policies at a national level in China. In this way, the underlying
rationalities and technologies of the reform of China‘s higher education sector from 1992 to
2010 can be critically examined. In particular, this analytic framework can help to examine
what kinds of social subjects and spaces are constituted by these policies. However, Miller
and Rose‘s development of governmentality was developed to study Western modernities
such as the welfare state and neoliberal policy. As noted, my study is located in a Chinese
context. A critical review of studies using governmentality in non-Western contexts and the
compatibility of the conceptual framework of governmentality within the Chinese context
will be discussed in Section 3.3.4. The following part of the chapter reviews applications of
the governmentality framework in Western contexts.
3.3.1.3 Applications of governmentality in Western contexts
Focusing on a specific social domain of education, Simons and Masschelein (2006) use the
concept of governmentality to examine the cartography—mapping of the present—of the
lifelong learning society, which can also be considered as an art of government. Simons and
Masschelein argue that Foucault‘s notion of governmentality and studies of governmentality
by other scholars such as Burchell, Gordon and Miller (1991), Barry, Osborne and Rose
(1996), Miller and Rose (1997), Dean (1999), and Olssen (1999) can be applied to the social
study of education policy. At the juncture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, there
was a trend towards decentralisation in education policy and enhancement of autonomy of
schools. Meanwhile, a knowledge society requires the nation to regulate education. In this
respect, Simons and Masschelein claim that the emergence of a learning society is closely
related to particular governmental mentalities and techniques.
According to Simons and Masschelein, rationalities of lifelong learning consist in
people‘s desires and expectations for future returns obtained from their investment in the
continuation of educational experience. Simons and Masschelein further suggest that
technologies of lifelong learning, with reference to the German Programme for International
Student Assessment, are technologies of the self that aim to constitute the subjects of self-
82
regulating, enterprising individuals and to construct the spaces of educational institutions as
market-oriented, profitable agencies.
Thus, Simons and Masschelein deem lifelong learning as an art of government to act
on the desire of individuals so as to produce entrepreneurial subjects who seek returns from
their educational investment. My study focuses on the domain of China‘s higher education.
Lifelong learning is an integral part of higher education reform. Therefore, Simons and
Masschelein‘s idea of conceptualising lifelong learning as a mode of administration can be
used by this study. However, higher education reform in China during the period 1992 to
2010 incorporates a wide range of governing practices in addition to the political governance
of creating a learning society. My study should pay attention to other practices, which are
indispensable elements of the Chinese art of governance for higher education reform.
In another study of education, Sidhu (2004) examines the governance of international
education in an Australian context. Her study is against the background of globalisation. By
taking the position of Larner and Le Heron (2002) and Larner and Walters (2004b), Sidhu
views globalisation as a form of governance. In particular, Sidhu‘s study explores how
discourses of international education in contemporary Australia constitute particular types of
subjectivities and spaces, which are illustrated in the following paragraph.
The data of Sidhu‘s study are government and university documents on international
education, brochures for recruiting international students, and interviews with university staff.
Based on the analysis, Sidhu argues that gaining a global competitive advantage for
Australian education is the underlying rationality for Australia‘s international education
sector. Sidhu observes that in order to compete with universities in the United States and the
United Kingdom, Australian universities need to build a credible brand position for success.
Correspondingly, technologies for translating this rationality are ways of constructing an
image of cultural hybridity of Australia‘s educational environments through the discourse of
marketing. International students, in the marketing discourse of university brochures, are
constituted as entrepreneurial and competitive individuals who gain the professional edge by
receiving Australian credentials. Furthermore, as Sidhu notes, many Australian universities
are positioning themselves to be global providers of education credentials.
Therefore, Sidhu ascribes Australian universities‘ conduct of developing international
education to a mode of governance that deploys rationalities and technologies to constitute
entrepreneurial subjects and institutions. The implications of her work for the present study
83
are twofold. First is Sidhu‘s method of analysing the efforts of Australian universities to
construct an image of cultural hybridity in order to compete in international education
markets. Sidhu‘s way of analysis can be used by my study with respect to the examination of
policy documents, brochures and other textual materials in a local university of China. My
study does not include interviews. However, it includes an analysis of China‘s higher
education policy at a national level, which will examine education policy documents from
1992 to 2010. The second implication of Sidhu‘s study is the way that she considers
globalisation and international education as an art of government based on the views of
Larner, Le Heron and Walters. The present study also deems the reform of China‘s higher
education sector as an art of government to deal with international pressures from
globalisation and needs for national development.
Located in the context of the state of Queensland, Australia, Hay and Kapitzke‘s
(2009) study uses a governmentality framework to investigate the emergence of the creative
subject. In the context of globalisation, nation-states and local governments are required to
increase their international competitiveness. Strategies such as enhancing human resources
are adopted by political authorities to secure their position in the global stage of competition.
Against this background, by analysing a state policy document, Smart Queensland: Smart
State, Hay and Kapitzke argue that the problematic of government in Queensland is its
peripheral position in the competitive hierarchy of global economies. Hay and Kapitzke
further argue that the advent of the global knowledge economy brings with it risks and
uncertainties, and this makes governing more problematic. Accordingly, rationalities of
government are that foreseeable risks need to be managed, but that uncertainties need to be
preserved so as to maximise economic opportunity by speculating on the future. In this regard,
discourses of creativity, as a specific intellectual technology, transforms modern worker-
citizens into self-governing, responsible, enterprising, and creative subjects (Hay and
Kapitzke, 2009).
Following this, Hay and Kapitzke examine a specific industry school partnership—the
Gateways to the Aerospace Industry project—as a practical strategy of governance in
Queensland. In the space of industry-school partnerships, students are constituted as creative
subjects who learn how to conduct themselves as responsible, independent citizens and who
are able to manage social risks while preserving the economically productive potential of
uncertainty.
84
As a result, through analysing a state policy document of Queensland and conducting
a study of an industry-school partnership, Hay and Kapitzke argue that discourses of
creativity in the policy programme are both governmental rationalities and technologies that
contribute to the emergence of self-regulating, entrepreneurial and creative subjects. A
similar method of investigation will be adopted by my study, namely, a critical policy
analysis through a governmentality framework and a case study. Slightly differently though,
eight national policy documents of China‘s higher education will be examined through the
analytical lens of governmentality to see what kinds of subjects and spaces are constituted
during this historical process. Then, my study will use a case of a single university to
examine the effects of national policies, as well as the university‘s own politics of
governance which may either accord or conflict with national policies.
3.3.1.4 Recent development of governmentality studies
Following the application of different forms of governmental mentalities in the previous
section, this section reviews three recent works to explore governmentality studies. First,
Bevir‘s (2010) work re-conceptualises governmentality as a genealogical approach to
investigate social phenomena. Bevir identifies problems of structuralism with Foucault‘s
archaeology. As the structuralist linguist, Ferdinand de Saussure (1966), suggests, meaning
lies in the synchronic relations between signifiers such as phonetic or phonological units and
signifieds or concepts. The biggest problem of structuralism is its neglect of historical
relations between linguistic units. Meaning changes in the historical process. The underlying
reason for changes in meanings is that power relations which produce knowledge are in
constant changes. Based on the critique of archaeology, Bevir then offers genealogy as a
historicist solution to studies of meaningful social, economic and political lives. According to
Bevir, genealogy is a historicist investigation characterised by the nominalism, contingency
and contestability of the historical process.
Bevir (2010) argues that historical contexts influence the content of human lives such
as their words, behaviours and beliefs. Instead of conceptualising that the present lives
consist of fixed sets of rules, according to Bevir, nominalism adopts a radical historicist view
to define that present actions and practices are constitutive of minute and nuanced slices of
the past. As nominalism explains the constitution of the present, contingency examines the
nature of the historical process that leads to the present. Bevir suggests that people tend to
85
reinterpret and modify a traditional meaning in a new historical context. This reinterpretation
and modification bring changes in an accidental way. Therefore, the concept of contingency
views history as a process of discontinuous, ever-changing and accidental transformations
from the past to the present. Contestability highlights the diversity and contests in the
historical process, which, in fact, is the contest of power relations. In this way, contestability
suggests the possibility of diverse ways of transforming individual conducts. Based on the
nominal, changing, discontinuous, accidental, contingent, and contested features of the
historical process, Bevir construes governmentality as a genealogical mode of inquiry.
Bevir examines three concepts that underlie the nature of political life of governance:
situated agency, practice, and power. At the micro-level, the human agent is situated within a
particular social-historical context. In this way, political rationalities have a ―local‖ nature in
that political reasoning takes place ―in the context of agents‘ existing webs of beliefs‖ (Bevir,
2010, p. 432). At the mid- and macro-level lie the social objects of governing activities.
These objects of management are not fixed institutions, principles, structures, or systems.
Instead, they are conceived as practices, which are the effects of diverse and contingent
actions of individual agents (Bevir, 2010). Finally, Bevir considers power as the most
innovative part that shifts Foucault‘s focus on genealogy. The examination of power relations
helps to explain contestable and constantly changing conduct of individuals, their beliefs and
subjectivities that emerge out of contingent social-historical contexts. Bevir uses historicist
explanations to locate social phenomena at a particular period of time and a particular site in
order to investigate the nature of political life.
My study also uses the conceptual framework of governmentality as a genealogical
tool to investigate China‘s higher education reform. Bevir‘s historicist narrative of the nature
of political life can be used for the study. Correspondingly, the reform of China‘s higher
education sector is considered as a complex historical process in which the productive force
of power relations constitute particular subjectivities and spaces in the national and local
contexts of China. For example, at the national level, the governance of China‘s higher
education reform is contingent on international trends such as globalisation and the
knowledge economy, national situations such as people‘s needs to gain access to higher
education, and even individual conduct such as Deng Xiaoping‘s visit to southern China for
the introduction of market means in socialist China. At the local level, the governance of a
local university is also contingent on contested forces such as national policies, the
86
university‘s own policies, the university president‘s knowledge of management, or students‘
desire for learning and innovation.
The conceptual framework of governmentality can be developed through drawing on
other social and political theories. Lippert and Stenson (2010) advance governmentality
studies by learning lessons from the social constructionist perspective on social problems.
First, they identify similarities between governmentality studies and constructionism.
Constructionism studies how a particular social phenomenon develops in particular social and
historical contexts. Governmentality studies focus on how a social phenomenon is known,
represented and intervened. Therefore, both theories focus on the construction and
governance of social problems. As history is an ever-changing, contested and contingent
process, the failure of solutions to a previous problem becomes the basis for the invention of
new solutions. Accordingly, both studies assume the possibility of a continuous failure of the
governance of social problems. Following the discussion of similarities, Lippert and Stenson
(2010) assert that governmentality studies should learn from constructionism the acceptance
of the important role of the ―real realm‖ in studying social phenomena (p. 483).
The reason for governmentality studies to learn from constructionism to accept the
important role of the real realm in social studies can be deduced from these similarities.
According to the theoretical framework of the study, the reality of social phenomena lies in
the collective agency of imagination. The reality is, in fact, people‘s imaginaries about
society. It is through people‘s constant practice of imagination that the social world is
constructed. Furthermore, social imaginaries are translated into political rationalities to
manage collective lives. As noted, political rationalities are styles of thinking, knowing,
problematising, and representing a phenomenon, and ways of rendering reality thinkable in
such a way that it is amenable to programming and technical intervention (Miller and Rose,
2008). Therefore, for the practice of good government, political authorities have to
problematise social phenomena so as to better know the reality. Then, for the governmental
practice itself, authorities have to accept the reality that governance is a continuously failing
practice with the changing and contingent process of history. Old governmental modes have
to be transformed into new modes in order to suit the changing social context. Therefore,
governmentality studies cannot avoid dealing reality to examine social problems.
This study focuses on the reform of China‘s higher education sector. Lippert and
Stenson‘s (2010) idea of accepting the important role of reality and context in social studies
could be adopted here. There exist different social problems in different historical contexts.
87
Accordingly, there exist different modes of governance concerned with these problems.
Therefore, the study cannot avoid investigating the importance of knowing, thinking and
acting on the social reality of China‘s higher education in different historical periods.
Moreover, the present study should examine the reality of the transformation of one mode of
governance to another in the ever-changing and complex historical process. Also, it should
scrutinise the failure of national policy programmes in the governance of a local university
when local interests conflict with national intentions.
A governmentality framework can be applied not only to the study of social and
political phenomena, but also can acquire new knowledge from social phenomena. Located in
the context of the United Kindom, Gillies (2008) develops a governmentality study by
examining the relationship between conduct3 (the conduct of the conduct of conduct, or the
management and presentation of policy) and education policy. In the first place, Gillies
introduces two closely related concepts, spectacle and spin, by drawing ideas from Edelman
(1985, 1988) and Fairclough (2000). According to Edelman, politics can be compared to a
spectacle that is witnessed by the public. However, public spectators have different
observations and readings of the political spectacle. In order to seek support from the public,
political authorities add political spin in the official reports. Spin is ―not only a conscious
attempt to project a particular view or angle on a phenomenon, but also, crucially, an attempt
to encourage others to adopt this same position‖ (Gillies, 2008, p. 418). Therefore, spin has
become a constitutive part of policy texts to impose political views and solicit public support
(Gewirtz, Dickson, and Power, 2004; Gillies, 2008).
With regard to the spin in policies, Gillies proposes the concept of conduct3. In
particular, conduct3 deals with the management of the spin in the spectacle of political
policies. Usually in policy texts, spins are presented in a positive way to achieve positive
political ends. Otherwise, when there are costs or bad effects brought about by governing
practices, the management of the spin adopts such ways of omitting or hiding information. In
any case, spin is tailored by political authorities through media to achieve certain political
ends. In this regard, Gillies argues that conduct3 is similar to Foucault‘s (2000a) discussion of
sovereignty. Just as the practice of sovereignty is to reinforce the power of the prince at the
beginning of the nineteenth century, conduct3 is aimed at seeking and maintaining public
support in order to strengthen the power of government in modern societies with such
political purposes as improving the chance of re-election (Gillies, 2008).
88
This study investigates higher education policy in China, which is part of political
discourses. Therefore, a critical view has to be taken in the analysis to examine how these
discourses are managed in the spectacle of policy. For example, in order to justify reductions
in government spending on education, the Outline of China’s Education Reform and
Development (Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China,
1993) used discourses such as higher education being a kind of non-compulsory education
and therefore students should pay fees to attend universities to reach this end.
These applications of the governmentality framework contribute to an in-depth and
systematic way of inquiry through their analyses of the present. However, these
interpretations are all located within Western societies. Applications in non-Western contexts
will be discussed in Section 3.3.4 of this chapter to supplement and further develop the
governmentality framework. Four concepts—power, government, subjectivity, and space—
are central to governmentality studies. The next section discusses these four closely related
concepts for a better understanding of governmentality.
3.3.2 Key concepts: Power, government, subjectivity and space
3.3.2.1 Power
The construal of power in this study is directed by the following quotation: ―As far as this
power is concerned, it is first necessary to distinguish that which is exerted over things and
gives the ability to modify, use, consume, or destroy them—a power which stems from
aptitudes directly in the body or relayed by external instruments‖ (Foucault, 1982, p. 786).
Power stems directly from the wills or aptitudes of the body towards power. However, power
is not something that is held by individuals or groups. Rather, it has to be manifested or
exercised for its existence.
First, when individuals or collectives have the will to exercise power, they must
establish relations with others or with themselves. In other words, for Foucault (1982), power
means power relations that are relayed by external forms of institutions. For instance, power
relations between political authorities and population in a state, doctors and patients in a
hospital, father and children in a family, and individual selves. Therefore, power relations are
diffused throughout the whole of society. Power exists at every level of society.
Nonetheless, power is a relationship between individual or collective subjects, and
entails the exercise of power over certain actions to modify, use or destroy these actions
89
(Foucault, 1982). When power is exercised over others, it is accompanied by different types
of objectives, means and rationalisations for achieving these ends. Objectives can be ―the
maintenance of privileges, the accumulation of profits, the bringing into operation of statuary
authority, the exercise of a function or of a trade‖ (p. 792). The means for achieving
objectives can be the use of arms, effects of the word, economic means, surveillance, political
rules, or any combinations of these means. Degrees of rationalisation are taken into
consideration as well as the effectiveness of the instruments, the certainty of the results of
power, the economic cost of the means adopted, or the cost in terms of reaction caused by the
resistance encountered. Rationalisation makes the exercise of power adjust to real situations.
These objectives, means and rationalisations help power to be exerted over others. Then who
are these ―others‖, or over whom is power exercised?
Foucault (1982) explains that the others are not other individuals or groups, but are, in
effect, their actions. In other words, the exercise of power is ―an action upon action, on
existing actions or on those which may arise in the present or the future‖ (p. 789). Foucault
(1982) uses the equivocal nature of the term ―conduct‖ to illustrate the specificity of power
relations: first, conduct means ―to ‗lead‘ others (according to mechanisms of coercion which
are, to varying degrees, strict)‖; second, it refers to ―a way of behaving within a more or less
open field of possibilities‖ (p. 789). Hence, the exercise of power is the conduct of conduct.
In this vein, the exercise of power is a question of government.
3.3.2.2 Government
Foucault (1982) expounds on the concept of government in this way:
―Government‖ did not refer only to political constructs or to the management of
states; rather it designated the way in which the conduct of individuals or of
groups might be directed: the government of children, of souls, of communities,
of families, of the sick. It did not only cover the legitimately constituted forms of
political or economic subjection but also modes of action, more or less considered
or calculated, which were destined to act upon the possibilities of action of other
people. To govern, in this sense, is to structure the possibilities of action of other
people. (p. 790)
For Foucault (1982), government is a kind of exercise of power to regulate the conduct of
other individuals or collectives. For instance, in the space of the family, a father exercises his
power to direct the behaviour of his children. Foucault continues to show that government is
conditioned upon freedom, or power is exercised only over free subjects. These free subjects
90
are ―individual or collective subjects who are faced with a field of possibilities in which
several ways of behaving, several reactions and diverse comportments, may be realised‖ (p.
790). Foucault adds that at the heart of power relations is the constant resistance of freedom
to submission. For instance, a child is free to be mischievous and this is deemed as non-
obedience on the part of the parents. Accordingly, with the constant refusal of freedom from
subjects, government, as Miller and Rose (2008) have observed, constantly fails though
modes of governance are eternally optimistic. In this regard, parents have to seek recourse to
new sets of rationalities, means and strategies in order to maintain power relations in families.
The global financial crisis in recent years is further evidence of the continued failing
operation of government. The crisis of Keynesian modes of governance—the state intervenes
too much—led to the emergence of neoliberal modes of governance with privatisation, state
non-interference and deregulation as its principal policies. The recent global financial crisis
caused by the subprime crisis in the United States symbolises the crisis of the neoliberal art of
government (Peters, 2009). Policies of state intervention and tight regulation are reused and
highly emphasised by governments to cope with the crisis.
Dean‘s (1999) summary provides a useful overview of the concept of government for
the purpose of this study:
Government is any more or less calculated and rational activity, undertaken by a
multiplicity of authorities and agencies, employing a variety of techniques and
forms of knowledge, that seeks to shape conduct by working through our desires,
aspirations, interests and beliefs, for definite but shifting ends and with a diverse
set of relatively unpredictable consequences, effects and outcomes. (p. 11)
Therefore, my study examines the constantly failing operation of government embodied in
national higher education policy through conducting a case study of a local Chinese
university in order to identify its response to national policy.
3.3.2.3 Subjectivity
According to Foucault (1982), the concept of subject embodies two meanings: ―subject to
someone else by control and dependence; and tied to his own identity by a conscience or self-
knowledge‖ (p. 781). These two meanings of subject reflect power relations noted earlier.
First, the exercise of power or the activity of government has its own object, namely, others.
The others, whether being individuals, groups or a whole population, are constituted as the
subjects of power relations. In this sense, the exercise of power, or the operation of
91
government, is also a practice of subjectification (Miller and Rose, 2008). On the other hand,
people also exercise power on themselves. The ―technology of the self‖ tends to answer
questions such as: ―What should one do with oneself? What work should be carried out on
the self? How should one govern oneself?‖ (Foucault, 1997b, p. 87). People have the desire,
will and agency to govern their ―selves‖. Therefore, just as power means power relations,
subject designates subject position, or subjectivity, in which the conduct of individuals is
shaped according to different forms of conceptual and technical tools that make up
governable persons of the present.
In his work, Governing the Soul, Rose (1999) traces the history of the human subject
from the perspective of a particular human science—psychology. According to Rose,
psychology is a crucial human knowledge and technology in contemporary forms of political
power. In Rose‘s study, it helps to govern individuals in line with liberal and democratic
principles. Individuals are constituted as free social subjects of choice, self-realisation and
entrepreneurial spirit. Accordingly, individual selves, as citizens of nation-states, enter into
the domain of political forces. Governments formulate policies, programmes, use calculative
devices, and set up institutions to act on the ―mental capacities and propensities‖ of citizens
in order to manage their behaviours for effective governance (Rose, 1999, p. 2). Not only
government authorities, but also other social authorities such as personnel managers, doctors,
counsellors, and teachers deploy their understanding of the psychological aspects of people
and act on them for certain purposes. These understandings and practices over the individual
self based on psychological technologies contribute to the emergence of an expertise or
technology of subjectivity. This expertise of subjectivity helps to understand the ways in
which social subjects are governed and govern their selves. Drawing from Foucault (1997c),
Rose argues that psychology, when coupled with political forces, is a ―technique of the self‖
which can be defined as:
[T]he ways in which we are enabled, by means of the languages, criteria, and
techniques offered to us, to act upon our bodies, souls, thoughts, and conduct in
order to achieve happiness, wisdom, health, and fulfilment. (Rose, 1999, p. 11)
As noted, the subject position has an implicit or presupposed value in power relations
as ―being free to have a field of possibilities in which the individual or collective subjects are
able to realise several behaviours‖ (Foucault, 1982, p. 790). This implicit value of
subjectivity is utilised by neoliberal governmentality, as analysed by Miller and Rose (2008)
and illustrated in Figure 3.2, Figure 3.3 and Figure 3.4, to constitute self-regulated,
92
entrepreneurial individuals. These subjects enjoy the autonomy or freedom to make decisions,
pursue their preferences, and seek to maximise the quality of their lives. Although limits are
placed on the direct control of authorities for the pretext of individual freedom, subjects are,
instead, bound within a social contract that enables authorities to exercise indirect control
through mechanisms such as the market and ethics. Market mechanisms constitute
entrepreneurial subjects for their own benefit while ethics creates obligatory subjects for the
benefit of society. However, this type of subjectivity has been studied mostly in Western
contexts. Just as Foucault‘s objective has been to ―create a history of the different modes by
which, in our culture, human beings are made subjects‖ (Foucault, 1982, p. 777), the present
study examines a Chinese mode of subjectification through analysis of higher education
policy. Moreover, the constitution of social subjects is localised in particular spaces, and this
will be discussed in the next section.
3.3.2.4 Space
The concept of space is closely related to the concept of power, government and subjectivity.
―Space is fundamental in any form of communal life; space is fundamental in any exercise of
power‖ (Foucault, 2000c, p. 361). Space functions as a technique of government to ―ensure a
certain allocation of people in space, a canalisation of their circulation, as well as the coding
of their reciprocal relations‖ (Foucault, 2000b, p. 361). In this sense, space can be considered
as an entrance into the domain of social relations. As a technique of government, the design,
construction and configuration of space are inevitably directed by mechanisms or strategies
that are embedded in social relations. Foucault (2000b) takes the building of a chimney inside
the house as an example. A chimney with a hearth inside the house is used for people to get
together and communicate. Figure 3.5, which is a part of Figure 3.1, demonstrates Foucault‘s
construal of space and its relationship with power, government and subjectivity:
Figure 3. 5. Relationship between space, power, government, and subjectivity
Technologies of Government
Network of powers
Materialised forms of
apparatuses
In
Subjectivities Mechanisms
or strategies Spaces
93
It can be seen from Figure 3.5 that space is located in the network of powers as a materialised
form of apparatus. Meanwhile, space is also directed by another form of apparatus, namely,
mechanisms or strategies. Individuals or groups who enter into spaces are subjectified within
the network of powers.
Therefore, the concept of power, government, subjectivity, and space are closely
related and systematically united in the framework of governmentality. It must be noted that a
governmentality framework can also be reflexive. It can be employed by different types of
authorities to fulfil their will to govern. As well, it can act as an analytical lens through which
social phenomena can be examined, interpreted and denaturalised. The present study
investigates what kinds of social and educational subjects and spaces are constituted in the
reform of China‘s higher education system by means of a critical analysis of higher education
policy using concepts of governmentality. The next section discusses the relationship
between governmentality and social imaginary.
3.3.3 Governmentality and social imaginary
As noted in Section 3.2 of the chapter, social imaginaries are embodied in everyday lives of
people who imagine and act as collective agents in a particular historical period (Gaonkar,
2002). In this sense, social imaginaries consist in the collective agency by which meaning is
constituted and a society created. However, the social imaginary is also the effect of
knowledge-producing discourses and practices which are, in turn, constitutive of
governmental forms (Larner and Le Heron, 2002). In this respect, the social imaginary lies in
the constitutive forces of governmentality.
The intrinsic relationship between social imaginaries and governmentality can be
approached given that the subject is the entity that connects them. The government uses
certain mentalities to plan, design, constitute, and disseminate social imaginaries through
policies and programmes in order to direct the conduct of individual subjects. On the other
hand, individual subjects act and behave according to the imaginaries that have been
naturalised in their mind. In this way, the art of government exerts its forces and
subjectivities take shape. Therefore, imaginaries are implicit but indispensable parts of
governmental practices.
Moreover, power plays a central role in the relationship between social imaginaries
and governmentality. Social imaginaries exist among the collective life of people and are
94
produced by power relations. For instance, around the year of 1999, people in China had the
desire for more access to higher education, and China needed higher quality human resources
for enhanced economic development (Cheng, 2006). Political authorities in China exercised
their power to translate these two imaginaries into practical programmes for expanding the
higher education sector in order to conduct effective governance in this particular socio-
historical context.
The present study, using Foucault‘s idea of critique (Foucault, 1988; Olssen et al.,
2004), aims to denaturalise the reality of China‘s higher education through analysis of eight
key policy documents from 1992 to 2010. Specifically, it explores the subjects and spaces
constituted by China‘s higher education policy in the conceptual framework of
governmentality. Nevertheless, the governmentality framework has been applied
predominantly in Western contexts. Therefore, the next section reviews studies of
governmentality in non-Western contexts: South Africa (Tikly, 2003), Ukraine (Fimyar,
2008), and China (Hoffman, 2006; Jeffreys and Sigley, 2009; Kipnis, 2008; Sigley, 2006).
Following this, the compatibility of the governmentality framework in Western contexts with
the Chinese context is discussed.
3.3.4 Applications of governmentality in the context of China
Foucault (2000a) developed the notion of governmentality and applied it to study the history
of the West by examining different models of governing such as the pastoral model, the
diplomatico-military model, and the police model. Miller and Rose‘s (2008) extension of the
framework is also situated in Western contexts to study Western modernities such as welfare
and neoliberal policies. Furthermore, the three applications of governmentality—Simons and
Masschelein (2006), Sidhu (2004), Hay and Kapitzke (2009)—are conducted in Western
contexts. This raises the question: can a governmentality framework be applied to non-
Western contexts? If so, what kinds of differences exist between Western forms of
governmentality and non-Western forms? The first question can be addressed by reviewing
six cases that use governmentality concepts in non-Western contexts (Fimyar, 2008; Hoffman,
2006; Jeffreys and Sigley, 2009; Kipnis, 2008; Sigley, 2006; Tikly, 2003).
In response to the limited number of studies that have applied Foucault‘s idea of
governmentality to the study of non-Western contexts, Tikly (2003) adapted the conceptual
framework of governmentality to a study of South African education policy. In this research,
95
he uses the term ―governmentality-in-the-making‖ to account for the issues he identifies in
education policy. Governmentality-in-the-making is comprised of ―complex and sometimes
contradictory elements that provide both the continuity and discontinuity on what went
before‖ (Tikly, 2003, p. 166). According to Tikly, ―continuity on what went before‖ refers to
the connection to earlier illiberal racism of apartheid in South Africa in the nineteenth and
twentieth century, and ―discontinuity on what went before‖ means the tendency towards a
neoliberal way of government in contemporary South Africa within the context of
globalisation. Tikly‘s concept of governmentality-in-the-making is useful for this study of a
Chinese context. Chinese arts of governing will be discussed after reviewing Fimyar‘s (2008)
study in a Ukrainian context.
Therefore, governmentality is not a closed framework, but is considered as an
analytical tool by many scholars (Burchell et al., 1991; Dean, 1999; Dean, 2002, 2007;
Larner and Walters, 2004a, 2004b; Miller and Rose, 2008; O'Farrell, 2005; Peters, 2009;
Rose et al., 2006). Governmentality can be used to analyse social phenomena located in
different contexts. Fimyar (2008) also identifies a gap in studies that adapt governmentality to
non-Western contexts, particularly in the area of education policy studies. Accordingly,
Fimyar adopts governmentality as an analytical tool to examine secondary education
assessment policy at the national level in Ukraine. The methods for his study are critical
analysis of Ukrainian education policy documents from 1999 to 2006 and semi-structured
interviews with national policy-makers, officials and academics.
Fimyar argues that the idea of governmentality-in-the-making proposed by Tikly
(2003) is also applicable in the context of Ukraine. Fimyar observes that post-communist
Ukraine, at the transnational level, becomes a receptive agent of external influences such as
neoliberal policy—indicating the discontinuity on what went before; at the national level,
state centralism on education policy still remains—indicating the continuity on what went
before. Therefore, Fimyar adapts governmentality to education policy study in a Ukrainian
context. Similarly, within the analytical framework of governmentality proposed by Foucault
and developed by other scholars—mainly Miller and Rose‘s (2008) concept of
governmentality, my study examines higher education policy in China. As governmentality is
not a closed framework, my study also endeavours to contribute to the development of
governmentality by introducing Chinese characteristics of governance, which will be
examined through analysing China‘s higher education policy in Chapters Five and Six, as
well as a case study in Chapter Seven.
96
In his examination of governmental technologies pertaining to school education,
Kipnis (2008) interrogates the nature of audit culture in different social contexts. First, Kipnis
conducts a case study of educational inspection of a primary school in Zouping, a rural
county in Shandong province of eastern China. The purpose of the case study was to
investigate the practice of performance auditing on the part of school students and teachers
such as the time of extracurricular activities for students and teaching loads for school
teachers. This inspection is, in fact, a kind of auditing practice.
Based on a case study in China and other cases in post-socialist nations and the
United States, Kipnis argues that auditing practices, which employ numeric performance
measures, are not an exclusive attribute of Western neoliberal cultures, but is ubiquitous in a
number of cultures. For instance, during the Maoist period (around 1949-1976), work points
of individual workers were adopted to determine the percentage of a collective farm‘s harvest
that a farmer would receive (Kipnis, 2008). This calculative audit practice existed prior to the
modern neoliberal practice of auditing. Kipnis (2008) further argues that ―placing Chinese
audit cultures in the framework of neoliberal governmentality reduces them to a derivative of
a set of ideas that diffused from the West‖ (p. 286). Auditing practices simply cannot be put
under the banner of neoliberal governmentality or socialist legacy. It is a technology of
government which can be deployed by any mode of governance to achieve political ends.
Therefore, Kipnis‘ idea of conceptualising auditing practices as a technology of
government which is applicable in different social contexts is further support for the
argument that governmentality is an open analytic tool rather than a closed framework. This
idea also has important implications for the present study. By adopting the governmentality
framework, my study examines the technologies used by political authorities in China to
implement policy programmes for higher education reform. There will be a set of
mechanisms, strategies and techniques in the reform process. My current study does not trace
the origin of these techniques. Whether they are borrowed from developed countries in the
context of globalisation such as market mechanisms or are featured by socialist Chinese
characteristics such as direct central planning, they all are elements of governmental
technologies which are, in turn, the constituents of a general mode of government.
By looking at the case of university graduates‘ choices and autonomy in job-seeking,
Hoffman (2006) examines how neoliberal governmentality and nationalism contribute to the
emergence of ―patriotic professionalism‖ in modern China (p. 552). As Hoffman observes,
within the planned economic system, graduates are assigned to job posts according to
97
national plans of development. With the reform and introduction of market mechanisms,
neoliberal techniques of governing—that is, marketisation, privatisation of public sectors, and
cultivating of a self-enterprising ethos—emerged in the context of China after 1978. Unlike
the system of job allocation upon graduation in the planning period, graduates then had
autonomy to seek employment by themselves.
On the other hand, a strong sense of nationalism—Maoist norms and values of serving
the country—still can be detected in the context of modern China (Hoffman, 2006).
Accordingly, graduates are constituted as responsible subjects in order to serve the nation and
their fellow citizens. In nature, nationalism is a kind of moral education using the moral
technique of self-regulation and self-responsibility. The connection of neoliberal techniques
and Maoist nationalism produces ―patriotic professionalism‖ in Hoffman‘s term. Patriotic
professionalism is a mode of governance that entails the formation of ―the new professional,
a self-enterprising subject who also is decidedly concerned with, and has an affinity for, the
nation‖ (Hoffman, 2006, p. 552). This constitution of an autonomous, but responsible and
patriotic subjectivity, indicates a hybrid art of Chinese government, which is both neoliberal
and socialist.
Similar to Kipnis‘ (2008) study, Hoffman analyses governmental technologies,
particularly the strategy of job assignment upon graduation, in the context of modern China.
More deeply, Hoffman examines what kinds of subjectivities the materialised apparatuses of
governance constitute. As the examination of subjects is of central importance to
governmentality studies, this study also investigates how subjectivities are constituted by
discursive and material forms of governance during the historical process of higher education
reform in China. However, the study is located at two levels. At the national level,
subjectivities are examined by looking at national policies which articulate governing
mentalities and technologies. At the local level, subjectivities are investigated by means of
observing a specific university‘s reaction to national policies and its own desire and efforts
for development. Moreover, Hoffman‘s examination of the autonomous yet responsible and
patriotic subjectivity reveals a hybrid form of governance, which will be further discussed
and tested by the data analysis in Chapters Five, Six and Seven.
Instead of examining specific cases, Sigley (2006), Jeffreys and Sigley (2009) study
Chinese governmentality in an overall way. Following a review of the studies on
governmentality, they argue that these studies tend to preclude a consideration of how
governmentality is played out in non-Western or non-liberal contexts (Sigley, 2006; Jeffreys
98
and Sigley, 2009). As Dean (1999) and Hindess (2001) have argued, authoritarian means also
exist in a liberal context. Liberal governmentality not only needs the free subject, but also
uses authoritarian non-liberal means to govern such subjects who need training and discipline
to acquire autonomy (Dean, 1999; Hindess, 2001). Liberal ways of governance consist in the
freedom, autonomy or liberty of the subjects whereas authoritarian modes of governance lie
in the creation of obedient and docile subjects (Dean, 1999). Based on the argument of Dean
and Hindess, Jeffreys and Sigley (2009) conceptualise the present mode of Chinese
government as follows:
One-party rule increasingly is achieved through recourse to a rule of law and
associated conceptions of citizenship, as well as through governmental
interventions that seek to govern certain subjects from a distance, by relying on
their individual choices, aspirations or capacities. (p. 6)
In his analysis of key documents issued by the Chinese government, Sigley (2006)
also identifies significant changes and continuities in the realm of governance in
contemporary China. He suggests that following the transition from a state-planned system to
a socialist market economy system, Chinese ways of administration have undergone
considerable changes. Such changes are evident in a hybrid socialist-neoliberal form of
government that has emerged in contemporary China since the reform and opening-up policy
in 1978. Authoritarian styles of government create docile labourers, while neoliberal styles of
government constitute active and entrepreneurial citizens. In this way, both kinds of
subjectivities are objects of the socialist market economy system. Then, Jeffreys and Sigley
(2009) trace the emergence of this contemporary Chinese art of governance.
China‘s socialist art of governance during the Maoist period could not only know the
objects to be governed, but also predict the outcomes of any possible intervention (Jeffreys
and Sigley, 2009). Direct and planned intervention was the means to secure the socialist
system. Docile and obedient subjects are constituted correspondingly. During the post-1978
period of reform, the Chinese government faced national and international pressures and
started to transform its functions. Working with key transnational institutions, such as the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the government began to introduce
neoliberal means—such as international accounting practices, forms of social and economic
measurement—in the fields of health, education and environment (Jeffreys and Sigley, 2009).
Particularly with the introduction of a socialist market economy in 1992, Chinese forms of
administration experienced profound changes. Direct government intervention was mixed
with market mechanisms. Both docile labourers and active entrepreneurial citizens were
99
constituted within this hybrid mode of governance (Jeffreys and Sigley, 2009). With the
transformation of subjectivities, political discourses were also changed. For instance, the
discourse about ―plan‖ was changed from ―Jihua‖ to ―Guihua‖. ―Jihua‖ refers to the socialist
planning since the 1950s, while ―Guihua‖ implies an overall regulation and constitutes a
managerial role for the CCP and the Chinese government (Sigley, 2006, p. 496; Jeffreys and
Sigley, 2009, p. 12).
Therefore, through analysing the transformation of discourses, subjectivities and
technologies in contemporary China, Sigley (2006) and Jeffreys and Sigley (2009) examine
Chinese forms of governance in an overall way. They conclude that a hybrid form of
authoritarian and neoliberal government is present in China. In the preset study, discursive
and technological shifts will be examined in the analysis of higher education policy at the
national level in China. Furthermore, the formation and modification of subjectivities will be
investigated as the effects of these governing discourses and practices.
These four articles (Hoffman, 2006; Jeffreys and Sigley, 2009; Kipnis, 2008; Sigley,
2006) all indicate a hybrid art of government in modern China, which can also be explained
by Tikly‘s (2003) idea of governmentality-in-the-making. Since the opening-up policy in
1978 and especially since the establishment of a socialist market economy system in 1992,
China has been in considerable flux. External factors have exerted a deep influence on
China‘s process of modernisation. Factors such as the adaptation of selective aspects of
Western liberal modes of governance to China‘s political system in order to develop a market
economy can be considered as a discontinuity on what went before. This introduction of
neoliberal models of governance is a significant shift from the state-planned system. Yet,
China has a long history, and persistent legacies surely remain. As noted in the historical
review of China‘s higher education in Chapter Two, there is always an authoritarian and
centralised form of rule. Despite external influences, internal legacies are preserved in
contemporary China such as the authoritarian measure of ―5-year plan‖—the eleventh 5-year
plan started from 2006 to 2010. This legacy can be viewed as the continuity on what went
before. Therefore, this study supports Sigley‘s (2006) contention that Chinese forms of
governing are a product of the same process of Foucauldian governmentality, for Chinese
governmentality has its own rationalities and technologies for the conduct of conduct.
The aim of the present study is to apply governmentality to non-Western contexts and
to contribute new knowledge by articulating a Chinese governing mentality. The study also
argues that Chinese governmentality shares similar features with Foucauldian
100
governmentality but has a different set of conceptual and technological devices because they
are culturally specific. In this respect, the study aims to adapt the conceptual framework of
governmentality illustrated in Figure 3.1 to a policy study of China‘s higher education in
order to investigate mentalities and practices of the Chinese government.
3.4 Chapter summary
This chapter has explored the theoretical framework for the present study using the concepts
of social imaginary and governmentality. Society is constructed and represented by
imaginaries, which are produced by the collective power of social groups. Only through these
imaginaries can social phenomena such as the emergence of the enterprise university be
meaningful. However, different social, historical, economic, political, and cultural contexts
produce different social imaginaries. It is significant to examine social imaginaries at
different social-historical contexts. Accordingly, the study contributes to a specific social-
historical context, namely, the imaginary of China‘s higher education from 1992 to 2010.
Governmentality, or the art of government, is an analytic framework that entails
necessary analysis of rationalities and technologies in order to examine particular forms of
power in particular contexts. Modern social phenomena such as neoliberalism, nationalism
and socialism can all be considered as different forms of governance. However, as noted, the
governmentality framework has been applied predominantly in Western contexts.
Significantly, my study applies the framework in a Chinese context, which is non-Western
and non-liberal.
Moreover, the two concepts, social imaginary and governmentality, are closely related.
Social imaginaries, existing among the collective lives of social subjects, are produced by
power networks which consist of discursive and material forms of apparatuses. Therefore, it
is important to examine how social imaginaries are translated into particular policies and
programmes which, in turn, articulate particular rationalities and technologies of government.
Based on this theoretical framework, the next chapter discusses a compatible methodological
framework and research design for the study.
101
CHAPTER FOUR
METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN
4.1 Introduction
This chapter presents the methodological framework and research design for the study. The
investigation of higher education policy in China since 1992 is conducted through Foucault‘s
genealogical methodology. The main benefit of genealogy is to critique a particular social
phenomenon (Bevir, 2008, 2010; Foucault, 1977; Olssen et al., 2004). Within the
genealogical methodology, the method adopted for investigating higher education reform in
contemporary China is critical policy analysis (Ball, 1994; Olssen et al., 2004; Ozga, 2000;
Rizvi and Lingard, 2010; Taylor et al., 1997). An instrumental case study (Stake, 1995, 2000)
is adopted to reveal the effects of national higher education policy on the operation of a single
Chinese university. Then, the four components of the study, which are based on the study‘s
theoretical and methodological framework, are discussed.
4.2 Genealogy
This section describes the concept of genealogy in order to set a methodological groundwork
for this study. ―Genealogy is gray, meticulous, and patiently documentary. It operates on a
field of entangled and confused parchments, on documents that have been scratched over and
recopied many times‖ (Foucault, 1977, p. 139). Genealogy, for Foucault, is a methodology to
study and write history. Following Nietzsche, Foucault (1977) considers that genealogy aims
to trace the piecemeal, ever-changing, contested, and contingent historical process instead of
searching for origins or the essence of things.
To search for the origin or essence of things is to seek for something that was already
in existence and has never changed. However, in the historical process, things or beings are
full of chances for change. ―Chance is not simply the drawing of lots, but raising the stakes in
every attempt to master chance through the will to power, and giving rise to the risk of an
even greater chance‖ (Foucault, 1977, p. 155). In this sense, the emergence of things is
contingent on power relations which ―master chance‖. Then, the dynamics of power relations
lead to ―an even greater chance‖ for the transformation of things. As a result, power, with its
multiple sites of effect and particularity of time, creates the conditions for the possible
102
emergence, transformation and dissolution of things. The search for the constancy and
essences is not what genealogy aims to achieve. Rather, genealogy endeavours to trace the
ever-changing historical process, specifically the historical process of descent (Herkunft) and
emergence (Entstehung) of things (Foucault, 1977).
Descent refers to ―the ancient affiliation to a group, sustained by the bonds of blood,
tradition, or social class‖ (Foucault, 1977, p. 145). From these affiliations and bonds,
individuals or collectives, together with their actions or events, form a heterogeneous network.
According to Foucault (1977), passing events, which are comprised of individuals and their
actions, do not have continuity during the course of history but are dispersed and full of
accidents, chances and errors:
On the contrary, to follow the complex course of descent is to maintain passing
events in their proper dispersion; it is to identify the accidents, the minute
deviations—or conversely, the complete reversals—the errors, the false appraisals,
and the faculty calculations that gave birth to those things that continue to exist
and have value for us; it is to discover that truth or being do not lie at the foot of
what we know and what we are, but the exteriority of accidents. (p. 146)
Hence, to examine descent is not to search for origins or essences, but it is to scrutinise the
historical fissures that provide conditions for the birth and transformation of things.
Individual or collective subjects are the locus of descent because they embody actions, events
and past experiences with their desires, failings and errors (Foucault, 1977). In this sense,
Rose (1999) undertakes a historical analysis of subjectivity in order to examine how
particular ways of thinking and acting, which are framed within networks of power,
constitute social subjects. The examination of these practices of subjectification offers an
understanding of the present, and of individual selves in that present. Therefore, as an
examination of the historical process of descent, genealogy investigates how social subjects
are created, influenced and transformed in their relations with power. The present study is
significant because it discloses the ways political, economic and cultural powers are
exercised to produce human subjects during the process of higher education reform in China.
Emergence is the moment of arising, but this moment is the ―current episodes in a
series of subjugation‖ rather than the ―final term of an historical development‖ (Foucault,
1977, p. 148). Analysis of emergence is to examine the history of the present. The current
social phenomenon, as the object of inquiry, emerges at a particular historical moment.
Moreover, it investigates power relations that disperse in ―a series of subjugations‖. The rises
and variations of these phenomena are the results of power relations, which have effects at
103
particular locations. Therefore, the site of investigating power relations in the history of the
present is its emergence as this is the ―entry of forces; it is their eruption, the leap from the
wings to centre stage, each in its youthful strength‖ (Foucault, 1977, pp. 149-150). This
―entry‖ is nothing but ―the space that divides them (that is, various forces), the void through
which they exchange their threatening gestures and speeches‖ (Foucault, 1977, p. 150).
Therefore, genealogy, as the analysis of the historical process of emergence, consists in the
examination of the space in which power relations enter and unfold, as well as where social
subjects are constituted. In this respect, my study examines the role of space as a type of
material apparatus in facilitating the regulation of China‘s higher education reform.
In sum, as the analysis of the historical process of descent and emergence, genealogy
seeks to examine subjects who are imprinted by history, and it investigates the spaces where
subjectification takes place amongst various forces. Whilst archaeology examines the
discursive traces and orders left by the past in order to write a ―history of the present‖
(O'Farrell, 2005), genealogy materialises the historical process by considering those
discursive and material traces as contingent on power relations. In this regard,
governmentality is conceptualised as a genealogical mode of inquiry (Bevir, 2010). It offers
an analytic perspective to study the intricate process of how social actors such as government
authorities, university leaders and students use knowledge to design programmes, construct
spaces and apply strategies to create and regulate social subjects.
The value of genealogical analysis consists in its critique because it aims to
destabilise and assess our present (Rose, 1999). As Foucault (1977) argues, genealogy
―disturbs what was previously considered immobile; it fragments what was thought unified; it
shows the heterogeneity of what was imagined consistent with itself‖ (p. 147). In this way,
genealogy is a practice of denaturalising critique (Bevir, 2008). Thus, the ultimate goal of
genealogy is to demonstrate the complexities and contingency of discourses in their historical
context, to expose the nature of power relations, and to denaturalise conventional
explanations for the existence of phenomena (Olssen et al., 2004). In this regard, policies, as
discourses, programmes and techniques with their specific problems and solutions relative to
a particular historical moment, are amenable to genealogical analysis (Olssen et al., 2004).
My study critiques the social phenomenon of China‘s higher education reform. In
specific terms, it aims to reveal the discourses and techniques that political authorities in
China use to refashion higher education policy and practice at a national level. Furthermore,
it seeks to disclose what kinds of social subjects and spaces have been constructed in a single
104
university‘s efforts to reconfigure itself within the contexts of national higher education
reform and globalisation. While governmentality has been discussed in Section 3.3 of
Chapter Three, the next section presents critical policy analysis.
4.3 Critical policy analysis
This section is concerned with the research method employed to examine higher education
policy in contemporary China. It commences with the question: What is policy? Taylor, Rizvi,
Lingard and Henry (1997) argue that it is difficult to give policy a simple definition because
policy texts represent the outcome of political struggles over meaning. Also, policy processes
accumulate both prior to the production of a policy text and afterwards through the stages of
interpretation, implementation, modification, and rearticulation. However, it is clear that
there are two key aspects to policy: product and process.
Ball (1994) and Taylor et al. (1997) contend that policy is both product and process.
―Policy is both text and action, words and deeds, it is what is enacted as well as what is
intended. Policies are always incomplete insofar as they relate to or map on to the ‗wild
profusion‘ of local practice‖ (Ball, 1994, p. 10). ―Policy is both process and product. In such
a conceptualisation, policy involves the production of the text, the text itself, ongoing
modifications to the text and processes of implementation into practice‖ (Taylor et al., 1997,
p. 23). In contrast, Ozga (2000) considers policy as a process rather than a product that
involves ―negotiation, contestation or struggle‖ between different interest groups (p. 2).
This study considers education policy as both product and process in its examination
of the complex process of China‘s higher education policy. Correspondingly, policy analysis
incorporates three aspects: context, text and outcomes (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010). First,
examination of historical, political, economic, and cultural contexts sets up the backdrop for
policy analysis. The analysis of contextual issues helps to address questions such as ―Why
was this policy adopted?‖, ―Does this policy have incremental links to earlier
policy/policies?‖, and ―Who were the ‗players‘ (groups, interests, individuals) involved in
establishing the policy agenda?‖ (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010, p. 54). In Chapter Five, my study
examines the context of China‘s higher education policy mainly with respect to the first two
questions listed in the previous sentence. The third question will not be discussed because it
would be nearly impossible for me to gain access to documents of policy production, which
are open only to policy panels and political authorities of the PRC government.
105
Second, policy analysis involves the examination of policy texts themselves.
According to Rizvi and Lingard (2010), the text refers to the document in which language is
used, organised and structured to signify certain meanings. They note that recent policy texts
are framed by certain discourses such as those of globalisation and the knowledge economy.
These discourses construct and represent particular social phenomena as problematic sites for
political intervention and then proffer corresponding solutions. Based on Foucault‘s notion of
power and knowledge, Rizvi and Lingard (2010) further argue that rational knowledge—
conceptions of reality or ―truth‖ represented by discourses embedded in policy documents—
is produced by the exercises of political power. Policy in Rizvi and Lingard‘s work and this
study refers to public policy formulated by government or its subordinate departments in
order to regulate the actions and behaviours of social subjects. Hence, this policy analysis
involves the academic exercise of revealing power-knowledge relations situated in policy
texts. That is, it exposes how political forces legitimate policies or programmes as rational
practices through discursive framing, and furthermore how they put these policies into effect
by deploying specific techniques, mechanisms and strategies. Chapters Five and Six of this
study examine eight milestone higher education policy texts at the national level with the
purpose of uncoupling the power-knowledge relations in these documents.
The third element of the policy process relates to implementation and outcomes. In
this regard, policy analysis is concerned with such questions as: ―How is policy ‗allocated‘
and disseminated to its target population?‖, ―What are the strategies for implementation? Will
these strategies achieve the policy‘s goals?‖, ―What is the reception given go the policy at the
site of implementation practice?‖, and ―Has the policy had material effects or largely
discursive ones?‖ (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010, pp. 55-56). Chapter Seven of my study launches
an inquiry into the outcomes of national higher education policy by undertaking a case study
of a particular Chinese university. Specifically, it examines what kinds of subjects and spaces
are discursively and materially constituted in the case-study university‘s efforts to respond to
national policies and programmes.
These three aspects of policy analysis—contextual, textual and consequential issues—
are adapted by the present study. Within a genealogical methodology, my study adopts a
critical policy analysis approach to understand and critique China‘s recent higher education
reform. According to Henry et al. (2001), critical policy analysis is ―a multidisciplinary field
of inquiry which brings the critical and structural insights of sociology to more traditional
approaches in (education) policy analysis. … this approach views as problematic those very
106
processes which more conventional accounts take for granted‖ (Henry et al., 2001, p.4). In
this way, critical policy analysis is consistent with the critique value of genealogy, which
aims to denaturalise conventional explanations for social phenomena by means of exposing
the nature of power relations and revealing how subjectivities are shaped and modified. In
specific terms, a Foucauldian method of critical policy analysis is possible at the following
levels (Olssen et al., 2004, p. 53):
• At the level at which the discursive and the material are inextricably linked
together (as apparatuses), as in the development of institutional forms such as the
clinic, the mental asylum, the prison or the school;
• At the level where institutional-discursive apparatuses conflict, as for instance
in the conflict over the control of birth between midwives and doctors; and
• At the level of the discursive as historically constituted material and ideological
forces, rendered comprehensible via genealogy.
Discursive and material apparatuses as well as their conflicts described in this quotation are
incorporated into the conceptual framework of governmentality, as shown in Figure 3.1.
Discursive and material apparatuses represent rationalities and technologies of government
which act on social subjects in order to steer, manage and change their behaviours. Conflicts
can occur between the one who exercises power and these who are subjectified, or between
powers at different levels such as national authorities who make policies and local institutions
that react to national policies in their own ways.
In this vein, my study conceptualises policies as ―programmes of government‖ which
mediate and articulate the ―rationalities of government‖ and the ―technologies of
government‖ (Miller and Rose, 2008; Rose and Miller, 2010). The study conducts a critical
analysis of higher education policy at the national level of China through the analytical lens
of governmentality in order to investigate the reforms introduced in contemporary Chinese
universities. Given that discursive and material apparatuses conflict with socio-political
forces at different levels, a case study method is employed to examine the institutional level
where national policies are implemented. The next section discusses this component of the
study.
4.4 Case study
This section of the chapter expounds on the research method of case study that is applied in
Chapter Seven to explore the outcomes of higher education policy at the national level.
107
According to Stake (1995), case study is ―the study of the particularity and complexity of a
single case, coming to understand its activity within important circumstances‖ (p. xi). Then
why do we intend to study a case? What can be counted as a case for study? Are there
different types of case studies? Also, how are case studies undertaken?
First, what is the intention in studying a case? It is the particularity of a single case
that appeals to the interest of researchers and attracts the attention of readers. Researchers
conduct a case study because the uniqueness of a single case can extend understanding and
experience of a particular issue (Stake, 2000). In-depth analysis of a case can achieve an
optimal understanding of the case itself (Stake, 2000). Specifically, a case study ―provides a
unique example of real people in real situations, enabling readers to understand ideas more
clearly than simply by presenting them with abstract theories or principles‖ (Cohen, Manion,
and Morrison, 2007, p. 181).
Second, what can be identified as a case for study? A case has to be equipped with
specific features that qualify it as a case for study. Stake (1995, 2000) specifies two
concepts—boundedness and behaviour patterns—for the case. First, the behaviour of the case
is patterned with coherence and sequence. Patterned behaviours can be identified in the
university such as mid-term and final-term examinations. Second, the case is a bounded and
integrated system. The case has working parts, whether working well or not; it is purposive,
whether rational or irrational (Stake, 2000). For instance, a university can be identified as a
case for study because it comprises different functional units and is purposive in terms of its
education services. Because the case is bounded, certain features are included within the
system and others are excluded. For example, the university‘s traditional functions are
teaching and researching. Hotels, factories and companies are conventionally outside the
campus. Chapter Seven of my thesis has a critical examination of these features, which helps
to identify the characteristics of a particular university at the local level in China.
Third, there are different types of case study. This study follows Stake‘s (1995, 2000)
classification: intrinsic case study, instrumental case study and collective case study. Intrinsic
case studies are undertaken for a better understanding of the specific case. In brief, studies are
conducted for an intrinsic interest in the case per se, for example, a particular university,
schools, departments, teachers or students. Instrumental case studies are adopted to gain
insight into an issue. They are mainly for external interest: ―the case is of secondary interest,
it plays a supportive role, and it facilitates our understanding of something else‖ (Stake, 2000,
p. 437). For instance, in order to have a practical and in-depth understanding of the emerging
108
phenomenon that universities tend to be more and more enterprising, a particular university
may be scrutinised to support the analysis of this issue. Collective case studies are joint
studies of a number of cases to gain a full picture of an issue. Therefore, they are instrumental
studies extended to several cases (Stake, 2000). For example, a number of universities may
be selected for investigation in order to gain a better understanding of the issue of the
enterprise university. My study adopts the instrumental case study. A university in the local
context—Pioneering University (a pseudonym)—is studied to better understand China‘s
higher education reform. Details about this instrumental case study will be discussed in
Section 4.5.3 of this chapter.
Finally, how to do case studies? Stake (2000) outlines five processes for conducting a
case study. First, the nature of the case should be identified: whether it is intrinsic,
instrumental, or collective. My study incorporates an instrumental case study as mentioned in
the previous paragraph as it helps to facilitate the understanding of higher education reform in
modern China.
Second, the contexts and situations of the case need to be stated. The particular case
may be within a number of contexts such as historical, physical, economic, political, and
ethical environments. Situations are the immediate setting where the case is situated—
―subsections (e.g., production, marketing, sales departments), groups (e.g. students, teachers,
parents), occasions (e.g. workdays, holidays, days near holidays)‖ (Stake, 2000, p. 440). The
present study also provides contextual and situational information in analysing reform of
China‘s higher education. For example, international competition of human capital is a
pressing circumstance China is now facing.
Third, the case study is organised around research questions. Specific aims centring
on the study‘s key research question have been stated in Section 1.2 of Chapter One. The
following research design in Section 4.5 of this chapter is organised around these purposes
and research questions.
Fourth, types of data are first identified according to research questions and then
collected and analysed. Although typical data can be identified according to research
questions, data collection may be constrained by time and resources for research. For instance
funding and access to key players in the policy process who are probably higher authorities
can become issues particularly for students conducting research (Taylor et al., 1997).
Limitations on data collection for this study will be discussed in the next section.
109
Finally, Stake (2000) argues for storytelling as a way of composing the report for the
case study: ―what results may be the case‘s own story, but the report will be the researcher‘s
dressing of the case‘s own story‖ (p. 441). In this respect, the researcher decides how the
report is designed and what will be included in the report. With regard to my study, it adopts
a situated style of storytelling. According to Larner and Le Heron (2002), a situated method
is a research perspective or approach that is used to examine the materialised effects of
governing discourses and practices in particular contexts. That is, it explores how local
people and places are reframed in relation to these discourses and practices at local sites.
Chapter Seven adopts this situated method of narration to examine the response of a single
Chinese university to higher education policy at the national level.
In sum, the nature and types of case studies, as well as the intention and ways of
undertaking a case study have been reviewed from Stake‘s (2000) exposition of case study
methodology. The next section presents the components for carrying out the study.
4.5 Components of the study
The study is composed of four parts, and each part provides answers to the purposes and
research questions proposed in Section 1.2. These parts are examined in the following
sections.
4.5.1 Constituting the global imaginary of the enterprise university
Aim 1: To examine global trends of restructuring in the higher education sector,
which contribute to the emergence of the enterprise university and comprise a theme
for analysis of contemporary Chinese universities at national and local levels.
Part one addresses Aim 1. The examination of globalisation and its influence on the
higher education sector worldwide has been conducted in the literature review of Chapter
Two. The result of this review has been reinterpreted through the theoretical framework of
social imaginary and governmentality adopted by the study in Chapter Three. To reiterate,
globalisation and the emergence of the enterprise university in this part are deemed as deeply-
rooted awareness of social groups who think, imagine and develop a common sense for
particular phenomena. These two phenomena are naturalised in the minds of social subjects
who are also the objects of political forms of rule.
110
4.5.2 Investigating the national imaginary of contemporary Chinese universities
Research aim
Aim 2: To analyse national policies of higher education in China from 1992 to 2010
in order to identify the government‘s response to national needs and global pressures
on the higher education sector.
Collection of data
Part two is to realise Aim 2. Data collection in this part is conducted on the official
website of the Ministry of Education (http://www.moe.edu.cn), which is one of the ministries
of the State Council—China‘s Central Government. The policy documents selected are all
milestone documents issued by the Chinese Communist Party, the State Council or the
Ministry of Education to promote educational reform in China. They have exerted a profound
influence on the readjustment of higher education institutions during different periods of
contemporary China. The eight policy documents are listed as follows:
1) Decision on the Reform of China’s Educational Structure (Chinese Communist
Party, 1985)
2) Outline of China’s Education Reform and Development (Chinese Communist
Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993)
3) Ninth 5-Year Plan for the Nation-wide Education Cause and Development
Programme for the year of 2010 (Ministry of Education, 1996)
4) Programme of Educational Revitalization for the Twenty-first Century (Ministry
of Education, 1998b)
5) Tenth 5-Year Plan for the Nation-wide Educational Cause (Ministry of Education,
2002)
6) 2003-2007 Action Plan for Invigorating Education (Ministry of Education, 2004)
7) Outline of the Eleventh 5-Year Plan for the Development of Nation-wide
Education Cause (Ministry of Education, 2007d)
8) Outline of State Plans for Medium and Long-term Reform and Development of
Education (Office of the Working Group of the Outline of State Plans for Medium
and Long-term Reform and Development of Education, 2010)
111
Although the 1985 Decision policy document was issued and implemented before 1992, it is
included in the analysis of the study because of its significance for higher education reform.
This milestone document initiated reform of the education sector in China since opening-up
policy in 1978, and it also exerted a far-reaching influence on the policy documents that
followed.
Analysis of data
The analysis of these eight policy documents undergoes five stages. First, a critical
reading of these documents is undertaken. Second, different themes relevant to the reforms of
higher education are discussed following the analysis and coding of data. For example,
following examination of the rationalities underpinning China‘s higher education reform by
focusing on China‘s national reality and international environment, five themes emerged
from the documents, as outlined in Section 5.3.1. These themes are international competition,
knowledge economy, human capital, the introduction of the socialist market economy, and
building a xiaokang (moderately prosperous) society. Third, these themes are analysed
through the theoretical framework adopted by the study. For instance, the reason for
developing human capital through higher education reform is because it was deemed to be
able to transform the burden of the large population into the advantage of quality human
resources required by China‘s economic development. Fourth, these themes are summarised
in Figure 4.1 and Figure 4.2 using a framework developed by Miller and Rose (2008). Finally,
a summary is provided of the arts of government embodied in the policies for reform of
higher education.
Rationalities
of the Policy
Programme
Knowledge of the objects of
government
…
Morality of authorities
…
Language of representation
(or discursive form of
apparatuses)
…
Figure 4. 1. Analysis of China‘s higher education policy using a governmentality framework
112
Technologies of the Policy Programme
Materialised forms of apparatuses
in Subjectivities Mechanisms or
strategies
Spaces
… …
Figure 4. 2. Analysis of China‘s higher education policy using a governmentality framework
It is important at this juncture to discuss the issue of translation of data. The literature
on the use of translated text in the research process emphasises the importance of establishing
protocols to manage the translation of data from one language to another (Chen and Boore,
2009; Eco, 2004; J. Liu, 2008). As this study relies on the analysis of documentary sources
written in Chinese (Mandarin), the researcher employed the following principles and methods
of translation to ensure that a high quality English transcription was secured, thus ensuring
the validity of the text subject to the analysis that followed. Following the researcher‘s
translation of the documents from Mandarin to the English language, a professional English-
Chinese translator with National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters
evaluated a number of sample passages with reference to the appropriacy of concepts,
terminology and punctuation employed. After this process of checking for accuracy, the
translator then undertook back-translation of these passages from English to Chinese in order
to ascertain equivalence between English and Mandarin. Appendix One provides an example
of this process. As for the titles of the eight policy documents, the Programme of Educational
Revitalization for the Twenty-first Century (1998), the 2003-2007 Action Plan for
Invigorating Education (2002), and the Outline of State Plans for Medium and Long-term
Reform and Development of Education (2010) were based on the translation provided by the
official website of China‘s Ministry of Education. The titles of the remaining five documents
were translated by the researcher and checked by the professional translator.
4.5.3 Investigating the local imaginary of one contemporary Chinese university
Research aim
113
Aim 3: To conduct a case study of a specific instance of reform in China in order to
investigate that institution‘s response to government policies of university
restructuring.
Collection of data
The present researcher selects Pioneering University as the case study for three
reasons. First, Pioneering University can be identified as a case for study because of its
boundedness and patterned behaviour as noted in Section 4.4. The university comprises
different operational units that conduct patterned behaviours, and it is purposive mainly in
terms of its educating services. Second, for the ―convenience sampling‖ (Cohen et al., 2007),
Pioneering University is the institution where the researcher formerly studied and attained a
Master of Arts degree. I was familiar with it, which made it easier for me to collect data.
Third, Pioneering University is one of China‘s higher-level universities designated for the
national construction of the ―Project 211‖ and the ―Project 985‖, two key practical
programmes initiated by the government for reforming China‘s higher education. Therefore,
it may have typical characteristics of contemporary Chinese universities for the study to
investigate.
Data for this part of investigation are searched and collected mainly from the official
website of Pioneering University (http://www.xmu.edu.cn) which is directly affiliated with
the Ministry of Education. After examination of the website, eight categories are constructed
by the researcher. These eight categories constitute the operational framework of Pioneering
University. Each category has its sub-categories, which are outlined in Table 4.1:
114
Table 4. 1
Operation framework of Pioneering University
1 Introduction to
Pioneering University
2 Organisational structure
The CCP Committee
Administrative departments
Teaching and scientific research units
Organisations for the masses
3 Enrolment
Bachelor‘s degree programmes
Postgraduate degree programmes
Programmes for overseas students
4 Student cultivation
Undergraduate education
Postgraduate education
Overseas student education
5 Graduates employment Student Career Centre
6 Scientific research Department of Science and Technology
Department of Social Sciences and Humanities
7 Social services Services for the economic zone on the west side of Taiwan Strait
Pioneering University Assets Management Co., Ltd
8 Campus services
Digital library
Campus E-card
Pioneering University Logistics Group
These eight categories cover a full range of Pioneering University‘s governing
activities—administrative affairs, teaching and research affairs, and social services—which
will provide an understanding of China‘s higher education reform. Moreover, investigation of
the governing activities in these eight categories can better reveal the human subjects and
spaces that are the effects of China‘s higher education reform. The data collected are in the
form of introductions to organisations, projects and programmes, prospectuses for enrolment
programmes, and policy documents. The nature of this case study is instrumental; that is, it
plays a supportive role to facilitate the understanding of national policies and their influence
on local universities. As a result, it is necessary to examine Pioneering University‘s overall
framework of governance, as demonstrated in Table 4.1, to identify what kinds of educational
subjects and spaces are constituted in its response to national policies.
115
Analysis of data
As the nature of this case study is instrumental which supports a better understanding
of the outcomes of national policy, the analysis focuses on what kinds of educational subjects
and spaces the university moulds and manages in a responsive way. For instance, in the
Prospectus for the Enrolment of Doctoral Programmes 2007 (Pioneering University, 2006),
the spaces are those faculties and departments that have the capacity to enrol doctoral
candidates; the subjects include both the state-funded doctoral students and self-funded
doctoral students. In the Prospectus for the Enrolment of Doctoral Programmes 2008
(Pioneering University, 2007b), the spaces are still those faculties and departments that have
the capacity to enrol doctoral candidates; but the subjects only include the self-funded
students who compete for scholarships for tuition fees and living allowance. Therefore, the
transformation of subjectivities from 2007 to 2008 indicates that Pioneering University is
impacted by the national policy of enhancing university autonomy to raise funds. The
university is also influenced by the competition mechanism of a market economy, which is
considered by the study as an external factor influencing the governing style of Chinese
universities. Table 4.2 is used to collect the subjects and spaces embedded in the documents,
which are organised according to the operational framework of Pioneering University:
Table 4. 2
Subjects and spaces constituted by Pioneering University
Spaces Subjects
1. Teaching and
learning
2. Research
3. Administration
4. Social and campus
services
4.5.4 Constituting the imaginaries of contemporary Chinese universities
Aim 4: To summarise the characteristics of contemporary Chinese universities based
on the analysis of national policy and the case study respectively.
Taking the national context as a reference point, this section first compares the
imaginary of contemporary Chinese universities constituted by the higher education policy
with the global imaginary of the enterprise university. Specifically, those subjects and spaces
116
with Chinese characteristics are collected. This section then compares the national context
with the local context. In particular, subjects and spaces shaped by national higher education
policy are compared with those constituted by Pioneering University. Such subjects and
spaces with local characteristics of Pioneering University are collected. As a result, my
understanding of contemporary Chinese universities falls into two levels: national and local,
as will be presented in Chapter Eight.
4.6 Chapter summary
In sum, genealogy was chosen for its critique value of investigating a particular social
phenomenon (Bevir, 2008, 2010; Foucault, 1977; Olssen et al., 2004). Within the
genealogical methodology, the method adopted for investigating higher education reform in
contemporary China was critical policy analysis (Ball, 1994; Olssen et al., 2004; Ozga, 2000;
Rizvi and Lingard, 2010; Taylor et al., 1997). Critical policy analysis is consistent with the
critique value of genealogy, which aims to denaturalise conventional explanations for social
phenomena by means of exposing the nature of power relations and revealing how
subjectivities are shaped and modified (Henry et al., 2001; Olssen et al., 2004). The study
conducted a critical analysis of higher education policy at the national level of China through
the analytical lens of governmentality in order to investigate the reforms introduced in
contemporary Chinese universities. In this respect, governmentality framework was used as
an analytic tool to critique national policy. Given that critical policy analysis involves
examining a social phenomenon at different levels, a case study method was employed to
examine the institutional level where national policies are implemented.
This chapter has presented the methodological framework and research design for the
study. There are four parts to the research design for the realisation of the four specific aims
of my study. The theoretical framework (Chapter 3) and methodological framework
(Section4.2, Section 4.3 and Section 4.4 of this chapter) underpin the whole research plan.
The relationship between the principal research question, specific research aims, research
design, theoretical framework, and methodological framework for the study is summarised in
Table 4.3.
117
Table 4. 3
Thesis framework
Research question: How have discourses of globalisation manifested and constituted forms of social and educational governance in China‘s higher
education sector during the period 1992 to 2010?
Specific research aims Research design Theoretical and methodological
framework
Aim 1: To examine global trends of restructuring in the higher
education sector, which contribute to the emergence of the
enterprise university and comprise a theme for analysis of
contemporary Chinese universities at national and local levels.
Part 1:
Constituting the global imaginary of
globalisation and the enterprise university
Social imaginary;
Governmentality framework
Aim 2: To analyse national policies of higher education in China
from 1992 to 2010 in order to identify the government‘s response to
national needs and global pressures on the higher education sector.
Part 2:
Investigating the national imaginary of
contemporary Chinese universities
Social imaginary;
Genealogical methodology:
A critical policy analysis within the
conceptual framework of
governmentality
Aim 3: To conduct a case study of a specific instance of reform in
China in order to investigate that institution‘s response to
government policies of university restructuring.
Part 3:
Investigating the local imaginary of one
contemporary Chinese university
Social imaginary;
Case study
Aim 4: To summarise the characteristics of contemporary Chinese
universities based on the analysis of national policy and the case
study respectively.
Part 4: Constituting the imaginaries of
contemporary Chinese universities
Social imaginary
118
119
CHAPTER FIVE
GOVERNMENTAL RATIONALITIES
OF HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY IN CHINA
5.1 Introduction
Higher education in China has undergone considerable changes following the economic
reforms and opening-up policy of 1978 and the introduction of a socialist market economy in
1992. In this period, the Chinese government used authoritarian means such as national plans
to intervene directly in the reform of China‘s higher education system. As well, influenced by
the process of globalisation, the government introduced neoliberal styles of governance such
as market mechanisms in the restructuring of the higher education sector. As a result, a new
form of university is emerging in contemporary China. Thus, in order to investigate the
transformation of Chinese universities, this chapter conducts a critical analysis of national
higher education policy through the conceptual framework of governmentality.
Following Ball (1994) and Taylor et al. (1997), the present study considers education
policy as both product and process involving ―the production of the text, the text itself,
ongoing modifications to the text and processes of implementation into practice‖ (Taylor et
al., 1997, p. 23). Therefore, policy analysis consists of the examination of the context in
which policy is produced, the policy text itself, and the outcomes of policy implementation. It
is difficult for the present researcher to investigate the contested process of policy production,
for it is confined to the policy panels, higher authorities and other interest groups in China to
which I do not have access. For example, the Chinese Communist Party‘s (CCP)
Organisation Department oversees the appointment of senior academics to university
governing and management positions and policy decisions are made at the official
institutional level. Instead, Chapter Five and Chapter Six of the study undertake a critical
analysis of those available policy documents, which result from the contested process of
policy production. Furthermore, a case study is undertaken in Chapter Seven to examine the
implementation of policies.
A critical policy analysis focuses on interrogating social phenomena that are easily
taken for granted by conventional accounts of the policy (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010).
Therefore, critical policy analysis is consistent with the critique value of genealogy, which
aims to denaturalise conventional explanations for particular social phenomena by exposing
120
the nature of power relations (Olssen et al., 2004). Specifically, a genealogical analysis of
policy reveals how social spaces and subjectivities are constituted and transformed by the
exercise of power. In this regard, this chapter conducts a critical analysis of higher education
policy at the national level of China and re-narrates the story of higher education reform. This
re-narration is embedded in the analytical framework of governmentality which shows how
political authorities rationalise reform practices and intervene in this process.
As discussed in Chapter Three, according to British sociologists, Miller and Rose
(2008), the art of government consists of political rationalities and technologies. Specifically,
political rationalities comprise three elements: knowledge of the objects of government—the
deliberation of political authorities on social phenomena; morality of authorities—the duties
and principles of political authorities; and language of representation—the representation of
social phenomena in a thinkable and operable way (Miller and Rose, 2008). Technologies
incorporate mechanisms and strategies used to act on the conduct of individuals. Social
spaces and subjects are constructed as the effects of these governing practices (Miller and
Rose, 2008). From this, the chapter investigates higher education reform in contemporary
China by critically examining how political thoughts and actions attempt to regulate and steer
the operation of Chinese universities.
Eight national policy documents about higher education reform in China are
examined in the chapter. The documents selected are highly significant milestone documents
issued by the Chinese Communist Party, the State Council or the Ministry of Education
because they have exerted a strong influence on the readjustment of higher education
institutions in China. Four factors need to be addressed about the features of these policy
documents before the analysis begins.
First, these documents cover the reform of the whole education sector, of which
higher education is one part. It is necessary to introduce the broader context of China‘s
education system in some places of analysis to better examine the higher education sector.
Second, except for the Medium and Long-term Outline (2010), the other seven
documents are relatively short, consisting of 5 to 8 pages. In my analysis, line numbers are
used when providing quotations from these documents; for example, (Ministry of Education,
2002, line 23). With reference to citing segments from the Medium and Long-term Outline
document, point numbers are used to indicate the particular section that states an
121
independent point; for example, (Office of the Working Group of the Outline of State Plans
for Medium and Long-term Reform and Development of Education, 2010, Point 7).
Third, because these documents are relatively short, they do not provide detailed
statements to accompany some concepts. For example, the 21st Century Programme (1998b)
states that university autonomy should be enhanced according to the Higher Education Law
of the People’s Republic of China (1998). No details are provided, however, about the
prescriptions of the Higher Education Law for university autonomy. At this point, the study
refers to the Higher Education Law (1998) in order to better analyse the concept of university
autonomy in China. As noted in Chapter One, the present author is the product of China‘s
education system. Therefore, in some cases, the analysis refers to my educational experiences
for a better representation of China‘s higher education.
Fourth, concepts in these policy documents encapsulate particular Chinese features. In
these cases, the thesis first uses Chinese Pinyin (the phonetic system of the Chinese language),
and then provides English translation in brackets. For example, a xiaokang (moderately
prosperous) society is a typical Chinese concept. These Chinese Pinyin and parallel English
translations are listed in the List of Abbreviations and Translations of Chinese Concepts.
This chapter is divided into four sections. Section 5.1 provides an introduction to the
chapter and Section 5.4 summarises the critical policy analysis undertaken by the study in the
chapter. Section 5.2 analyses the policy document, Decision on the Reform of China’s
Educational Structure (Chinese Communist Party, 1985). Although this document, issued in
1985, is not located in the time period from 1992 to 2010, it foreshadowed profound reforms
to China‘s higher education. Hence, this document is included in the analysis. The analysis in
this section begins by setting the policy context and considers those general social, political,
economic and cultural circumstances, under which policy texts were produced. Specific
reference is made to the public recommendations of the Director of the General Office of the
Central Committee of the CCP, a key insider of the powerful policy-drafting group for insight
into the policy production process. Then, the policy text is scrutinised by the analytical
framework of governmentality to suggest the rationalities and technologies underpinning this
document. Finally, Figure 5.1 and Figure 5.2 are used to summarise the analysis of this
document.
The remaining seven policy documents (1992-2010) are examined together using the
governmentality framework. Section 5.3 examines underlying rationales for each document.
122
The first part of Section 5.3 addresses the question of how the government identifies
problems of China‘s higher education system and makes justifications for the use of
particular strategies and tactics to address these problems. Second, the Chinese government‘s
duties and principles in managing higher education reform are examined. Third, discourses
that the government employs to articulate and represent relevant problems, justifications,
duties and principles are analysed. Finally, Figure 5.1 summarises the analysis of Section 5.3.
Governmental technologies of China‘s higher education policy will be investigated in
Chapter Six.
Rationalities
of the policy
programme
Knowledge of the objects
of government
Morality of authorities
Language of representation
(or discursive forms of
apparatuses)
Figure 5. 1. Rationalities of the policy
Technologies of the policy programme
Materialised forms of apparatuses
in Subjectivities Mechanisms or
strategies
Spaces
Figure 5. 2. Technologies of the policy
5.2 Decision on the Reform of China’s Educational Structure (1985): Initiator of
higher education reform
Whilst this study is concerned with the period from 1992 to 2010, it is necessary to consider
the implications of a seminal policy document, the Decision on the Reform of China’s
Educational Structure (Chinese Communist Party, 1985), which was issued and implemented
in 1985. This document is included in the analysis, as it initiated the reforms to higher
education in China that followed the opening-up policy in 1978. It has also exerted a
profound influence on following higher education policies. This is detailed in the next section.
123
5.2.1 Policy context
When the Cultural Revolution finally concluded in 1976, leaders of the Chinese Communist
Party addressed the task of restoring the damaged education system and developing the
national economy. The higher education system, as a crucial part of social and economic
development, also started to experience reforms. The most significant event was the
reintroduction of the national university entrance examination system in 1977. This system
has been maintained to date and has become an important yardstick for rencai (specialised
and talented human resources) selection.
The focus on economic development was established as China‘s policy prerogative at
the conference of the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CCP in
December 1978. ―Focusing on the central task of economic construction‖ has been embedded
in policy discourse since then and the challenge of promoting and supporting economic
development has become the priority of the national agenda. The September 1982 meeting of
the Twelfth National Congress of the CCP identified education as one of the five strategic
priorities—together with agriculture, energy, communication, and science—for the
development of national economy (Cheng, 2006; Wang, 2008b). A socialist education system
with Chinese characteristics was sought henceforth in order to serve China‘s socialist
modernisation. This socialist education system, as it applies to higher education, is the
analytical object of the present study.
The notion that educational reform serves economic development is further reflected
in documents that followed. In October 1984, the Decision on the Reform of China’s
Economic Structure was issued in the Third Plenum of the Twelfth Central Committee of the
CCP. This policy document states that ―with the reform of the economic system, the systems
of science and technology as well as education have become a strategic task that needs to be
undertaken urgently‖ (Ministry of Education, 1998a, p. 29). In the same month, the Central
Committee of the CCP placed the issue of education reform at the top of its agenda and set a
special group to draft policy for reform. After a series of investigations, studies and revisions,
the Decision on the Reform of China’s Educational Structure (hereafter 1985 Decision) was
issued in May 1985. In this context, the 1985 Decision can be seen as a response to the
broader policy agenda for economic reform. Before conducting a critical policy analysis of
the 1985 Decision, it is necessary to introduce how this policy document was drafted and
what kinds of investigations and studies were conducted from the perspective of an insider of
the policy-drafting group.
124
Immediately after the decision to draft an educational reform document in May 1985,
Hu Qili, then Director of the General Office of the Central Committee of the CCP, was
appointed to take charge of the task. Following a review of the literature on education
systems in nations such as the former Soviet Union, the United States, and post-war Germany
and Japan, and based on investigations in schools and universities where he consulted with
teachers, parents and students in the provinces of Auhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Guangdong,
Hu concluded that major reforms were required (Hu, 2008).
China‘s education system was stultified by the requirements of the former planned
economic system. Hu (2008) argued that this rigid education pattern from a planned economy
could not promote the economic development necessary for the reforms heralded by the
opening-up period. With reference to the higher education sector, one type of university
management model had been adopted across the nation. That is, all universities followed the
same system of enrolment and job assignment upon graduation, a national examination
system, and set the same textbooks and programmes. As well, universities lacked autonomy,
higher education was disadvantaged in rural areas, and perhaps as a legacy of the Cultural
Revolution, university teachers were considered to have low social status.
On the basis of this investigation, in December 1984, Hu drafted a report to the
Central Committee of the CCP about the problems of the current education system together
with his suggestions for reform. With regard to the higher education sector, his suggestions
were mainly as follows:
The administrative system of the universities needs to be reformed. First and
foremost, the system of enrolment and job assignment upon graduation needs to
be reformed. Under the guidance of the CCP and national policies, the way that
all the universities have to enrol and assign students according to national plans
needs to be gradually changed. It is necessary to motivate universities to adjust to
social development. The over-administration from the government has to be
changed so as to increase university autonomy and creativity. (Hu, 2008)
The Central Committee of the CCP made the decision to draft a reforming education
policy document based on Hu‘s report. In January 1985, those who had drafted the policy
document for the reform of China‘s economic structure joined the drafting group for the 1985
Decision document (Hu, 2008). As a result, the fifth draft was produced and disseminated to
local governments and non-governmental organisations to solicit opinions. In order to draw
on international experience, the Ministry of Education sent a research group with the eighth
draft to the United States to seek input from Chinese-American experts and scholars,
125
including Yang Zhengning, Li Zhengdao and other renowned scholars. Following this
consultation, the ninth draft was finalised and approved by the Central Committee of the CCP
and the State Council.
The 1985 Decision was the result of a series of field investigations, surveys and
revisions. Both national reality and international experience were taken into consideration.
This policy document was highly influential and impacted on those higher education policies
that followed. The next section conducts a critical analysis of this policy document in order to
examine how Chinese forms of governance enabled and constrained the higher education
sector through policy production.
5.2.2 Rationalities of the 1985 Decision
Governmental rationalities of the policy document help to problematise and represent social
phenomena in such a way that governing authorities are able to act on social subjects through
technological interventions. Accordingly, a critical analysis of the rationalities articulated by
the policy document reveals the intentions of political authorities. As outlined in Section 3.3
of Chapter Three, rationalities of government consist of knowledge of the objects of
government, morality of authorities, and the language of representation (Miller and Rose,
2008). The next section analyses how government authorities deliberate on the nature of the
objects they seek to administer and regulate.
Knowledge of the objects of government
Following Miller and Rose (2008), knowledge of the objects of government is concerned
with political authorities‘ understandings of the objects governed. The objects of governing
activities can be the population, the economy and individuals. Objects have their own
characteristics and challenges such as over-population in the eastern coastal area of China
that results from mass migration from the poorer western provinces. Furthermore, the objects
are situated in certain contexts such as the broader context of globalisation. In view of the
nature of the objects, government authorities specify the characteristics, problems and
surrounding environment of the objects through political thinking and with the assistance of
certain techniques. The object in this section is China‘s higher education sector around the
year 1985. The following parts examine the Chinese government‘s understandings of the
nature of the higher education sector articulated by the 1985 Decision document.
126
With the shift of policy emphasis from political struggle to economic development in
the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CCP in 1978 and the decision to
reform the economic system in the Third Plenum of the CCP‘s Twelfth Central Committee in
1984, governing authorities began to comprehend the importance of rencai and education for
economic development:
From now on rencai is a decisive factor in the success of all matters. In order to
solve the problem of human resources, it is necessary to make a great leap of the
educational cause on the basis of economic development. … Education must
serve the socialist construction, and socialist construction must rely on education.
The socialist modernisation requires us to boldly employ and upgrade current
rencai. (Chinese Communist Party, 1985, lines 3-5)
The reliance on specialised human resources reflects the reality that governing authorities
viewed the relationship between education and economy as reciprocal. Education,
particularly higher education, was envisaged in terms of its human capital potential for
economic development. In response to identifying the relationship between education and the
economy as reciprocal, political authorities problematised the challenges facing the education
sector at that time:
Currently, main problems consist in the following three aspects. First, on the
issue of the educational management, relevant departments of the government
over-control the schools, especially the universities and colleges, and make them
lose their vigour. Second, on the issue of educational structure, there exists an
imbalanced ratio of disciplines, departments and administration levels inside the
higher education sector. Third, on the issue of educational ideas, curricula and
methods, the content of a great number of courses are out-of-date; the pedagogies
are rigid and inflexible; practice is not emphasised; and the setup of specialties is
too narrow. As a result, all of these problems separate the education from
economic and social development to varying degrees, and make education sector
lag far behind contemporary sciences and cultures of the world. (Chinese
Communist Party, 1985, lines 22-29)
The problematic situation of the higher education sector described in the quotation
could be ascribed to the rigid pattern left by the planned economy system. As noted in
Section 5.2.1, Hu‘s (2008) investigation identified the legacy of a singular university model
as detrimental to the higher education sector. The government directed development of
universities through making nation-wide plans that determined student enrolment and the
setup of disciplinary specialties. The assigned graduate employment did not take account of
the particular needs of local districts and provinces. Hu‘s (2008) review noted that China‘s
higher education system during this period lacked the vigour to serve economic development
because it was rigidly planned.
127
Moreover, the 1985 Decision established international benchmarking standards which,
by comparison, indicated that China had fallen behind world standards with reference to
scientific and technological dimensions. In this way, international benchmarking constructed
the imaginary of a ―crisis‖ or ―uncertainty‖ (Hay and Kapitzke, 2009) in which China was
backward and not competitive on the global stage. This conception of uncertainty could be
embraced by Chinese citizens, and could also be used to mobilise them to improve higher
education in order for China to be globally competitive. Accordingly, ethical citizens willing
to contribute to the development of their country were constituted as subjects (Foucault,
1997a). However, such patriotic subjects required the knowledge, skills and capacities
necessary for national development. This justified higher education reform in order to
educate and prepare citizens for China‘s economic development and global competitiveness.
Therefore, the process of international benchmarking and placement of China in an inferior
position by world standards rationalised the necessity for the reform of the higher education
system. Having examined the problems of China‘s higher education system and the
justification for reform, the next section investigates the duties and principles of the Chinese
government encoded in the 1985 Decision document.
Morality of authorities
The concept of morality employed here is different from Foucault‘s (1997a) notion of ethics
which is concerned with the relationship to oneself with respect to the constitution of self-
obligatory subjects for the well-being of the self and society. According to Miller and Rose
(2008), the morality of authorities delineates the powers, duties and principles that are
appropriate for authorities and this entails two factors. One is the appropriate distribution of
duties among authorities, and the other involves the principles used to guide governing
practices such as freedom, equality, responsibility, and economic efficiency. Such
governmental principles can inform the technologies and mechanisms used by political
authorities to regulate social phenomena or personal conduct. For example, the principle of
freedom leads to the adoption of the mechanism of enhancing university autonomy. The
particular mechanisms and strategies of governance will be discussed in section 5.2.3.
Before analysing the morality of authorities, it is necessary to briefly introduce the
authoritative structure in contemporary China. The National People‘s Congress (NPC) is the
organ of supreme power and has the highest authority. Representatives of the NPC are
128
elected in the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities according to the ratio of
population. The State Council, or the Central People‘s Government, is the executive organ of
the NPC. The State Council is composed of 28 ministries and commissions such as the
Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Development and
Reform Commission. Local governments at different levels are the executive organs of local
people‘s congress. There are three main levels of local governments, namely, provincial,
municipal and county.
In China, the Chinese Communist Party is the administrative or ruling party that
directs the socialist construction of modern China. The whole administrative structure of
governments is paralleled by an echelon of the CCP at each level of government, and this
shapes a dual leadership system—local government authorities and local-level Party
Committees (Zhao, 1998). However, the government is still led by the CCP. This dual
leadership system also exists in universities. Although the university president has the highest
authority to manage the university, his or her power is still limited by the university-level
CCP Committee as the party secretary of this Committee holds supreme authority.
Consequently, different authorities are assigned with different tasks and duties
according to the gradation of powers. The hierarchy of authorities is also manifested in the
1985 Decision. At the top of the hierarchy, the political objective of the CCP was to centrally
direct educational undertakings and to prepare high quality socialist rencai for China‘s
economic and social development in the 1990s and at the start of the twenty-first century
(Chinese Communist Party, 1985). Hence, the CCP played a central role in controlling the
higher education reform. Its form of control consisted in directing the production of socialist
human resources obedient to the leadership of the CCP.
The State Education Commission—the name was changed to the Ministry of
Education in 1998—could be considered being at the middle level of the hierarchy. The
Commission was established under the guidance of the Central Government and the CCP,
and was responsible for educational affairs at the lower and local levels. In general, the duty
of the State Education Commission was to assist the government in managing higher
education reform (Chinese Communist Party, 1985). Specifically, the Commission carried
out a range of activities. For example, the evaluation of university performance was
conducted periodically by the Commission. Supports and rewards were provided if the
university achieved an excellent performance according to the criteria of assessment.
129
Conversely, universities were required to make readjustment or would be suspended if they
performed badly (Chinese Communist Party, 1985, lines 117-119).
The requirement to evaluate university performance could be envisaged as an
accountability mechanism. The employment of mechanisms to measure performance was
indicative of the way in which the university constructed itself as an autonomous entity
responsible for its own performance (Vidovich et al., 2007; Yang et al., 2007). Meanwhile, in
an effort to be productive and improve standards, the university was constituted as an
entrepreneurial body that endeavoured to achieve excellent performance for the purpose of
surviving and obtaining rewards. Therefore, one of the duties of the State Education
Commission was to construct autonomous and enterprising higher education institutions.
At the local level, the CCP in individual universities started to devolve the power to
local institutions which would have more autonomy and responsibilities to develop their own
educational cause in line with the 1985 Decision document. The principle of devolving
authority and enhancing university autonomy could be viewed as synergic technologies of the
government used to reform the higher education system. This is discussed in detail in Section
5.2.3 of the chapter.
In sum, the distribution of tasks among political authorities in the 1985 Decision was
based on the hierarchical system of China‘s authoritative structure. The CCP directed and
dominated the reform process by framing decision making in terms of policy goals aimed at
producing socialist human resources and obedient subjects. Accompanying the authoritarian
style of governance in the policy document of the 1985 Decision were decentralisation,
devolution and accountability mechanisms, representing neoliberal forms of governance.
These neoliberal technologies are further examined in Section 5.2.3. Both authoritarian and
neoliberal forms of governance can be investigated further by analysing discursive forms of
apparatuses as follows.
Language of representation
Policy documents exist in a linguistic form. The policy language is, by nature, a kind of
―intellectual machinery or discursive apparatus for rendering reality thinkable in such a way
that it is amenable to political deliberations‖ (Miller and Rose, 2008, p. 59). As outlined in
the theoretical framework, the significance of reality consists in the collective imaginaries of
social groups. That is, the real world is meaningful through people‘s efforts of thinking and
130
imagination. In this respect, language is used to articulate people‘s thinking or perception
about the reality. The device of language is also utilised by political authorities to represent
social phenomena, which are the objects of their governing activities. The purpose of this
discursive practice is not only to represent reality, but also to make truth claims about the
perceived real world. Consequently, the discourses that produce truths help to restructure
people‘s thoughts in such a way that technological intervention can be made possible.
Accordingly, this section aims to examine how the discourses of the 1985 Decision (Chinese
Communist Party, 1985) represent the reality of China‘s higher education around the year
1985 and produce certain truth claims about it.
Rencai is a catchword of the 1985 Decision document. It appears 19 times throughout
the short document. As noted in Section 5.2.2, the principal objective of the 1985 Decision
was to cultivate rencai through educational reform so as to serve economic development. In
this vein, ―rencai‖, ―educational reform‖ and ―economic construction‖ were closely related.
Rencai, which were to be produced by education, were a kind of human capital that played a
significant role in the economic development. The discursive emphasis on rencai verified the
importance of higher education reform, which was the principal source for the cultivation of
rencai.
As for the reform of university operations, ―autonomy‖ is another discursive point in
the 1985 Decision. The call to enhance the autonomy of universities implies that previously
the higher education sector had little autonomy due to an over-control by governing
authorities. The emergence of this discourse helped to claim the truth that through reform the
higher education sector could enjoy freedom to manage its own affairs. Specifically,
autonomy covered the setup of syllabus for teaching programmes, readjustment of specialties
and disciplines, as well as self-management of the funds apportioned by the government
(Chinese Communist Party, 1985). Under a planned economy, the setup of university
syllabus, specialties and disciplines, as well as the use of funds were all strictly in line with
national plans. The disadvantage of this system was the disconnection of university
development from provincial and local social needs. In contrast, with the enhancement of
university autonomy, universities were more able to develop according to local needs.
Therefore, the underlying efficacy of the discursive practice of enhancing university
autonomy was to stimulate the university to adapt and attend to social and economic
development.
131
―Human resources‖, ―autonomy‖ and other words like ―performance‖, ―devolution‖,
―management system reform‖, and ―investment‖ are representative of neoliberal discourses
(see Section 2.3 and Section 2.4 in Chapter Two). These discourses are present in the 1985
Decision document. Therefore, this policy document also employed neoliberal discourses to
rationalise higher education reform. Within these discourses, universities were shaped, and
shaped themselves, as autonomous and independent enterprises that desired to enhance their
performance in order to compete for resources for self-development. They also became
ethical entities that shouldered the responsibility of producing high-level human resources for
national development. However, the 1985 Decision stipulates that the reform of higher
education during this period was to serve China‘s socialist economic construction. Hence,
socialist discourses permeate this document as well. ―(The CCP) direct‖, ―be under the
leadership (of the CCP)‖, and ―(the CCP or the government) take charge of‖ are verbs or
verbal phrases that connote authoritarian meanings. These discourses represent the
centralised control of the CCP in reform. Therefore, neoliberal and authoritarian discourses
coexist in the 1985 Decision document. After examining the rationalities of the 1985
Decision, the next section investigates what kinds of technological interventions are used in
accordance with the rationalities.
5.2.3 Technologies of the 1985 Decision
As noted in the previous section, governmental rationalities are styles of thinking, knowing,
problematising and representing a social phenomenon in order to make political intervention
possible. In this way, political intervention is informed by rationalities. The intervention is
then conducted with the help of governmental technologies. According to Miller and Rose
(2008), governmental technologies are ways of acting on the conduct of individuals through
technical interventions so as to transform their conduct for the convenience of governance.
As further argued by Miller and Rose (2008), technologies of government are, in fact, a
network of powers. The exercise of this network of powers over the actions of particular
social groups consists in the use of mechanisms and strategies as well as the construction of
subjectivities in certain spaces. Accordingly, this section examines what kinds of mechanisms
and strategies were used, and what kinds of subjects and spaces were discursively constructed
in this policy document.
132
Mechanisms and strategies
In contrast to discursive forms of apparatuses which provide rationales and legitimacy for
governing practice, mechanisms and strategies are materialised forms of apparatuses. They
are governmental technologies that help to regulate and transform individual behaviours
(Miller and Rose, 2008). Mechanisms and strategies are materialised apparatuses because
they are used by different forces to produce different material effects. These effects are the
constitution of social spaces and subjects. In particular, mechanisms and strategies are a
―complex assemblage of diverse forces—legal, architectural, professional, administrative,
financial, judgemental‖ (Miller and Rose, 2008, p. 63). For example, legislation, fund
appropriation and policies are main strategies adopted in managing higher education reform
in contemporary China. In order to conduct a critical policy analysis—that is, to denaturalise
conventional explanations for social phenomena by means of exposing power relations
embedded in the policy (Olssen et al., 2004)—it is important to investigate what kinds of
mechanisms and strategies are employed by political forces in the 1985 Decision document.
The governing technology of the 1985 Decision is manifested in the following
statement: ―In the meantime of strengthening macro-administration, the principle of
decentralisation and devolution should be practiced in order to enhance university autonomy‖
(lines 30-31). In China, macro-administration, macro-control or macro-regulation is a
measure the government employs to regulate the operation of the market economy through
indirect means such as policies, legislation and taxation. The purpose is to keep commodity
prices steady, curtail inflation, and maintain a steady development of economy. This measure
can be interpreted by the neoliberal mechanism of action-at-a-distance (Miller and Rose,
2008). Neoliberal modes of governance emphasise a minimised or limited role of government
in intervening social matters. Furthermore, they focus on constructing self-governing, self-
responsible and enterprising subjects. Such subjects are responsible for their own behaviours
and govern themselves in ways that maximise their own benefits. This mode of governance
enables the government to manage social issues at a distance.
The neoliberal technology of governing at a distance can also be identified from the
quotation in the previous paragraph. ―Macro-administration‖, ―decentralisation‖ and
―devolution‖ are terms that encapsulate measures for minimising government role in
managing China‘s higher education reform. The government managed the reform process in a
macro way so as to limit its direct intervention while also devolving its authority to
universities. Under this policy move, university autonomy was enhanced and the university
133
was constituted as an autonomous institution that had the desire and obligation to develop
itself. Specifically, university autonomy is presented in the following manner:
On the basis of implementing national policies, laws and plans, universities have
the right to enrol self-funded students and those who are entrusted by employing
units; to adjust the specialties, make teaching plans and syllabuses, and compile
and select teaching materials according to different social needs; to cooperate
with other social entities to conduct scientific research and development, thus
constituting associations of teaching, scientific research and production; to
nominate, appoint and dismiss vice presidents and other cadres of all levels; to
arrange national investment and funds for infrastructural construction; and to use
self-raised funds to carry out international educational and academic
communication. (Chinese Communist Party, 1985, lines 114-116)
The responsibility of an autonomous university was evident in two aspects. A university
could use state funds for infrastructural construction and independently raise funds to develop
international education. Also, it could develop its ―initiative and ability to serve social and
economic development‖ (Chinese Communist Party, 1985, lines 98-99). For example, a
university was expected to adjust its specialties and syllabus to local social needs. With
reference to the first responsibility, the university constituted itself as an entrepreneurial
entity to compete for state funds and raise other funds to develop itself. As for the second
responsibility, the university constituted itself as an obligatory and ethical institutional
subject for the benefit of society. As a result, by constituting the university as an autonomous,
obligatory and entrepreneurial entity, the government could realise its aim of governing at a
distance. Therefore, this neoliberal technology can be identified in the 1985 Decision
document.
However, as noted, authoritarian forms of governance are evident in the 1985
Decision policy document, as higher education reform was still ―under the guidance of
unified national educational guidelines and plans‖ (Chinese Communist Party, 1985, line 98).
These guidelines and plans intervened directly in the reform process. Therefore, authoritarian
and neoliberal strategies of governance co-exist in the 1985 Decision document. After
examining the mechanisms used by political authorities to manage and control the higher
education sector around the year 1985, it is necessary to investigate what kinds of social
spaces and subjectivities are constituted as effects of such political intervention.
Spaces and subjectivities
134
The constitution of social spaces and subjects are another two indispensable elements of
governmental technologies. According to Foucault (2000c), ―space is fundamental in any
form of communal life; space is fundamental in any exercise of power‖ (p. 361). Space
functions as a technique of government to ―ensure a certain allocation of people in space, a
canalisation of their circulation, as well as the coding of their reciprocal relations‖ (Foucault,
2000c, p. 361). Therefore, space can be considered in terms of an entrance into the domain of
power relations. That is, the exercise of power needs to be located in certain spaces. Spaces
might exist in concrete forms such as houses, hospitals and libraries, or in abstract forms such
as the Internet and specific disciplines. Moreover, the exercise of power or the conduct of
government has its own objects. These objects, whether being individuals, groups or a whole
population, are placed into certain subject positions as the effect of governing practices
(Foucault, 1982; Miller and Rose, 2008).
The university is a highly contested space of power relations. First, the most common
conception of a university in China is that it is a place where teaching and learning activities
take place. Within this space, power relations can be between teachers and students, students
and students, as well as teachers and teachers. Therefore, students and teachers are both
subjectified in the university space. In the 1985 Decision (Chinese Communist Party, 1985),
students, as the most important type of rencai, were placed in following subject positions:
We should cultivate tens of millions of educated, skilled and well-trained
labourers in industry, agriculture and business and other trades and professions.
We should cultivate tens of millions of factory directors, managers, engineers,
agronomists, economists, accountants, statisticians, and other economic and
technological workers who are equipped with the knowledge of modern science
and technology and business management as well as the ability to explore and
pioneer. We should also cultivate tens of thousands of educationists, scientists,
medical workers, theorists, cultural workers, press and publication workers,
lawyers, foreign affair workers, military workers and all kinds of Party and
government workers who could adjust to modern scientific and cultural
development and meet the needs of new technology revolution. All these rencai
must be with lofty ideals, integrity, knowledge and discipline; must have an
ardent love for socialist motherland and socialist cause; must be dedicated to
working hard for the prosperity of our country and people; must keep seeking
new knowledge; must have the spirit of science—being practical and realistic,
independent thinking, being bold in pioneering. (lines 6-11)
Generally, university students were expected to be cultivated into various types of specialised
human resources necessary for social and economic development. Two different yet co-
existing subject positions are evident; that is, students constructed themselves as self-
governing, enterprising subjects who were also loyal socialist subjects. Hence, students were
135
expected to use ―independent thinking‖ and thought to be ―self-disciplined‖. They exhibited
an enterprising spirit to ―explore‖ and ―pioneer‖ scientific knowledge while being adept in
―business management‖. They were also obligatory citizens who were ―dedicated to working
hard for the prosperity of our country and people‖. As well, students were constituted as
socialist subjects. No matter what kinds of skills and capabilities they had and what
occupations they took up, they were all socialist professionals. They were inculcated to
dedicate themselves to the socialist cause of rejuvenating China through education and
science. They were also required to obey the rules and guidance of the CCP.
Teachers are also important subjects in the space of the university. They were
constituted in the 1985 Decision in the following manner:
Our country has almost tens of millions of teachers. No matter how plain their life
is and no matter what kind of political turbulence they have experienced, they
have always firmly believed in the Party, loved the socialist motherland and been
loyal to the people‘s educational cause. They deserve the title of teacher. (lines
147-148)
The subject position of university teachers has been politicised at various times in China‘s
recent history. For example, teachers were denigrated as a ―stinking profession‖ during the
political turbulence of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). They were at the bottom of the
social stratum. In the years that followed the opening-up of the economy from 1978, teachers
were praised for their contribution to the nation as shown in the quotation. In this policy, they
were subjectified as patriotic professionals who devoted themselves to the educational
development of China. The statement also indicates that teachers were now constituted as
patriotic professionals who were required to be loyal to the Chinese Communist Party. This
subjectivity is indicative of an authoritarian form of rule, which involved the constitution of
socialist professionals who must obey the leadership and guidance of the CCP.
Moreover, university presidents are both the authority and object of governing
activities in the space of the university. Whilst they had authority to operate the university
through the arrangement of teaching and research activities, they were also subjectified by the
―president responsibility system‖ (Chinese Communist Party, 1985, line 153). Within this
system, university presidents were allocated more power and autonomy to manage the
university as a result of the strategy of devolution initiated by the government. In this vein,
they were subject to neoliberal technologies. However, such autonomy was limited by the
fact that the president‘s power was controlled by the university-level CCP Committee. For
example, the president had the power only to nominate vice presidents and other
136
administrative personnel, as the university-level CCP Committee decided the appointment
and dismissal of administrative staff (Wang, 1996). In this respect, the president was an
obedient subject who complied with the decisions of the CCP. Hence, despite its emphasis on
the devolution of authority, the president responsibility system of the 1985 Decision
maintained the authoritarian means of subjectivity formation that characterised China‘s
socialist system of governance.
In sum, the 1985 Decision construed the institution of the university as the main space
in which higher education reform was practiced by positioning students, teachers and
university presidents into different subject positions. Students were constituted as self-
governing and enterprising subjects who were, at the same time, responsible socialist
professionals; teachers were socialist subjects with firm beliefs in the CCP; university
presidents were both autonomous subjects who had the will to manage the university and
docile subjects who obeyed the decisions of the CCP. The analysis of the1985 Decision
document can be summarised in Figure 5.3 and Figure 5.4:
Rationalities
of the
1985
Decision
Knowledge of the
objects of government
Awareness of the importance of specialised and talented
human resources and higher education in economic
development
Problematisation of the current situation of the higher
education sector due to the rigid pattern left by the
planned economy
The conception of crisis that China was backward and not
competitive on the global stage in terms of scientific,
technological and cultural development
Morality of authorities Morality of the CCP: tight central control of the reform
Morality of the State Education Commission: managing
the higher education reform in a macro-way
Morality of the university-level CCP Committee:
devolving power to universities
Language of
representation
(or discursive forms of
apparatuses)
Neoliberal
discourses
Rencai, autonomy, performance,
decentralisation, devolution, management
system reform, macro-administration
Authoritarian
discourses
Direct, be under the leadership of, take
charge of
Figure 5. 3. Governing rationalities of the 1985 Decision
137
Technologies of the 1985 Decision
Materialised forms of apparatuses in Subjectivities
Mechanisms or strategies Spaces
Technologies of governing at a
distance:
The government manages the
reform process in a macro way
and devolves its authority to
universities in order to limit its
direct intervention
Universities are constituted as
autonomous and enterprising
entities that desire to develop
and reform.
Universities
Students are self-governing and
enterprising subjects who are also
obligatory socialist professionals
Teachers are socialist subjects with
firm beliefs in the CCP
University presidents are both
autonomous subjects who have the will
to manage the university and docile
subjects who obey the decisions of the
CCP
Figure 5. 4. Governing technologies of the 1985 Decision
5.3 Governmental rationalities of China’s higher education policy (1992-2010)
The previous section examined the policy document of the 1985 Decision, which initiated the
higher education reform in contemporary China. This section investigates China‘s higher
education policy since 1992 because, from then on, China‘s higher education sector
experienced deeper reforms and changes with the introduction of the ―socialist market
economy system‖ and the deepening of opening-up to international links. To this end, a
critical analysis of higher education policy from 1992 to 2010 is conducted through the
analytical framework of governmentality. Specifically, this section examines how political
authorities in China translate the knowledge of the global economic, political and cultural
environment into rationalities of higher education reform.
5.3.1 Knowledge of the objects of government
Knowledge of the objects of government in this section relates to the Chinese government‘s
deliberations on the nature of China‘s higher education sector during 1992 and 2010. The
interpretation of this kind of knowledge relies mainly on examining China‘s higher education
policies. There are seven significant national education policy documents during this period
of educational reform, as outlined in Section 4.5.2. These policies portray the reality of
China‘s higher education sector in particular periods, both nationally and internationally.
138
As stated in Section 1.2, the specific aim of the study in Chapter Five is to analyse
national policies of higher education in China in order to identify the Chinese government‘s
response to national needs and global pressures on the higher education sector. After
examining all the seven national education policy documents, five significant themes
emerged from the data. These are international competition, introduction of the socialist
market economy, knowledge economy, human capital, and building a xiaokang (moderately
prosperous) society. These themes establish the milieu for the reform of China‘s higher
education sector. International competition, knowledge economy and human capital are the
significant international contexts in different periods around which the reform of China‘s
higher education system took place. The introduction of the socialist market economy system
and building a xiaokang society are the principal national needs for development. In addition,
these themes are closely linked as evinced in the analysis of this section. The next part
investigates the theme of international competition which is recurrent across these documents.
5.3.1.1 International competition
The international situation is an important site for political authorities to deliberate and
translate into governmental rationalities. Of the seven educational policy documents collected
for the analysis, with the exception of the Ninth 5-Year Plan for the Nation-wide Education
Cause and Development Programme for the Year of 2010 (Ministry of Education, 1996), six
use the concept of international competition as the rationale for higher education reform.
During the early years following the foundation of People‘s Republic of China in
1949, communications outside the nation was limited. As noted in Chapter Two, the ―Great
Leap Forward‖, ―class struggle‖ and the ―Cultural Revolution‖ served to isolate China from
the world and limited the nation‘s economic development. It was only when the Third
Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee of the CCP decided in 1978 to implement the
policy of reform and opening-up that China‘s economic and social development was
addressed. Since the introduction of the socialist market economy in 1992, and in response to
the context of globalisation, China‘s political authorities have attached increasing importance
to the concept of international competition.
Against this background, the Outline of China’s Education Reform and Development
(Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993)
(hereafter 1993 Outline) emphasises that educational development was significant in building
139
national strength while advancing those scientific and technological developments that were
critical for international competition in a rapidly changing global politics. The concept of
international competition in the 1993 Outline encapsulates this view as evidenced in the
statement that ―those who can be in a strategically superior position in the international
competition of the 21st century are the ones who master the 21
st century education‖ (line 37).
The Programme of Educational Revitalization for the Twenty-first Century (Ministry
of Education, 1998b) (hereafter 21st Century Programme) is a policy document that was also
responsive to the international environment of that time. This document introduced the notion
of knowledge economy as a core component in the relationship between education, national
strength and international competitiveness. Knowledge economy discourses emerged in many
nations in response to the increasing global interconnectedness. These discourses
repositioned the view of the market and shifted its emphasis from manufacturing to
information, technology and knowledge workers (Ernst and Hart, 2008; Peters, 2007).
Education played a significant role in the development of these knowledge-based resources.
Therefore, this new view of the market constituted by the theme of international competition
in the 21st Century Programme (1998) was that higher education reform could promote the
development of the knowledge economy that would contribute to China‘s economic growth
and national power.
In contrast to the 21st Century Programme which emphasises the role of the
knowledge economy in the relationship between higher education, national power and
international competition, the Tenth 5-Year Plan for the Nation-wide Educational Cause
(Ministry of Education, 2002) (hereafter Tenth 5-Year Plan) focuses specifically on human
capital. In the context of globalisation and the knowledge economy, human capital is a key
factor that promotes social and economic development, for ―human resources depend on the
overall level of educational development‖ (line 37). Accordingly, the Tenth 5-Year Plan
attaches importance to the role of higher education in producing human capital necessary for
enhancing national power and international competitiveness.
The 2003-2007 Action Plan for Invigorating Education (Ministry of Education, 2004)
(hereafter 2003-2007 Action Plan) stresses the role of human capital in terms of guaranteeing
the quality of human resources. In the broader context of globalisation, China‘s social and
economic development relied increasingly on human capital. Furthermore, increased numbers
of Chinese citizens demanded greater access to higher education. Against this background,
the State Council decided to expand the higher education sector in 1999. Enrolments reached
140
3 200 000, compared with that of 1 083 000 in 1998 (Cheng, 2006). By 2002, the gross
enrolment rate of higher education reached about 15%, and this entered the threshold of a
mass higher education by international standards (Trow, 2005). With the rapid increase of
access to higher education resources, awareness of higher education quality was raised. Given
this context, the 2003-2007 Action Plan (2004) emphasises guaranteeing the quality of higher
education in the process of expansion. The specific strategy involved constructing world-
class universities and higher-level universities in order to produce quality human resources
necessary for international competitiveness (line 49).
The remaining two documents—the Outline of the Eleventh 5-Year Plan for the
Development of Nation-wide Education Cause (Ministry of Education, 2007d) (hereafter
Eleventh 5-Year Plan) and the Outline of State Plans for Medium and Long-term Reform and
Development of Education (2010-2020) (A Draft for Public Opinions) (Office of the Working
Group of the Outline of State Plans for Medium and Long-term Reform and Development of
Education, 2010) (hereafter Medium and Long-term Plan)—re-emphasise the role of high-
quality human resources in China‘s economic development. Both policies considered that
human capital, produced by higher education, was a strategic resource for enhancing the
international competitiveness of China‘s economy. In this way, the role of human capital in
economic development was constructed and employed by the Chinese government as the
rationale for higher education reform.
In sum, the concept of international competitiveness embedded in these six policy
documents can be considered as a way of problematising China‘s higher education system
and as the justification for reforming the sector. It was the problem that China was at an
uncertain position in the international competition that justified the need for educational
reform in order to produce information, technology and human capital that are crucial to
social and economic development. The next section discusses the second theme in the policy
environment for the reform of higher education.
5.3.1.2 The introduction of the socialist market economy
As analysed in Section 5.2, the 1985 Decision commenced the reform of China‘s higher
education sector by reshaping it to align with national economic development. The
devolution of government authority and increase of institutional autonomy were the principal
changes of this reform. However, significant problems remained in the university sector.
141
Although university autonomy increased, the university-level CCP Committee, which was the
representative of the CCP in local institutions, maintained an authoritative and decisive role
in the administration of universities. Moreover, by the end of the 1980s and at the beginning
of the 1990s, China‘s economy had stagnated while the international environment was
unstable following changes in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the former Soviet
Union. Against this background, Deng Xiaoping, then General Secretary of the CCP,
proposed to establish a socialist market economy during his Southern tour in 1992—Deng‘s
inspection visit to Nanchang, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shanghai and other southern cities.
According to Deng:
The essential difference between socialism and capitalism does not consist in
whether there is more role of plan than market or more role of market than plan in
socio-economic development. Planned economy does not equal socialism.
Capitalism has plans too. Market economy does not equal capitalism. Socialism
has markets too. Both plan and market are economic means. The essence of
socialism is to liberate the productive forces, to expand the productive forces, to
eradicate the system of exploitation, to annihilate polarisation, and finally to
attain common prosperity. (Xu and Sheng, 2005)
Deng‘s words are significant in justifying the adoption of market means for China‘s
economic development and establishing a hybrid model of governance that accommodates
socialist and market principles. Based on Deng‘s ―Southern Tour Speeches‖, in October 1992,
the Fourteenth National Congress of the CCP formally and systematically defined the concept
of a socialist market economy:
The socialist market economy we want to set up is that under the socialist
national macro-control, the market shall play an elemental role in the allocation
of resources so as to make economic activities follow the law of value and suit
the changing relations between supply and demand; that through the functioning
of price leverage and competition mechanism, resources should be allocated to
the places of better efficiency. Meanwhile, enterprises are under pressure and
motivated, thus the survival of the fittest being achieved; and that the market‘s
advantage of sensitivity to all kinds of economic signals shall be used for a timely
coordination of production and demand. In the meantime, we should recognise
that the market has its own disadvantages. Therefore, national macro-control of
economy should be strengthened and improved. (Xu and Sheng, 2005)
In this way, the socialist market economy can be interpreted as the economic development
through both socialist and market means. Typical terms of the market mechanism can be
identified in this definition: the ―law of value‖, ―relations between supply and demand‖,
―price leverage‖, ―competition mechanism‖, ―efficiency‖, ―enterprise‖, and ―survival of the
fittest‖. These mechanisms are indispensable elements of the market economy. In the context
142
of China‘s reform, a market economy is modified by the attribute ―socialist‖: ―under the
socialist national macro-control‖, ―the market has its own disadvantages‖ and ―national
macro-control of economy should be strengthened and improved‖. Therefore, the
authoritarian model of governance co-exists with the newly introduced neoliberal model. This
is consistent with Tikly‘s (2003) idea of governmentality-in-the-making because the
contemporary Chinese art of government consists of complex and sometimes conflicting
elements. The socialist national macro-control is the connection to the typical authoritarian
form of rule that has characterised China‘s long history. The introduction of the market
economy represents a movement towards a neoliberal way of administration within the
context of globalisation.
The 1993 Outline (Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s
Republic of China, 1993), issued in the next year of the introduction of the socialist market
economy, addressed this particular social, economic and political context. In its introductory
section, the policy document states that China‘s higher education sector needed to ―fit the
socialist market economy system‖ (line 9). Accordingly, the reform of China‘s higher
education sector was expected to be in line with economic reform. ―Only this way (of
introducing market means) can increase the vitality of the education system to actively suit
economic and social development‖ (line 112). Although market mechanisms were utilised to
liberate China‘s higher education system, authoritarian means were also adopted to centrally
control the reform. For example, higher education reform was required to ―abide by the
requirements of the Fourteenth National Congress of the CCP; be guided by the theories of
constructing socialism with Chinese characteristics; and adhere to the basic guidelines of the
CCP‖ (lines 7-8). Hence, the reform process was tightly controlled by the CCP and the
government. As a result, both neoliberal and authoritarian styles of governance can be
identified in the 1993 Outline, characterised by a hybrid way of using market mechanisms
and centralised control of the CCP.
Here, the concept of ―socialism with Chinese characteristics‖ should be noted. In
general terms, it refers to the socialism that is carried out according to China‘s national
requirements under the leadership of the CCP. The pressing reality facing China was its
underdeveloped economy, which required the introduction of a market economy system to
stimulate increased levels of productivity. However, as China‘s development was centrally
controlled and directed by the Chinese Communist Party, the concept of socialism with
143
Chinese characteristics denotes the hybrid model of governance whereby authoritarian and
neoliberal discourses and strategies co-exist.
The Ninth 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 1996) also addressed the introduction
of the market economy into socialist China. This document emphasises a gap between
China‘s education and that of moderately developed countries. The major problem was that
―the reform of the educational system cannot well fit the socialist market economy‖ (lines 34-
35). The higher education sector was seen as problematic as its structure was not reasonable
in terms of the overlapping configuration of specialties as well as low efficiencies of
university management (line 36). The following quotation indicates that China‘s higher
education sector required reforms by means of the market economy.
The current situation is that the economic system is transformed into a socialist
market economy system from the planned economy system, and the economic
growth mode is transformed into a high concentration pattern from the
decentration pattern. Under this circumstance, only by deepening educational
system reform can we fully mobilise governments at all levels, the whole society,
teachers and students to accelerate educational development. In view of the
drawback of the over-control by the government under the planned economy
system, the Outline of China’s Education Reform and Development issued by the
Central Committee of the CCP and the State Council put forth the directions and
means of reforming school management system, administration system,
educational investment system. … Full implementation of the 1993 Outline,
further promotion of the reform of education system and the establishment of a
new education system that fits the socialist market economy system should be
taken as a major and pressing task for the forthcoming educational cause.
(Ministry of Education, 1996, lines 51-55)
This extract demonstrates that higher education reform was driven by the transformation of
China‘s economic system from a planned economy system to the socialist market economy
system. Due to tight levels of control by the CCP and the government, the planned economy
restricted productive forces and limited economic development which, in turn, impacted
China‘s education system. As a policy document that followed the 1993 Outline (1993), the
Ninth 5-Year Plan (1996) attempted to reform China‘s higher education system by
introducing market means. That the Ninth 5-Year Plan was a further policy response to the
socialist market economy system is evident in its way of managing the relationship between
scale, speed and quality, efficiency.
The coordinated relationship between scale, speed and quality, efficiency should
be dealt with properly to consistently implement the policy of integrating scale,
speed and quality. Without scale, there will be no speed and without quality,
efficiency will not be materialised either. To expand the scale is a kind of
144
development and to improve quality and efficiency also demonstrates
development. Facing the trend of neglecting quality and efficiency while
emphasising quantity and speed, it is necessary for us to prioritise the issue of
improving quality and efficiency, so that the development mode of education
should be changed from scale expansion and speed acceleration to quality and
efficiency improvement. This principle should be implemented while deciding the
development strategies and speed and the deployment of educational resources
should also be decided by the integration of plan and market adjustment.
(Ministry of Education, 1996, lines 57-60)
Scale and speed are core terms of the planned economy, while quality and efficiency are two
classical terms of the market economy (Lou et al., 2006). The reason why quality and
efficiency were attached importance in this period of reform was the view that the
introduction of market mechanisms could remedy defects of the planned economy system.
Correspondingly, reform of the education system was expected to ―prioritise the issue of
improving quality and efficiency, so that the development mode of education should be
changed from scale expansion and speed acceleration to quality and efficiency improvement‖
(lines 58-59). Apart from the regulation of the education system through market means,
planned means were also adopted: ―the deployment of educational resources should also be
decided by the integration of plan and market adjustment‖ (line 60). Therefore, both market
means and planned means can be identified in the Ninth 5-Year Plan.
In China, educational reform policies are usually issued after an important event such
as a National People‘s Congress. In September 1997, the Fifteenth National Congress of the
CCP was held in Beijing and its major theme was the emphasis on the fact that China was
still in the primary stage of socialism; that is, a stage of underdevelopment which would last
for at least 100 years (Xu and Sheng, 2005). In consideration of this primary stage, the
principal task of the National People‘s Congress was to carry out economic reforms centred
on the socialist market economy system. Accordingly, the 21st Century Programme was
issued in 1998 for the sake of ―realising the objectives and tasks decided in the Fifteenth
National Congress of the CCP, rejuvenating the country through science and education, fully
promoting educational reform and development and enhancing national quality and
creativity‖ (Ministry of Education, 1998, lines 1-2). The introduction of market mechanisms
into the higher education system can be noted in the following statement:
The development of higher vocational education should be geared to local social
and economic development and satisfy the needs of job markets where practical
human resources were badly needed by production, service and management
sectors. (Ministry of Education, 1998b, line 133)
145
Under the planned economy system, the development of higher education was planned by
central political authorities and graduates were assigned to job positions according to national
plans. By contrast, the 21st Century Programme (1998) introduced a practical and utilitarian
means to address student employment, namely, the job market. In this way, graduates sought
employment in the emerging space of the job market based on their own job intentions. Local
production, service and management sectors could better select the human resources they
required. Therefore, the higher education sector, which generated human capital, was
reconfigured to suit local social and economic development through the regulation of job
markets.
As noted in Section 3.3.4, despite the employment of neoliberal market mechanisms,
planned authoritarian mechanisms remained principal regulatory means in contemporary
China. Following the Ninth 5-Year Plan (1996), the Tenth 5-Year Plan was issued in 2002.
This Plan stresses the importance of the tenth 5-year plan for China‘s social and economic
development. In particular, the development of the socialist market economy system
proposed more requirements for the structure and quality of the workforce (lines 41-42). With
regard to this situation, it was noted that China‘s higher education system needed reform.
According to the Tenth 5-Year Plan, ―a vigorous socialist education system with Chinese
characteristics is sought to be established with great effort to align with the socialist market
economy and the needs of all-round social development‖ (Ministry of Education, 2002, lines
59-60). As outlined earlier in this section, both the socialist education system with Chinese
characteristics and the socialist market economy embody a hybrid model of governance: a
socialist authoritarian model and a market neoliberal model. The following quotation further
demonstrates the adoption of market mechanisms for reforming the education system:
(The reform of education system) should follow educational laws and
appropriately use market means to introduce competition mechanisms. Schools
and universities should be actively geared towards society, continuously improve
internal management, enhance education quality and efficiency, and upgrade their
capacity for social services. (Ministry of Education, 2002, lines 191-192)
Three terms of market mechanisms are mentioned in the Tenth 5-Year Plan, that is,
competition, quality and efficiency. These terms are closely related. Competition is the
typical means of a market economy, while quality and efficiency are two major indicators of
competition. As noted earlier, quality and efficiency are defining terms in the market
economy and differ from scale and speed of the planned economy. Although the Tenth 5-
Year Plan has the features of a planned authoritarian system, market principles also underlay
146
the reform of the education system. This shows that a hybrid model of governance is evident
in the Tenth 5-Year Plan.
The Fifteenth National Congress of the CCP proposed to establish and improve the
socialist market economy system in the primary stage of socialism. Five years later, in
November 2002, the Sixteenth National People‘s Congress of the CCP claimed that China‘s
socialist market economy system had taken shape and that the transformation from a planned
economy to the socialist market economy had been realised. This is outlined in three ways
(Sun, 2002).
First, markets now played a fundamental role in resource allocation. Mandatory plans
for agricultural production had been abolished, while it applied to industrial production only
in relation to timber, gold, cigarette, salt, and natural gas. According to Sun (2002), the price
of goods and services was basically dependent on the regulatory forces of the market. Labour
markets were improving and the transaction volume of technology markets and primary land
markets increased rapidly. In the meantime, market regulation, market supervisory agencies
and accrediting bodies were gradually established and improved.
Second, a structure that took public ownership as the main body and pursued joint
development of diversified forms of ownership had emerged. A state-owned economy held a
dominant position, and its quality and efficiency had been enhanced considerably. The non-
public sectors of the economy developed rapidly and had become an important force in
supporting the national economy. The private sector of the economy occupied over one third
of the national economy, compared with that of 10% in 1990 (Sun, 2002).
Third, a macro-control system had been established. The transformation from
mandatory plans to economic, legal, and necessary administrative means, and the
transformation from direct regulation to indirect regulation had been realised. Economical
operation was regulated in a macro way by means of taxation, interest, price, and investment
policy.
Discursive traces of these three aspects that demonstrate the initial establishment of a
socialist market economy system in China can be found in the 2003-2007 Action Plan:
Policies, frameworks and systems should be improved for the benefit of
graduates‘ job seeking and enterprise pioneering. Avenues of employment should
be broadened in favour of the communication and network among graduates, job
markets and labour markets. The fundamental role of market in the allocation of
147
graduates should be further performed. (Ministry of Education, 2004, lines 142-
143)
The higher education reform in the 2003-2007 Action Plan (2004) made use of the role of
markets in the allocation of a special kind of resource: graduates. Various kinds of job
markets were constructed for graduates who were expected to find suitable employment and
for employers to select the best human resources for their needs.
As the Sixteenth National Congress of the CCP emphasised the important role of non-
public sectors in developing national economy, the 2003-2007 Action Plan had strong
support for the development of the private higher education sector. Its scale was encouraged
to expand. Non-government universities with excellent performance were praised and
rewarded. Moreover, public and private sectors were expected to co-develop and compete
with each other (Ministry of Education, 2004, lines 205-210).
Investment policy was another indirect regulatory means in the macro-regulation
system. The educational investment system was expected to align with the socialist market
economy according to the investment policy, as stated in the 2003-2007 Action Plan:
Governments should shoulder more responsibility for educational investment.
The increase of educational fiscal appropriation from governments of all levels
should be higher than the increase of regular financial revenues; per capita
educational funds for in-school students should be increased gradually; per capita
public funds for teacher salary and students should be increased gradually. … For
non-compulsory education, government investment was the main body, co-shared
by education receivers and other social entities. (Ministry of Education, 2004,
lines 233-235)
In this way, the government was the main investor in educational development. For non-
compulsory education—education in the years following junior higher school education—a
new investor was incorporated to share the cost of education: education receivers, namely,
students and their family members. Commonly in China, a student had to pay about AUD
1 000 to enter a public university and about AUD 2 000 to a non-government funded
university or college. As well, scholarships and student grants were introduced. Students had
to compete for entrance into a public or private university, indicating that competition
mechanisms operated during this period of reform.
After the Ninth 5-Year Plan in 1997 and the Tenth 5-Year Plan in 2002, the Eleventh
5-Year Plan was issued in 2007 by the Ministry of Education. Although this policy document
does not emphasise the relationship between the socialist market economy and educational
reform, its focus on market mechanisms can still be identified: ―Disciplinary configuration
148
and specialty set-up should be positively adjusted to the social needs. … Universities need to
timely readjust specialties and curricula according to the change of national and international
job markets‖ (Ministry of Education, 2007, lines 232-234). Here, both national and
international job markets are perceived as sites for benchmarking standards and for
establishing university specialties and curricula. According to Larner and Le Heron (2002),
benchmarking is ―an important social tool for thinking about the contemporary world‖ (p.
760). The Ninth 5-Year Plan (1997) suggests that universities use this conceptual and
technical tool to pursue ―best practice‖ for their own development. In this way, universities in
China were constructed as enterprises that utilised market techniques and tactics to seek the
most efficient means for development.
The Medium and Long-term Plan (2010), the most recently issued milestone
education policy document, aims to ―set up a vigorous, efficient, open education system that
fits the socialist market economy system and the goal of constructing a xiaokang (moderately
prosperous) society in an all-round way‖ (Office of the Working Group of the Outline of
State Plans for Medium and Long-term Reform and Development of Education, 2010, Point
3). The concept of a xiaokang society will be discussed later in Section 5.3.1.5. Therefore,
higher education reform in this period was guided by market mechanisms, the result of which
was expected to be a more efficient and open system. The following three features show the
changing epistemology about the introduction of a socialist market economy system in this
period of reform in China.
First, the practices of university management were reformed. The direct management
system was changed into an indirect and comprehensive system: ―(Institutional management)
should comprehensively use legislation, appropriation, plans, information service, policies
and necessary administrative means. Unnecessary administrative intervention should be
decreased‖ (Point 47). This indirect management system embodies the neoliberal technology
of governing at a distance (Miller and Rose, 2008). Instead of direct intervention, the Chinese
government adopted indirect means to regulate higher education reform. For example, by
passing laws, the government did not need to directly intervene in the reform process, as
universities were now required to restructure themselves according to such educational laws.
Hence, the government could realise its governance at a distance.
Second, competition mechanisms were adopted. For the provision of non-compulsory
education, especially that of higher education, ―fair play‖ was encouraged to let non-
governmental sectors participate in the provision of education services (Point 42). Fair play
149
or competition is indicative of neoliberal discourses. The Medium and Long-term Plan (2010)
introduced competitive mechanisms for the sake of encouraging private sectors to share the
responsibility of providing higher education services. Moreover, for the public education
sector, competition mechanisms were also employed to promote the construction of world-
class universities and disciplines (Point 22). Universities desired to be the best universities
which were more economically competitive and academically prestigious. In this connection,
the strategic move to construct world-class universities amongst Chinese universities
corresponds to the concept of the enterprise university proposed by Marginson and Considine
(2000), as economic competitiveness and academic prestige are the distinctive features of the
enterprise university.
Third, quality insurance is an important element of the Medium and Long-term Plan
(2010). In order to ensure the quality of higher education, ―special agencies and social
agencies are encouraged to evaluate the quality of disciplines, specialties, and courses inside
the university‖ (Point 40). Usually the evaluation was conducted by special delegation groups
or agencies of the Ministry of Education. Here, non-government agencies were encouraged to
take part in the evaluation process, the main purpose of which was to enhance the
transparency of evaluation. Hence, the conduct of public supervision and evaluation is a
distinguishing feature of the Medium and Long-term Plan (a Draft for Public Opinion).
In broad terms, the introduction of a socialist market economy into the reform of
China‘s higher education system is a strategy used by political authorities to address national
needs and global pressures. The socialist market economy embodies a hybrid model of
governance—socialist authoritarian and market neoliberal. The next section discusses how
knowledge economy discourses influence the political thinking of the Chinese government.
5.3.1.3 Knowledge economy
As examined in Section 2.3.1, under neoliberal discourses, knowledge is constituted as the
―driver of productivity and economic growth, leading to a new focus on the role of
information, technology and learning in economic performance‖ (OECD, 1996, p. 3). The
World Bank report (World Bank, 1998) also asserts that knowledge plays a significant role in
advancing economic and social well-being. However, a knowledge economy is, in fact, a late
phase of globalisation driven by neoliberal policy (Peters, 2007). Within discourses of the
knowledge economy, the market is expanded from a focus on manufactured products to a
150
more sophisticated focus on technology, knowledge workers and innovation (Ernst and Hart,
2008). As a result, a highly skilled and flexible workforce for enhancing competitive
advantage is constituted through discourses of a new global knowledge economy (Henry et
al., 2001).
The effect of these discourses is a shared social imaginary of a knowledge economy in
which the production, mastery and application of knowledge are perceived as important
means to secure wealth and well-being for society (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010). This imaginary
is now diffused from OECD countries to newly industrialising countries such as India and
Singapore to socialist countries such as China and Vietnam. Accordingly, the global
education sector is required to produce creative workforces equipped with knowledge that
makes them ―globally minded and interculturally confident‖, as well as life-long learners
(Rizvi and Lingard, 2010, p. 81). Specifically, universities have expanded their roles from
teaching and research to contributing to economic development by means of producing social,
intellectual and human capital. This imaginary of a global knowledge economy is also
adopted by political authorities and think tanks in China. Such strategically placed actors and
organisations translate the desired elements of the global knowledge economy into policies
and programmes for higher education reform. The 21st Century Programme (Ministry of
Education, 1998) is the first milestone policy document that introduced the theme of a
knowledge economy.
The 21st Century Programme document articulates its understanding of China‘s
higher education system and its international context as follows: ―In the forthcoming twenty-
first century, a knowledge economy with high technologies as its core will occupy a
predominant position. National power and international competitiveness will depend more on
educational development, sciences and technology as well as knowledge innovation‖
(Ministry of Education, 1998, lines 5-6). In this regard, political authorities in China
attempted to claim that education and a knowledge-driven economy should be strategically
placed as essential for China‘s development in the twenty-first century. According to the
requirements for educational reform in the 21st Century Programme, universities were
expected to keep pace with international academic, scientific and technological developments
and to become bases for the cultivation of high-level knowledge-innovation workforces.
Correspondingly, the production of specialised and talented human resources is
conceived as a central task for universities to build bases for knowledge and technology
innovation in the 21st Century Programme (1998). For example, academic leaders with
151
international reputations would be appointed to key educational positions; ten thousand star
teachers would be supported by scientific research funds to enhance their capacity to conduct
scientific research; international academic exchanges would also be encouraged between
Chinese and foreign scholars (lines 55-70). In particular, the ―211 Project‖, which
commenced in 1995, established a number of top-level universities and key disciplines that
provided an important foundation for the cultivation of creative human resources and the
construction of a national knowledge innovation system (line 72). High-technology industrial
clusters that were formed around universities became practical bases for developing elements
of a knowledge economy (line 110). Hence, academic leaders, top-level universities, key
disciplines and high-technology industrial clusters were perceived as key elements for
producing the human capital deemed necessary for development of China‘s knowledge
economy. This way of thinking by Chinese authorities considered the development of the
knowledge economy as the rationale for the reform of China‘s higher education sector at the
end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century.
The Tenth 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 2002) emphasises innovation for
developing a knowledge-based economy. As noted, innovation and technological
development are key discourses that characterise the knowledge economy. Accordingly,
political authorities in China launched two projects as stated in the Tenth 5-Year Plan: the
―211 Project‖ and the project of industrialising innovative technologies developed by
universities such as bio-technology and solar technology. During the tenth 5-year plan of
China‘s educational cause, the ―211 Project‖ was in the second phase aiming to develop
disciplines of innovative and advanced technologies. These key disciplines were constructed
as the spaces for knowledge innovation and technological research. Within these spaces,
academic leaders who were in the frontiers of international sciences and technologies were
constituted as key subjects to develop the knowledge economy in China.
As the second phase of the ―211 Project‖ helped to constitute universities as the sites
for scientific research and technological development, another project was used to construct
necessary spaces for putting the results of scientific and technological research into use, that
is, for commercialising those technologies incubated by universities (Ministry of Education,
2002). This project emphasised the cooperation between universities, scientific research
institutions and industries. ―University science parks‖ were established as ―incubators‖ for
new technologies. After technologies were incubated from science parks, universities
transferred them to industries and enterprises, from which they could secure income. In this
152
way, the emergence of university science parks involved Chinese universities in corporate
activities. The engagement with business partners is considered by Marginson and Considine
(2000) as one of the defining features of the enterprise university, which has emerged in an
international context.
Therefore, the ―211 Project‖ and the project of industrialising university-incubated
technologies were two closely related projects used to develop the knowledge economy in the
Tenth 5-Year Plan (2002). The ―211 Project‖ was responsible for generating the
achievements of scientific research and development, and the other project was used to
marketise the innovative technologies developed by universities. Both projects constructed
spaces such as key disciplines and university science parks, as well as subjects such as
academic leaders and managers of science parks. These newly emerging spaces and subjects
have become integral elements of contemporary Chinese universities.
The 2003-2007 Action Plan (2004) also attaches importance to technological
innovation in order to develop a so-called knowledge economy. The major task of the ―985
Project‖ in this phase was to build several world-class universities and a number of world-
renowned high-level research universities (Ministry of Education, 2004). In particular,
universities of the ―985 Project‖ were closely connected with the development of the national
innovation system to construct a number of scientific and technological innovation platforms
by international standards. Therefore, the ―985 Project‖ was the result of a further policy
strategy to upgrade the capacities of Chinese universities for technological innovation. The
purpose of this strategy was to construct institutions capable of reaching an international level
of scientific and technological innovation. In the 2003-2007 Action Plan, the ―985 Project‖
had a corresponding plan, namely, a ―plan for the scientific and technological innovation in
universities‖.
This plan fell within China‘s national innovation system and focused on technological
innovation. Specifically, a range of spaces inside universities were discursively constructed.
For example, a number of high-level national laboratories and national technical innovation
centres would be built. Guided by the principle of developing and commercialising
innovative technologies, a number of research bases would be refurbished and others newly
constructed. The relationship between production, teaching and researching were
strengthened to propel the cooperation between universities, scientific research institutes and
enterprises (lines 69-74). Therefore, both the ―985 Project‖ and the ―plan for the scientific
153
and technological innovation in universities‖ were outcomes of discursive practices of the
global knowledge economy, which underlines the importance of technological innovation.
Furthermore, the 2003-2007 Action Plan (2004) was implemented in a period which
marked the intensification of information technology (IT). The development of information
and communications technologies contributed to the emergence of a knowledge-based and
service-oriented economy (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010). Particularly, information technologies
revolutionised economic activities ―from an emphasis on goods to greater trade in services,
not only in business, educational and health services, but also in entertainment and lifestyle
products‖ (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010, p. 26). In this way, rapid flows of information
constituted a new imaginary of the global knowledge economy. Within this imaginary, the
access to information technology played a decisive role in enhancing productivity and
competitiveness in global markets of capital, information and services (Castells, 1996).
Political authorities in China translated this new imaginary of the global knowledge economy
into the ―project of educational informationisation‖ in the 2003-2007 Action Plan.
The ―project of educational informationisation‖ was used to modernise China‘s higher
education system by applying information technologies. According to the 2003-2007 Action
Plan, information technologies were expected to be widely applied in universities in order to
provide technical support for teaching and scientific research. The implementation of this
project required a number of spaces and subjects to be constituted. For instance, a public
service platform for network education would be built up. ―Digital campuses‖ in universities
and network colleges would also be constructed to promote the application of information
technologies in higher education. IT human resources were expected to be cultivated to better
serve the society and economy (lines 151-160). Hence, the emergence and transmission of
information technologies gave new meaning to the global imaginary of the knowledge
economy. China‘s higher education sector could not escape the influence of this new
technology. The desire for winning the international competition of national power—
including a nation‘s military, economic, political, technological and cultural power—drove
China‘s higher education sector to restructure itself by constituting spaces and subjects
necessary for developing information technologies.
The Eleventh 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 2007d) and the Medium and Long-
term Plan (Office of the Working Group of the Outline of State Plans for Medium and Long-
term Reform and Development of Education, 2010) share a similar pattern of reform with the
2003-2007 Action Plan in developing a knowledge economy. All the three policy documents
154
place emphasis on enhancing universities‘ capacity for technology innovation and
marketisation, as well as on promoting the application of information technology in education.
In effect, the 21st Century Programme (1998), the Tenth 5-Year Plan (2002), the
2003-2007 Action Plan (2004), the Eleventh 5-Year Plan (2007), and the Medium and Long-
term Plan (2010) all embody imaginaries of the global knowledge economy during different
periods of reform. These imaginaries are articulated through discourses such as human capital,
innovation, high technologies, commercialisation of technologies, information technologies
in higher education policy at the national level of China. Moreover, these discourses of
developing the knowledge economy by reforming China‘s higher education sector are
translated into particular plans, projects and programmes such as the ―Project 211‖ and the
―project of educational informationisation‖. Consequently, the desire and willingness to seek
institutional and individual development means that universities, teachers, students, academic
and administrative staff are subjectified within certain spaces such as national laboratories,
university science parks, and the cooperation between universities, research institutes and
industries under knowledge economy discourses. As noted in the theoretical framework for
this study, human capital is a significant concept in discourses of a knowledge economy and
this is analysed in the following section.
5.3.1.4 Human capital
The concept of human capital in education has developed in the context of globalisation.
Classically, investment in education and training was considered as a personal concern to
increase income and seek career benefits (Becker, 1964). However, in the context of
globalisation, development of human resources is related not only to the enhancement of the
competitive advantage of individuals, but also to that of companies, nation-states and
transnational organisations (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010). The significance of human resources
to the modern economy lies in an individual‘s ―knowledge stock, skills level, learning
capabilities and cultural adaptability‖ (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010, p. 80). It is through
education that individuals acquire these proficiencies. Within neoliberal discourses, human
resources are considered an element of human capital.
According to Foucault (2008), within discourses of human capital, human beings are
conceptualised as homo œconomicus (economic man). In classical terms, an economic person
is one of the partners of the economic activity of exchange (Foucault, 2008). He or she uses
155
the exchange activity to meet their own needs. However, in neoliberal regimes, the
conception of homo œconomicus is transformed to be an ―entrepreneur for himself [sic], being
for himself his own capital, being for himself his own producer, being for himself the source
of his earnings‖ (Foucault, 2008, p. 226). Homo œconomicus has the desire and self-interest
to transform themselves in order to be entrepreneurial, productive and competitive in the free
market. For this transformation, homo œconomicus has his or her own rationalities and
technologies such as the mechanism of calculation for costs and benefits. As a result, homo
œconomicus is a subject to the conduct of self-governance. This entrepreneurial subject is
also governable in political practices. Political programmes such as education reforms act on
the will of individuals for self-interest to produce human capital in order to be competitive in
the global market.
The discourses and practices of human capital also have potent effects in China‘s
education sector. As noted in Section 5.2.2, the importance of rencai (specialised and talented
human resources) for the development of China‘s economy is rationalised in the 1985
Decision document (Chinese Communist Party, 1985). The discursive emphasis on talented
human resources justifies the practice of higher education reform because the reform can
bring changes to the knowledge and skills of the workforce. Accordingly, the theme of
human capital is highlighted across the seven policy documents from 1992 to 2010.
A large population—more than 1.3 billion in 2010—is one of the basic realities in
modern China and presents enormous challenges for China‘s development. Chinese
authorities made efforts to address the population issue in the 1993 Outline (Chinese
Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993). This document
suggests that development of human capital through educational reform was a means of
transforming the burden of a large population into an asset whereby China was enriched by
vast numbers of educated and talented human resources. The 1993 Outline notes that the
basic objective for the reform and development of China‘s education system was ―to enhance
national quality, to produce more rencai, and to produce high-quality rencai‖ (line 188). The
quality of human resources was emphasised here. In this respect, the higher education sector
was conceptualised as the site for producing high-level and special talents for China‘s social,
economic and technological development. For example, the university enrolment system was
expected to select those rencai required by ―national key construction projects, national
defence, cultural education, fundamental disciplines, and remote areas‖ (line 150). Although
these projects, disciplines and regions are not specified in the document, the planned
156
mechanism of university enrolment can be identified here because the production of
university rencai was under the direction of a national planned system.
Just as ―rencai‖ is the discourse used to constitute university students and graduates
as the subjects of human capital, ―duiwu‖ (a particular group of people) is the discourse to
subjectify university teachers. As claimed in the 1993 Outline, ―The hope of national
rejuvenation lies in education, and the hope of vitalising education consists in teachers. The
construction of a well-structured group of teachers with good political and professional
quality is of fundamental importance for the reform and development of education‖ (lines
238-239). Therefore, this document emphasises teachers‘ professional ability as well as
ideological and political qualities—loyalty to the socialist cause and the Chinese Communist
Party—as part of its human capital discourses. To this end, education in normal universities
was considered to be highly significant because it was the main space for training and
producing teachers. Graduates from normal universities were required to work in primary or
middle schools as teachers. Moreover, teachers, especially young and middle-aged teachers,
needed to receive training programmes in universities and obtain corresponding credentials
and degrees for teaching (line 244).
Therefore, the 1993 Outline document emphasises human capital in various forms.
The underlying rationale for highlighting the development of human capital was to transform
the burden of China‘s large population into an advantage by producing quality human
resources. Higher education reform was conceived as the means to achieve this
transformation through the constitution of two types of subjects, namely, the rencai of
university students and graduates and the duiwu of teachers. The Ninth 5-Year Plan (Ministry
of Education, 1996) also underlines the significance of human capital and the constitution of
these two types of subjects.
The Ninth 5-Year Plan clarifies the significance of human capital by stating: ―The key
for rejuvenating China through science and education and accelerating economic and social
development consists in enhancing national quality and people‘s level of education, in
effectively developing human resources, and in cultivating a large number of specialised
talents‖ (lines 42-43). In this sentence, five concepts are closely related in a logical order.
―Rencai‖ constitute ―human resources‖, which are crucial to the upgrading of ―national
quality‖. Once ―national quality‖ is improved, ―socio-economic development‖ can be
achieved and ―China‘s rejuvenation‖ finally realised. Thus, rencai was imagined as the focus
of higher education reform. Just as the title of this policy document indicated, Ninth 5-Year
157
Plan, the production of rencai was guided by national plans. The following sentence reveals
the technique of planning: ―The demand of high-quality human resources from key national
industries, the whole education sector and national defence and military enterprises should be
guaranteed in priority‖ (lines 89-90). Correspondingly, specific means such as reforming
curricula and teaching methods were employed to improve the quality of rencai production in
universities (line 126).
Similar to the 1993 Outline (1993), duiwu of teachers is another distinctive subject
position in the Ninth 5-Year Plan (1996). Despite the requirements of professional abilities
and political quality for teachers, the Ninth 5-Year Plan lays stress on teacher qualifications.
In this aspect, the Education Law and the Teachers’ Law are referred to for the standards of
teachers‘ credentials. For example, according to the Teachers’ Law passed in 1993 by the
Third Session of the Eighth National People‘s Congress, teachers who were qualified for
teaching in senior high schools must hold a bachelor‘s degree or above. In addition, a system
of teacher employment, evaluation and promotion was adopted to supplement the prescription
of laws. The practice of standardising teacher qualifications contributed to the emergence of
an upgraded subject position, that is, ―core teachers‖ with higher academic degrees (line 61).
Core teachers were constructed to enhance the quality of rencai of all levels. Therefore, both
the 1993 Outline and the Ninth 5-Year Plan emphasise the discursive construction of two
types of human capital—student rencai and teacher duiwu. However, different historical
periods lent different meanings to the concept of human capital in the reform of China‘s
higher education system. Embedded in the context of the knowledge economy, a new kind of
human capital, creative rencai, emerged in the 21st Century Programme (Ministry of
Education, 1998b).
As noted earlier in the theme of knowledge economy, the 21st Century Programme
(1998) is the first national policy document to use discourses of a knowledge economy.
Creativity and innovation promote the development of innovative technologies required by
the knowledge economy. Correspondingly, creative and innovative human resources are
needed. Nevertheless, as the 21st Century Programme states, a lack of creative rencai, as
benchmarked by international standards, was the main factor that restricted China‘s social
and economic development during this period. With regard to this problem, the 21st Century
Programme document proposed the practice of producing creative human resources. Then,
this political way of thinking was subsequently translated into the ―project of high-level
creative rencai‖ (line 55).
158
In contrast to the use of rencai in the previous two documents, the constitution of the
subject position of rencai in this project included not only students, but also involved other
identities such as academic leaders, young and middle-aged teachers and academics. For
example, universities were expected to attract academic leaders both from home and abroad
in order to develop their disciplines according to international standards (line 57). Scientific
research funds would support about ten thousand core teachers to enhance their capacity of
teaching and research (lines 61-62). International academic exchanges were also emphasised.
Universities would select department deans, core staff of research institutes and laboratories
to send them overseas as senior visiting scholars under government funding programmes.
Meanwhile, famous overseas scholars would be invited for short-term lecturing and research
in China (lines 68-70).
Correspondingly, universities were the main spaces for the constitution of these
subjects. In the 21st Century Programme (1998), the university is thought as the ―storehouse
of rencai‖ (line 221). This storehouse was expected to keep up with international academic
development and become bases for the cultivation of creative rencai. Moreover, university
science parks and enterprises were important spaces in which teachers, students and academic
researchers were constituted as entrepreneurs (lines 110-112). These entrepreneurs were
encouraged to establish their own enterprises of innovative technologies. Consequently, these
subjects and spaces were expected to be constituted in the ―project of high-level creative
human resources‖, as outlined in the 21st Century Programme document.
The most significant point to note in this process of creating human subjects and
spaces is the entrepreneurial capacity of individuals. Rencai of students, teachers and
researchers are conceived not only as creative human resources to develop innovative
technologies, but also as homo œconomicus, that is, entrepreneurs of themselves (Foucault,
2008). They have their own rationalities to know and choose economic activities, as well as
the techniques and tactics to calculate the costs, risks and benefits of their undertakings.
Whilst these individuals have autonomy to conduct their own economic activities, they are
expected to be responsible for the consequences, whether positive or negative. Therefore, the
21st Century Programme attempted to construct entrepreneurial subjects and spaces in order
to produce creative human resources.
In the Tenth 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 2002), the construction of the
Internet inside universities was the main site for the emergence of the new subject position:
IT rencai. For example, this plan declares that all universities were expected to gain access to
159
the Internet by the year 2005 (line 165). Within this site, a specific type of IT rencai was
constituted from students, namely, computer software rencai (line 167). They were produced
by the education and training in information technologies and were, in turn, main agents for
IT development. Teachers also received IT training. The purpose for constituting teachers as
IT rencai was to improve teaching methods by introducing modern information technologies
in classroom activities (line 169). Hence, the purpose of the ―project of educational
informationisation‖ was to upgrade the quality of both university students and teachers (line
162). In addition to the site of constructing IT rencai to be internationally competitive in
quality human resources, readjustment of rencai structure and reform of personnel system
were another two principal sites in the Tenth 5-Year Plan document.
The cultivation of rencai was geared toward international and national needs during
this period. For instance, as required by China‘s social and economic development in the
tenth five-year plan period, specialties such as computer technology, bio-technology, new
materials, electronic communication and medicines would be developed in priority (Ministry
of Education, 2002, lines 200-201). As China entered into the World Trade Organisation on
December 11, 2001, specialties that had international competitive advantage like law, finance,
trade, administration of industry and business, as well as public management would be
developed to cultivate high-level administrative human resources (lines 201-202). Therefore,
the restructuring of the workforce was expected to meet the demands of both national and
international markets of human resources.
Concomitantly, the Tenth 5-Year Plan sought to reform China‘s university personnel
system for the benefit of selecting and employing quality rencai. In this respect, a system of
contractual employment replaced life-long tenure (line 213). Here, the accountability
mechanism played an important role in the transformation of the personnel system.
University teaching and academic staff could no longer hold their positions throughout their
working lives and were now required to achieve quantified and qualified performance
standards in order to secure their positions. I recall a senior professor from my case-study
university, Pioneering University (a pseudonym), commenting that it was not enough to
complete his teaching allocation as he was also required to produce satisfactory results for
academic research according to university requirements in order to maintain the continuation
of his three-year contractual employment.
In sum, a new subject position emerged in the Tenth 5-Year Plan, namely, IT rencai.
Second, China‘s national and international context during the five-year plan period,
160
especially China‘s entrance into the World Trade Organisation, required university
disciplines and specialties to be restructured in order to produce high-level human resources
demanded by national and international markets. Third, the university personnel system for
academics was transformed from tenured positions to a contractual employment system.
Rencai needed not only to compete for a job, but also were accountable for their academic
performance during the contractual employment period. These reforms of the Tenth 5-Year
Plan can be considered as responses to a culture of competition that emphasised the
maximisation of productive human resources. The 2003-2007 Action Plan (Ministry of
Education, 2004) includes all the three policy strategies of the Tenth 5-Year Plan—the
cultivation of IT rencai, disciplinary readjustment and the implementation of a contractual
employment system. In addition, the 2003-2007 Action Plan (2004) conceived six other
policy moves to generate human capital. These include developing rural human resources,
enhancing undergraduate quality, promoting creativity of postgraduate students, facilitating
university students‘ employment upon graduation, improving the life-long learning system
for teachers, and deepening the internationalisation of China‘s education.
The purpose of the first strategy was to develop human resources for the development
of rural areas. China has a population of 1.3 billion, of which 0.8 billion live in rural areas.
This rural population comprises the majority of China‘s total population, but its access to
higher education is very low, compared with access rates for the urban population. In 2002
for example, the probability of a child from a rural province accessing higher education was
1%, while the access percentage for a child from an urban area in an eastern province was
13% (Lou et al., 2006).
In view of this problematic situation, the 2003-2007 Action Plan aimed to develop
rural human resources through rural adult education programmes. Correspondingly, rural
citizens with practical agricultural technologies were the main subjects to be constituted
through rural adult education (Ministry of Education, 2004, line 25). Meanwhile, agricultural
and forestry universities were expected to be the principal spaces for popularising agricultural
sciences and technologies (lines 26-27). As a result, the production of human capital in rural
areas tended to rely increasingly on the training from adult vocational colleges or agricultural
universities. However, key universities produced only a small percentage of rural rencai. For
example, the proportion of freshmen from rural areas in Nankai University, a ―211 Project‖
and ―985 Project‖ key university in Tianjin province, was 30% in 2006, and it decreased to
25% in 2007 and 24% in 2008 (Wang and Liu, 2009). This indicates a problem that rural
161
education remains undeveloped and disadvantaged in China in spite of the national policy‘s
claim of developing rural education.
Second, the 2003-2007 Action Plan is the first milestone document to discursively
constitute the subjectivity of undergraduates with comprehensive English language
proficiency. Investigation of the materialisation of this subjectivity can be based on my own
experience. During my college years (2005-2008), enrolled students were required to pass the
test of ―College English: Band 4‖ in order to attain a bachelor‘s degree. As English language
proficiency incorporated listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, ―College English:
Band 4‖ examined three of the four skills—listening, reading and writing. Speaking skills
were tested in the spoken course of college curricula. The underlying rationale for
constituting such subject positions has been the desire to enhance students‘ learning and
research ability by referring to original English literature. Another reason can be related to
the intention to increase intercultural communication competence of undergraduates. Hence,
the constitution of rencai with comprehensive English language proficiency can be
considered as a strategic move to produce high-quality human resources. While this strategy
was to improve undergraduates‘ learning and basic research abilities, the third strategy was to
promote postgraduates‘ scientific research capabilities.
This third strategy was embedded in the ―plan for the innovation of postgraduate
education‖ (Ministry of Education, 2004, line 65). It aimed to produce creative rencai from
postgraduates. The 2003-2007 Action Plan states that postgraduate education should have
close links with production activities and practices (Ministry of Education, 2004, line 68). To
this end, postgraduates were encouraged and funded to conduct scientific and technological
innovation that would improve productive forces. In this way, the relationship between
education, scientific research and production was conceived in terms of developing
innovative postgraduate students.
If it is important to produce and develop human resources, it is even more significant
to utilise them appropriately. University graduates have to be employed first, and then value
can be added. In this regard, the fourth strategy was conceived to facilitate university
students‘ employment on graduation. In the 2003-2007 Action Plan (2004), markets were
considered as pivotal in the allocation of graduates. These markets included job markets
specifically for graduates, and rencai markets or labour markets for the supply and demand of
all kinds of human resources in society. Furthermore, an ―employment network‖ was to be
established to provide employment services using information technologies (lines 143-144).
162
Within this network, a monitoring system was established to measure the employment and
unemployment rate (line 144). In turn, under this monitoring system, employment rates and
employment quality were set as the main index to evaluate the quality of university
management. Therefore, spaces such as job markets and an employment network, together
with calculating techniques, were combined as discursive and technical apparatuses to
manage the issue of university student employment on graduation.
As these four policy strategies related to the development of students as a form of
human capital, the fifth strategy aimed to improve life-long learning for teachers. The 2003-
2007 Action Plan (2004) emphasises that the higher education system would incorporate
teacher education. A modern teacher education system was expected to be constructed in the
following manner:
(Teacher education would) rely mainly on normal universities and other high-
level universities that have teacher education. Harmonious development would be
achieved among two-to-three-year college-level professional education, four-to-
five-year undergraduate education and postgraduate education. Pre- and post-
service education would be connected. Credentialed and non-credentialed
education would co-develop. Finally, teachers‘ professional development and
life-long learning would be promoted. (Ministry of Education, 2004, lines 163-
164)
A commitment to life-long learning was institutionalised through this system. That is,
educators at different levels had to secure the required qualifications if they were to be
eligible for employment. First, as normal universities were the main sites to educate and
produce teachers, an increase in enrolments was expected and courses reconfigured. For
example, teacher preparation courses were categorised into three levels: two-to-three-year
college-level professional education at the bottom level, four-to-five-year undergraduate
education at the middle level, and postgraduate education at the top level. After
commencement of teaching services, it was necessary for teachers to receive credentialed or
non-credentialed education for professional development. Based on my knowledge as a
postgraduate student in China, up to six years ago, postgraduates with a master degree were
permitted to teach in universities. However, university teachers are now required to have a
doctoral degree to be employed in the university sector. As a result, teachers, who hold a
master degree and who have already worked in universities, are pursuing further education in
order to obtain a doctoral degree.
Therefore, through this life-long learning system teachers were constituted as
continual learning subjects. This type of subject was governable because they desired self-
163
development in order to secure employment. Thus, according to Simons and Masschelein
(2006), a life-long learning system for teachers can be conceptualised as a form of
governance which have rationalities and technologies for administering the subjectivity of
teacher. Governing rationalities can be based on the reality that teachers had the will to
continuously develop themselves in order to meet the requirements of their profession.
Moreover, continuous teacher development contributes to the enhancement of the quality of
China‘s human resources.
The final strategy was concerned with the internationalisation of China‘s higher
education. The opening-up of education as well as international cooperation and exchange
were considered as crucial strategic moves in the 2003-2007 Action Plan. For example,
strategies included the mutual recognition of Chinese and foreign degrees and efforts to
promote cooperation between Chinese universities and international high-level universities
(line 219). These strategies prompted the movement and exchange of a range of human
resources. For example, academic leaders were selected and sent overseas to learn advanced
sciences and technologies (line 223). The ―Spring Sunshine Plan‖ was further implemented to
attract overseas Chinese students with outstanding academic achievements to come back to
China for short-term services (line 224). In order to promote the teaching of the Chinese
language and culture for foreign learners as well as to explore the international education
service market, a series of ―Confucius Institutes‖ were established as joint ventures with other
nations and run by an agency of China‘s Ministry of Education. In this respect, Chinese
language teachers for foreign learners were trained and sent overseas (lines 228-230).
Therefore, the internationalisation of China‘s education can be regarded as a form of
management to produce, import and export high-class human resources while also promoting
China‘s ―soft power‖ (Nye, 2004; Yang, 2010) as a part of its effort to be globally
competitive through its education system. More detailed discussion of China‘s ―soft power
policy‖ will be provided in Section 7.3.2.8 where a local university‘s efforts of constructing
Confucius Institutes are examined.
In conclusion, these six strategies of the 2003-2007 Action Plan (2004) can be
perceived as different ways of governing the reform of China‘s higher education sector in
order to constitute creative and high-level rencai for economic development. Specifically, an
array of social and educational subjects were constituted such as rural rencai with agricultural
technologies, undergraduates with comprehensive English language proficiency,
164
postgraduates who engaged in scientific and technological innovation, teachers as life-long
learners, and Chinese language teachers for foreign learners.
The thematic emphasis on human capital in the Eleventh 5-Year Plan (Ministry of
Education, 2007d) was based on the following description of China‘s education system:
―China‘s per capita level of educational experience is low. Average years of educational
experience of the employees are three years less than that of the developed countries.
Creative high-skilled human resources are in short supply‖ (lines 30-31). Hence, in terms of
international competition of human capital, China was disadvantaged compared with
developed countries. In consideration of this problem, the Eleventh 5-Year Plan sets the
objectives for the development of human capital in the higher education sector by 2010
(Ministry of Education, 2007d):
Table 5. 1
Objectives for the development of higher education by 2010
2005 2010 Increase from 2005 to 2010
Gross enrolment rate (%) 21 25 4
Overall enrolment (million) 23 30 7
Enrolment
of
General university or
college students 15.62 20 4.38
Postgraduate 0.98 1.3 0.32
Adult university or
college students 4.36 6 1.64
Table 5.1 shows that from 2005 to 2010, the gross enrolment rate of the higher education
sector was expected to increase from 21% to 25%, which, if successful, would pass the
international benchmark for a mass higher education—15% (Trow, 2005). While the
Eleventh 5-Year Plan aims to increase the quantity of tertiary-educated human resources, it
also emphasises the enhancement of quality. In particular, the Eleventh 5-Year Plan had two
distinctive measures to promote the quality of human resources during this period, namely,
adopting new strategies to achieve industrialisation and advocating educationists to manage
and administer universities.
The Eleventh 5-Year Plan states that the ―new path of industrialisation‖ required the
full use of China‘s human resources (lines 21-22). The concept of employing new strategies
to achieve industrialisation stresses the driving force of information technologies in this
process (Gu, 2008). It was claimed that application of information technology would enhance
165
productivity, reduce the consumption of natural resources, as well as lead to decreased costs
and lessen environmental pollution. Therefore, it was accepted that information technologies
could drive the process of industrialisation. One distinctive feature of the new path of
industrialisation is its full use of human resources (Gu, 2008). As Gu argues, unemployment
became a major issue in the industrialisation process of developed countries, for they over-
emphasised the application of automation and mechanisation technologies. Gu further argues
that one of the basic national conditions of China was its large population and relatively low
labour costs. Accordingly, the new path of industrialisation needed to consider this reality
and make full use of China‘s human resources to decrease the unemployment rate.
Specifically, the new path of industrialisation was expected to achieve a type of balanced
development between technology-intensive industries and labour-intensive industries (Gu,
2008). Hence, the Eleventh 5-Year Plan focuses on the cultivation of IT rencai both through
higher education and the overall enhancement of human resources by following the new path
of industrialisation.
The Eleventh 5-Year Plan is the first policy document to propose the view that
educationists should manage universities. Here, the notion of educationist referred to those
excellent rencai who ―are loyal to the Chinese Communist Party, had outstanding capacities,
and devoted themselves to the educational cause‖ (Ministry of Education, 2007d, line 297).
Educationists had the ability to manage the university, for they were cognisant of China‘s
education as they were high-level human resources themselves. They were also expected to
cultivate university students to become quality human resources. Furthermore, educationists
were governable because they had the desire to contribute to the development of China‘s
education.
The emergence of this subjectivity indicates a reforming aspect of the Chinese art of
governance in administering the higher education sector. Previously, the power of
institutional management was centralised at the university-level Party Committee. Members
of the Party Committee were political authorities, many of whom were not knowledgeable of
China‘s education. This tight centralisation of university management limited education
development (Guo, 2009). Therefore, the participation of educationists in university
management was expected to bring reforms to China‘s higher education system. However, as
noted earlier in this chapter, higher level decision making in universities remained the
prerogative of the CCP sectary who ultimately outranks the institutional chief. Hence, while
the devolution of institutional management power to educationists reflects a neoliberal mode
166
of governance, it was practised with those ―Chinese characteristics‖ indicative of an
authoritarian socialist state. In this connection, in the Eleventh 5-Year Plan, a hybrid
governing model can be identified in its policy strategy of letting educationists manage the
university under the central control of the CCP Committee in each university.
―This medium and long-term plan is formulated according to the strategic
arrangement of the Seventeenth National Congress of the CCP—to give priority to the
development of education and to build China into a country strong in human resources‖
(Office of the Working Group of the Outline of State Plans for Medium and Long-term
Reform and Development of Education, 2010, Preface). Therefore, according to the Preface
of the Medium and Long-term Plan, the motif of this policy document is to build China into a
nation with powerful human resources by 2020. The major objectives for the development of
human resources through higher education are demonstrated in Table 5.2:
Table 5. 2
Objectives for the development of human resources through higher education by 2020
2009 2015 2020
Gross enrolment rate (%) 24.2 36.0 40.0
Population with higher education experience
(million) 98.3 145 195
Percentage of the population with higher education
experience among major workforces (%) 9.9 15.0 20.0
As Table 5.2 shows, by the year 2020, the gross enrolment rate of the higher education sector
was expected to reach 40%, and 20% of the major workforce would have received higher
education. To this end, the Medium and Long-term Plan (2010) assumed civil education as its
basic reform task and adopted three particular policy strategies: reforming the system of
rencai cultivation, improving the university enrolment system, and strengthening teachers‘
moral education.
As for the reform of the rencai cultivation system, the Medium and Long-term Plan
employed three specific measures. The first measure was to reform the idea of rencai
cultivation. In this vein, an idea focusing on students‘ overall development was adopted to
constitute high quality rencai with an all-round development of morality, intelligence,
physique and aesthetics. Meanwhile, an idea of respecting students‘ individual differences
was used to encourage individual development with their own personalities (Point 31).
167
The second measure aimed to innovate rencai cultivation models. First, this measure
emphasised the ―combination of learning and thinking‖ (Point 32). Heuristic, explorative,
open classroom and inclusive methods of education were initiated to help students learn how
to study. Second, this measure attached importance to the ―unification of knowing and
practicing‖ (Point 32). Teaching and learning were required to establish close connection
with production, labour and social practice. Finally, the measure stressed the teaching of
students in accordance with their aptitudes (Point 32).
The third measure rencai cultivation in the Medium and Long-term Plan attempted to
reform the system of rencai evaluation and selection. In this regard, a rencai evaluation index
system was based on students‘ overall quality, including their academic performance,
morality, knowledge and ability (Point 33). Employment processes for graduates were also
based on students‘ practical ability, instead of solely relying on degrees and credentials (Point
33).
Therefore, the first strategy of the Medium and Long-term Plan concerned the reform
of the system of rencai cultivation. Both students‘ overall quality and individual aptitudes
were emphasised. However, as students have to be enrolled before they could be educated,
improvement of the university enrolment system was also an important strategy to produce
high-quality human resources. Accordingly, the Medium and Long-term Plan seeks to reform
the content and style of university entrance examinations by focusing on testing students‘
comprehensive quality and ability (Point 36). Diversified ways of enrolment were adopted to
consider the special attributes of potential students. The plan maintains that university
enrolments would now be based on the university entrance examination, supplemented by
performance tests and comprehensive quality evaluation:
According to the result of interviews and tests, universities have the autonomy to
enrol those students with outstanding special skills in line with university
requirements. Based on the recommendation of senior higher schools, universities
can enrol those students who have achieved excellent performances during their
senior high school years. (Point 36)
Hence, the second strategy of the Medium and Long-term Plan was to reform the university
enrolment system in order to select quality rencai from senior high schools for further
development. Once students were enrolled, teachers were expected to shoulder the
responsibility to educate them. The third strategy was related to the education of university
teachers, notably their moral education.
168
Although teachers‘ moral education has been included in policy documents since the
21st Century Programme (1998), it was undefined in broad terms. Significantly, the Medium
and Long-term Plan (2010) provides a detailed description of this concept by stating that a
teacher‘s responsibility consists not only in imparting knowledge, but also in educating
students (Point 52). That is, teachers were required ―to love students, to devote to teaching, to
be indifferent in fame and wealth, to be self-disciplined, and to influence students with the
charisma of their personality and knowledge‖ (Point 52). Moreover, in order to ensure a
successful process of moral education, teacher morality becomes the most important factor in
their assessment and contractual employment (Point 52). Therefore, moral education is not
only a discourse, but also a technology for governing a teacher‘s self. This technology is
situated in teachers‘ devotion to teaching and their self-discipline. Thus, the Medium and
Long-term Plan used technologies of the self to constitute self-disciplined and self-devoted
subjects (Foucault, 1997c). This educational subject of the university teacher could realise
self-development and thereby help to enhance the quality of student rencai in China.
In sum, all seven milestone policy documents highlight the theme of human capital.
The major rationale for developing human capital is the reality of China‘s large population
and its need to be internationally competitive in the knowledge economy. The development
of human capital could transform the burden of population into the advantage of high-quality
talented human resources. These policy documents use different strategies and techniques—
such as mechanisms of planning and performance assessment, and technologies of the self—
to manage the reform of China‘s higher education in order to develop human capital in
different periods. During this process a range of subjectivities emerged such as academic
leaders of international standards, entrepreneurial students, IT rencai, undergraduates with
comprehensive English language proficiency, as well as self-disciplined and dedicated
teachers. The next section examines a theme with distinctively ―Chinese characteristics‖,
namely, building a moderately prosperous society.
5.3.1.5 A xiaokang (moderately prosperous) society
The concept of a xiaokang society is an important theme in contemporary China‘s higher
education policy. The literal definition in English is a moderately prosperous society. The
concept of a xiaokang society refers to a social idea that embodies people‘s pursuit for an
ideal well-off life (Li, 2003). In this society, people could live securely and not need to suffer
169
from shortages of food and clothing. According to the theoretical framework of the study, this
concept can be perceived as an imaginary shared by social groups. That is, a xiaokang society
is an idea that is deeply embedded in the consciousness of Chinese people. This notion has
existed throughout China‘s long history. It is in contemporary China that this imaginary
undergoes a profound development and transformation.
In 1972, Deng Xiaoping, then General Secretary of the CCP, used the notion of a
moderately comfortable family to describe the Chinese way of modernisation for the first
time when meeting with the Japanese prime minister (Zhou and Zhao, 2004). Deng said:
―The modernisation we want to realise is a Chinese way of modernisation. It is not like your
(Japanese) concept of modernisation, but is about a ‗xiaokang family‘‖ (Zhou and Zhao, 2004,
p. 23). Deng further explained that although China was to become a xiaokang country, it
would still be underdeveloped compared to Western countries (Zhou and Zhao, 2004). Based
on the knowledge that China had a large population, Deng exemplified the standard of a
xiaokang society; that is, the per capita GDP would reach U. S. dollars (USD) 1 000. Then in
1982, the Twelfth National People‘s Congress of the CCP set the building of a xiaokang
society as the objective for the end of the twentieth century.
Based on Deng‘s image of a moderately comfortable family, the Outline of the 10-
Year Programme for China’s Social and Economic Development and the Eighth 5-Year Plan,
issued by the Central Committee of the CCP and the State Council in 1991, proffered a
definition for the concept of a xiaokang society:
The idea of a xiaokang society fits the development of China‘s productivity, and
represents the enhancement of people‘s living standards in line with the basic
principles of socialism. It includes not only the improvement of material
conditions of living, but also the enrichment of spiritual life. It consists not only
of the upgrading of inhabitants‘ consumption level, but also of the improvement
of public welfare and working environment. (Zhou and Zhao, 2004, p. 24)
Three points might be made about this statement. First, the construction of a xiaokang society
in China is a socialist cause. One of the socialist principles is to achieve common prosperity.
This principle accords with the objective of a moderately prosperous society for an overall
enhancement of people‘s living standards. Second, the process of building a xiaokang society
can bring about economic development to China. For example, China‘s GDP was about USD
301.5 billion in 1980, which increased to approximately USD 1 050 billion in 2000 (Zhu,
2001). Third, the xiaokang society emphasises overall social development. That is, not only
170
citizen‘s material living standards are expected to be enhanced, but also their spiritual life,
welfare and working environment.
Furthermore, the building of a xiaokang society implies an improvement in people‘s
living standards from a life with just enough food and clothing, through a moderately well-off
life, and finally to a comfortable life. Two types of xiaokang societies should be noted here,
namely, a xiaokang society in a general manner and a xiaokang society in an all-round way
(Li, 2003). The former can be considered as the primary stage of a xiaokang society, and the
latter as the completion stage. In 2000, China‘s GDP reached about USD 1 050 billion, but its
per capita GDP was only about USD 850 (Li, 2003). Only 74.84% of China‘s population
reached the primary stage of a xiaokang life by 2000 (Zhu, 2001). Moreover, there was a gap
in social and economic development between urban and rural areas as well as between the
eastern coastal areas and central and western areas at the end of the twentieth century (Zhu,
2001). Therefore, the xiaokang society by the year 2000 was a low-level general xiaokang
society.
Jiang Zeming, then president of China, elaborated on the concept of building a
xiaokang society in an all-round way in the Sixteenth Nation People‘s Congress of the CCP
in 2002:
We should concentrate our efforts during the first twenty years of this century on
the construction of a higher-level society in an all-round way to the benefit of
over one billion people. In this way, China‘s economy will be more developed,
democracy better improved, science and education more advanced, culture more
flourishing, society more harmonious, people‘s lives more comfortably-off.
(Jiang, 2002)
According to Jiang‘s statement, the all-round xiaokang society has three distinctive features
in contrast to the general xiaokang society. First, it will eradicate poverty and let the Chinese
people live a prosperous and happy life. Second, it will achieve the all-round development of
society, economy, politics and culture. It focuses not only on the enhancement of material
living standards, but also on the improvement of their spiritual life, democratic rights and
living environment. Third, it aims to reach a balanced development between rural and urban
areas, between the eastern and mid-western regions and among all walks of life. In this
society, the social welfare system will have improved, there will be increased opportunities
for employment, and social differences will have diminished. Therefore, the ideal of an all-
round xiaokang society places importance on the overall development of a society and human
beings. In addition to the economic indicator of a per capita GDP of USD 3 000, other
171
quantified indexes include a per capita residential area of 30 square meters, an average life
expectancy of 75 years, a gross university enrolment rate of 40%, and a social welfare
coverage of 90% (Li, 2003).
As noted, the xiaokang society is an imaginary of Chinese people for the pursuit of an
ideal prosperous life throughout the historical process of China. Political authorities in
contemporary China use their knowledge about the Chinese population, together with
particular techniques such as statistics, to constitute a systematic concept of a xiaokang
society. Through mass media and communication technologies, this modern concept of a
xiaokang society is inscribed on people‘s minds and becomes a constituent part of their
everyday thinking. In this respect, the discursive and material construction of a xiaokang
society by Chinese political authorities and think tanks can be considered as an art of
government to manage socio-economic lives of the Chinese people.
This governing mentality consists of both socialist and neoliberal modes of
governance. As stated in the Outline of the 10-Year Programme for China’s Social and
Economic Development and the Eighth 5-Year Plan (1991), the building of a xiaokang
society is based on socialist principles. The entire process is under the direction of the CCP.
Meanwhile, the process was integrated into the planned system of ―three strategic moves‖ to
realise China‘s modernisation (Deng, 1993). The first and second strategic moves were to
reach a per capita GDP of USD 500 in the 1980s and 1 000 at the end of the twentieth century
(Deng, 1993). The completion of these two moves signifies the realisation of a general
xiaokang society by the year 2000. The third move is to basically realise modernisation in the
middle of the twenty-first century (Deng, 1993). Correspondingly, the establishment of an
all-round xiaokang society by the year 2020 is a preliminary and indispensable stage of the
third move. Therefore, the discourses and practices of building a xiaokang society have
planned socialist meanings.
Economic development is an important factor in constructing a xiaokang society. The
introduction of a socialist market economy in 1992 and China‘s entrance into the World
Trade Organisation in 2001 brought deep reforms to China‘s economic system. Typical
market discourses and mechanisms such as ―relations between supply and demand‖, ―price
leverage‖, ―competition mechanism‖, ―efficiency‖, ―enterprise‖, and ―survival of the fittest‖
were adopted to develop China‘s economy in a neoliberal way (Xu and Sheng, 2005). Hence,
the process of building a xiaokang society includes neoliberal means.
172
Furthermore, apart from socialist and neoliberal forms of governance, there are other
discourses and techniques in the practice of building a xiaokang society such as social
harmony, sustainable development and balanced development. These concepts emphasises a
harmonious relationship between different individuals, between human beings and natural
environment, and between different geographical areas (Li, 2003). This study will not trace
the origin of these concepts, but adopts the position that Kipnis (2008) uses to examine the
auditing culture. Kipnis (2008) argues that auditing practices cannot simply be put under the
banner of neoliberal governmentality or socialist legacy, and that it is a governmental
technology that can be deployed by any modes of governance to achieve political ends.
Accordingly, the concepts of social harmony, sustainable and balanced development are not a
Chinese design, nor a Western invention, but are considered as both discursive and material
apparatuses used by the Chinese government to manage China‘s social and economic issues.
For instance, under discourses of fostering a harmonious society, strategies such as increasing
the chances of employment, improving social welfare and security systems are adopted to
ameliorate concerns about Chinese people‘s living and working environments (Jin, 2010; Li,
2003).
Therefore, the concept of a xiaokang society emerges in contemporary China and is
translated into policies and programmes. Within these policies and programmes, the
discourses and techniques of building a xiaokang society constitute a Chinese art of
governance. This Chinese governmentality consists of socialist planned strategies and
neoliberal market mechanisms for social development. Having discussed the nature of
building a xiaokang society, following paragraphs examine its influence on the reform of
China‘s higher education system.
The 21st Century Programme (Ministry of Education, 1998b) is the first document to
adopt the discourse of a xiaokang society. However, this discourse appears only once in
stating the role of rural education in ―meeting the needs of rural social and economic
development as well as the enrichment of rural people to live a xiaokang life‖ (Ministry of
Education, 1998, line 175). The rationale for this statement is based on the problematic
reality that rural education and rural economy remained underdeveloped and disadvantaged
in modern China (Tan, 2006). In order to reach a balanced development between rural and
urban areas, as required by the idea of a xiaokang society, the 21st Century Programme (1998)
attempted to reform the higher education system. Specifically, it attempts to provide ―plenty
of applicable technical and administrative rencai for the upgrading of township enterprises
173
and rural industries‖ (Ministry of Education, 1998, lines 175-176). Thus, the 21st Century
Programme (1998) employed the measure of constituting administrative and technical rural
rencai to enhance rural human capital and develop rural economy.
Amongst the seven milestone documents collected by the present study, the 1993
Outline (Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China,
1993), the Ninth 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 1996), and the Tenth 5-Year Plan
(Ministry of Education, 2002) do not mention the concept of a xiaokang society. It is
assumed by the present researcher that the reason why these three documents do not employ
the discourse of a xiaokang society lies in the fact that they were issued before the year 2002.
As noted earlier, the notion of a higher-level all-round xiaokang society was put forward in
2002. Around the year 2002, the xiaokang society was still in a low-level, underdeveloped
and unbalanced status. Just as the 21st Century Programme (1998) shows, rural education and
economy was underdeveloped and most rural people had not lived a xiaokang life in a
general manner, that is, per capita GDP of rural population was less than USD 850. Therefore,
these three documents were not inclined to introduce the concept of such a low-level
xiaokang society.
In 2002, the Sixteenth National People‘s Congress of the CCP set a task for China‘s
education sector to support the building of a xiaokang society in an all-round way and aimed
to ―form a society in which every citizen is committed to learning and pursues life-long
learning‖ (Lei, 2005). The 2003-2007 Action Plan (Ministry of Education, 2004) responded
to this task as it states in the following manner:
We should strive to complete the historic task proposed by the Sixteenth National
People‘s Congress of the CCP and to establish a modern educational system with
Chinese characteristics. This system will lay the foundation for the construction
of a society in which every citizen is committed to learning and pursues life-long
learning. (lines 6-7)
Nevertheless, the 2003-2007 Action Plan (2004) notes that there existed an enormous
difference between the overall level of China‘s education sector in 2004 and the objectives of
building up an all-round xiaokang society in 2020. For example, the gross enrolment rate of
higher education was 19% in 2004 (Ministry of Education, 2007c), in stark contrast to the
objective of 40% in 2020 (Li, 2003). Except for the proposal of a modern education system,
the 2003-2007 Action Plan has no further elaboration about the relationship between the
education reform and the building of an all-round xiaokang society. It is the Eleventh 5-Year
174
Plan (Ministry of Education, 2007d) that provides a detailed discussion about this
relationship.
The Eleventh 5-Year Plan (2007) has a particular section that asserts that ―the
construction of an all-round xiaokang society needs to give priority to the development of
education‖ (line 20). There are four reasons for this assertion. First, ―the acceleration of
educational development is the basic way to transform China‘s huge population burden into
the advantage of human resources‖ (lines 22-23). As noted earlier in Section 5.3.1.4,
discourses of human capital can be considered as a neoliberal means to build an all-round
xiaokang society, for development of human capital through education can enhance the
competitive advantage of both individuals and the whole society. The Eleventh 5-Year Plan
also underlines the importance of human capital and considers it as a ―strategic resource to
promote social and economic development‖ (lines 36-37). As the all-round xiaokang society
entails a prosperous economy, the human capital produced by education can help to achieve
this end.
Second, the Eleventh 5-Year Plan (2007) emphasises people‘s all-round development
in the following manner: ―The practices of upholding and enriching the socialist ideology and
morality, carrying on the fine cultural heritage of the nation, and cultivating qualified
builders and successors of the socialist cause are in urgent need of implementing quality-
oriented education and promoting people‘s all-round development‖ (lines 25-26). In this way,
the Eleventh 5-Year Plan focuses on the development of ―quality-oriented education‖ to
attain this objective. Based on the present researcher‘s knowledge and experience of Chinese
education, discourses of quality-oriented education were proposed against the ―examination-
oriented education‖. Quality-oriented education discourses focused on a set of qualities,
namely morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics and labour, which were deeply situated in
every Chinese student‘s mind. Among these five qualities, morality was of more importance.
Moral education is the main technique to cultivate and enrich students‘ moral value.
In contemporary Chinese universities, moral education attaches importance to a student‘s
self-discipline, self-responsibility and self-improvement (Li, 2008). In this sense, discourses
of morality manifest the self-governing technology of neoliberal governmentality (Foucault,
1997c). Within these discourses, Chinese students are moulded as educational subjects who
discipline themselves in order to improve individual qualities. However, one aspect of moral
education in China has socialist characteristics. As noted in the previous paragraph, a quality-
oriented education helps to ―enrich the socialist ideology and morality‖ (Ministry of
175
Education, 2007d, line 25). In this sense, moral education, as a significant aspect of quality-
oriented education, incorporates socialist values such as ―nationalism‖—Maoist norms and
values of serving the country (Hoffman, 2006, p. 561). The Eleventh 5-Year Plan used this
moral education to produce ―socialist builders and successors‖ (line 25). Therefore, the
discursive practice of constituting socialist subjectivities indicates a socialist mode of
governance.
Third, the Eleventh 5-Year Plan (2007) emphasises the concept of a balanced
development of education. It points out that ―the practice of building socialist new villages,
narrowing the gap of development between rural and urban areas and between different
regions, as well as improving people‘s livelihood urgently need to promote a balanced
development of education‖ (lines 23-25). This concept can be regarded as an administrative
technology for constructing an all-round xiaokang society, in which rural and urban areas and
different geographical locations were expected to develop in a coordinated manner.
Fourth, the Eleventh 5-Year Plan highlights education‘s role in developing a
harmonious society:
The process of urbanisation is speeding up. Both rural and urban inhabitants‘
living standard is in steady improvement. The number and structure of educated
population has changed obviously. Meanwhile, graduates are under the huge
pressure of seeking employment. In view of these phenomena, people‘s demand
of diversified and high-quality education grows rapidly. (Ministry of Education,
2007d, lines 26-28)
This extract claims that increased access to quality higher education could facilitate graduate
employment. In turn, the decline of unemployment rate could bring social harmony.
Therefore, the enhancement of education quality and variety can be deemed as a political
measure to establish a harmonious xiaokang society.
Therefore, the Eleventh 5-Year Plan‘s assertion that educational development was the
top priority in the process of building an all-round xiaokang society gives expression to a
Chinese art of government. This governing mentality shares a hybrid socialist-neoliberal
mode of governance with the discourses and techniques of the socialist market economy. The
discursive emphasis on the development of human capital through education is a neoliberal
mechanism. The practice of constituting socialist subjectivities through socialist moral
education bears socialist characteristics.
To sum up, five significant themes—international competition, the introduction of the
socialist market economy, knowledge economy, human capital, and building a moderately
176
prosperous society—emerged as significant in understanding the nature of China‘s higher
education reform from 1992 to 2010. In the international context, China‘s higher education
sector is the receiving end of external forces, mainly neoliberal policy influences such as
human capital, competition, efficiency, entrepreneurship, information technology, innovation,
and creativity. Within such neoliberal discourses, autonomous, entrepreneurial and self-
governing subjectivities are constituted; for instance, creative rencai, IT rencai, teachers
pursuing higher academic degrees, entrepreneurial university students, teachers and
researchers, rural rencai with agricultural technologies, and life-long learning teachers.
In the national context, socialist forms of governance such as planned mechanisms
and tight control by the CCP continue to exert a considerable influence on higher education
reform in China. Within the socialist framework, socialist subjectivities are created; for
example, teachers and educationists who are loyal to the socialist cause and the Chinese
Communist Party, as well as students who will become socialist builders and successors.
These international forces and national needs constitute a hybrid art of the Chinese
government. Having examined the relationship between China‘s higher education and its
international and national contexts, the next section investigates the role of Chinese
authorities in this reform process.
5.3.2 Morality of authorities
The morality of authorities is an important element in the conceptual framework of
governmentality. According to Miller and Rose (2008), this refers to the appropriate
distribution of duties among authorities as well as the principles to guide their administrative
actions such as freedom, equality and accountability. Different authorities have different
powers and tasks. Different political actions are directed by different principles. Rizvi and
Lingard (2010) argue that the legitimacy of political authorities‘ actions consists in the social
imaginary or the collective conception of people. In other words, the conception of authority
is based on public consent. It is within the public agreement and support that authorities can
manage community affairs. Policies, as a product of various compromises among different
authorities, are often utilised to seek public support (Ball, 1994). As noted earlier in this
chapter, given the nature and structure of government in the People‘s Republic of China, it is
difficult for the researcher to investigate the complex process of policy production, for it is
confined to the policy panels and higher authorities. Instead, this study analyses publically
177
available national policy documents for reform of China‘ higher education in order to
examine the roles and principles of Chinese authorities.
Moreover, my study is mainly concerned with the analysis of public polices, that is,
policies produced by the government or its subordinate ministries and departments.
Accordingly, it is the morality of government authorities that is the focus of analysis in this
section. There are three levels of authorities dominant in the seven key policy documents: the
Chinese Communist Party Committee is at the apex of authority; the government is situated
at the middle level of authority; and the Ministry of Education is based at the third and lowest
level of authority in terms of this hierarchy of decision making about national policy
prescriptions.
The Chinese Communist Party is the administrative or ruling party in China. It has the
overall leadership in directing and coordinating decision making in all sectors. The Central
CCP Committee is the overarching body, while each local government, institution or
organisation is under the leadership of a CCP Committee at respective levels. For instance,
the university president follows the directions of the university-level CCP Committee, whose
party secretary reigns supreme.
The state Council, or the Central People‘s Government, is at the top level of
government and, as noted, is subordinate to the CCP. It has the executive and administrative
authority to manage national affairs. Three levels of government fall under this national
umbrella, namely, provincial, municipal and county governments. Each level of government
is paralleled by an echelon of the CCP Committee, which forms a dual leadership system
with ultimate authority residing with the CCP secretary of the relevant Committee (Zhao,
1998).
The Ministry of Education, known as the State Education Commission before 1999, is
one of the State Council‘s departments and is also powerful in determining the nature of
China‘s education policy. For example, the Ministry takes the responsibility of investigating
China‘s educational development and formulating policies for the reform of education system
(Ministry of Education, 2008b). Five of the seven documents examined in this chapter were
developed by the Ministry of Education—the Ninth 5-Year Plan (1996), the 21st Century
Programme (1998), the Tenth 5-Year Plan (2002), the 2003-2007 Action Plan (2004), and the
Eleventh 5-Year Plan (2007).
178
The following analysis centres on these three categories of authorities. Specifically,
each category will be analysed with reference to these seven policy documents so as to
examine how the duties and principles of authorities have been transformed during the
historical process of China‘s higher education reform. On occasions, different categories of
authorities are interconnected to perform tasks. In these cases, the discussion will be
conducted in relation to the category of authority which has the highest level of power. For
example, there are two types of authorities within university governance, namely, the
university president and the university-level CCP Committee. As noted, given that ultimate
authority resides with the CCP secretary, the discussion will be located with respect to the
CCP Committee.
5.3.2.1 Morality of the CCP Committee
Reference to the role of the CCP Committee remains consistent in all seven policy documents,
that is, to implement the CCP‘s policies and guidelines for the reform of education system. In
this vein, the CCP plays a role of general director in the development of China‘s education
sector. It determines the contents of education policies. In turn, China‘s education policies
help to legitimate the authority of the CCP. The statement from the 2003-2007 Action Plan
(Ministry of Education, 2004) is another verification for the overarching role of the CCP in
directing China‘s educational reform:
Under the correct leadership of the Central CCP Committee and the State Council,
China‘s educational cause has achieved development by leaps and bounds. The
educational reform has made great breakthroughs and national educational quality
is in gradual enhancement. (lines 2-3)
First, this statement demonstrates a dual leadership system: the Central CCP Committee and
the Central Government. This dual leadership system exists in every level of local
administrative structures in China. However, the two political systems do not have equal
authority, for the government is under the leadership of the CCP Committee. Second, the
2007 Action Plan uses the word ―correct‖ to lend legitimacy to the authority of the CCP,
given its primacy in decision making in higher education reform. Third, the ―leadership‖ can
be conceptualised as a macro-control mechanism or strategy for managing educational
undertakings. This macro-control strategy steers the directions of educational reform in a
socialist way. In contemporary China, the macro-control mechanism functions with the
179
devolution mechanism. The synergy of macro-control and devolution mechanisms will be
discussed next in the category of the morality of the government.
Besides the general role, the CCP has a specific role in managing the university. With
the exception of the Ninth 5-Year Plan (1996) and the Tenth 5-Year Plan (2002), all the
documents reiterate the system of the university president taking responsibility under the
leadership of the CCP Committee (hereafter CCP-president system). This system was put
forward by the CCP in 1989 and was legalised by the Higher Education Law of the People’s
Republic of China in 1998 (here after Higher Education Law). The Higher Education Law
(Chinese Communist Party, 1998) stipulates that the president is the legal representative of
the university and is in charge of the execution of administrative works such as teaching,
research and the employment of teachers. As for the organisation of internal organisations—
such as teaching, scientific research, and administrative organisations—the president is only
involved in the drafting of plans and recommending personnel such as the vice president
(Chinese Communist Party, 1998). It is the university-level CCP Committee that decides the
establishment of internal organisations and the appointment of personnel (Chinese
Communist Party, 1998). Therefore, the university-level CCP Committee plays a decisive
role in university management. Item 39 of the Higher Education Law has a detailed
prescription for the duties of the university-level CCP Committee:
It carries out the guidelines, principles and policies of the CCP and sticks to the
socialist way of university management. It directs the ideological, political and
moral work of the university. It discusses and decides the setup of the internal
organisations of the university and the selection of corresponding personnel. It
discusses and decides the reform, development and basic management system of
the university. It ensures the completion of various tasks that centre on the
cultivation of specialised and talented human resources. (Chinese Communist
Party, 1998, Item 39)
The aim of this item in the Higher Education Law (1998) is to legitimate and strengthen the
leadership of the CCP Committee in university management (Ouyang, 2011). In particular,
the above statement indicates three aspects of the CCP leadership, that is, political,
ideological and organisational leadership. Political authority is based on the central control of
the CCP by putting into effect those general guidelines and policies. Ideologically, the CCP
Committee utilises the technique of socialist moral education to inculcate students, teachers,
presidents and other administrative personnel with socialist values. This is a socialist way of
university management. Organisational leadership embodies the principle that the CCP
180
governs teachers, students and administrative personnel in the university. That is, the CCP
leads and organises them to reach the objectives of university development.
Although the Higher Education Law (1998) does not explain in detail the way in
which the university-level CCP Committee practices its leadership, an authoritarian style of
governance can be identified here. Tight levels of control of the CCP are the outstanding
feature of an authoritarian government. The CCP not only makes plans and policies for the
reform of the university management system, but also controls the appointment and dismissal
of administrative personnel. As discussed in the 1985 Decision document (Chinese
Communist Party, 1985), the CCP began to devolve its power to local governments and
universities. However, its tight control over political and ideological areas has remained
unchanged throughout the course of higher education reform. The most recent document, the
Medium and Long-term Outline (2010), maintains that the CCP-president system should be
adhered to according to the Higher Education Law (1998).
As argued by Dean (1999), the authoritarian art of governance lies in the constitution
of obedient subjects. In this connection, university students, teachers and administrative staff
are the obedient subjects within the CCP-president system. Through moral education as
directed by the university-level CCP Committee, socialist values are deeply embedded in the
consciousness of university employees and students. With this inculcation of socialist values,
they are subject to the socialist educational undertakings led by the CCP. This socialist form
of moral education is incorporated in all the seven documents. For example, as the first key
document to introduce the CCP-president system, the 1993 Outline emphasises that the
university-level CCP Committee should use socialist theories such as socialism, Marxism and
Mao Zedong Thoughts to educate the students, teachers and administrative staff (lines 232-
236). Similarly, the Medium and Long-term Outline (2010) notes: ―(The university-level CCP
Committee) should let the socialist theories with Chinese characteristics go deep into
teaching materials, into classrooms and into people‘s mind‖ (Point 69). In this respect, moral
education is employed as an authoritarian means by the CCP to manage the university.
Socialist moral education is carried out in a top-down manner as university students, teachers
and administrative staff are required to unreservedly receive these values and conform to the
rules of the CCP.
After examining the CCP‘s overarching role of control in the university, one
distinctive principle of the CCP warrants investigation. The principle is concerned with the
concept of a ―clean Party‖, which was first introduced by the 2003-2007 Action Plan
181
(Ministry of Education, 2004, line 262). The Plan claims that the university-level CCP
Committee should ―make great efforts to build a fine Party culture and keep its organisation
clean‖ (line 263). The proposing of this principle targets the problem of corruption in
university management such as irregular or illegal charges of educational fees and cheating in
university enrolment (lines 264-265). The aim of this principle is to consolidate the CCP‘s
leadership. In light of China‘s one-party rule system (Sigley, 2006), discourses of a ―clean‖
Party, anti-corruption and public supervision are important strategies for the CCP to win
public credibility. The Eleventh 5-Year Plan (2007d) and the Medium and Long-term Outline
(2010) also employed this principle in a similar manner.
Therefore, the major duties of the CCP Committee consist not only in its macro-
control over the reform and development of China‘s higher education sector, but also in its
central leadership in the university management. The most significant leadership has its
manifestation in the ideological inculcation of socialist values on the minds of university
students, teachers and administrative staff in a form of socialist moral education. Accordingly,
these receivers of moral education are constituted as the subjects who are required to comply
with socialist values. One particular principle of the CCP has also been discussed, that is,
pursuing a ―clean‖ Party in order to wipe off corruption and win public support. The next part
investigates the morality of Chinese governments.
5.3.2.2 Morality of the government
The government has the executive and administrative authority over national affairs. The
purpose of this section is to examine how Chinese governments assign their duties and what
principles they adopt in order to respond to national needs and global pressures in the reform
of China‘s higher education system. After the analysis and coding of the seven policy
documents, three categories of duties of Chinese governments were constructed. These duties
are related to the relationships between the Central Government and local governments,
between governments and universities, and between governmental and non-governmental
provision of higher education. Coexisting with these duties are major strategies such as
decentralisation, devolution, and diversification of higher education provision. In addition,
another two principles of Chinese governments are highlighted in higher education policies:
social supervision over government authorities, and educational justice and equity. The
182
following section first examines the relationship between the Central Government and local
governments.
1) The relationship between the Central Government and local governments
Chinese governments are generally classified into categories of the Central
Government and local governments. Local governments are further categorised into three
subsets, namely, governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. The
seven documents under scrutiny embody the strategy of decentralisation to devolve the
authority of the Central Government to local governments with respect to university
administration. In this way, provincial governments become the principal administrative units
responsible for local affairs. Correspondingly, the reform of China‘s higher education
administration system can be summarised as a two-layered administration system of the
Central Government and provincial governments, with provincial governments as the main
agencies of administration.
The two-layered administration system exists in all the seven documents. The 1993
Outline first introduces this system and defines the respective duties of the Central
Government and local governments in the following manner:
The Central Government directly administers some key universities that are
essential to national economic and social development and play an exemplary
role in higher education sector, as well as a few highly specialised universities
beyond the administrative scope of local governments. Under the general
guidelines, policies and macro-plans of the Central Government, the
responsibility and authority of administering the local higher education sector are
all devolved to the provincial governments. (Chinese Communist Party and State
Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993, lines 139-141)
The key universities are first-tier public universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua
University, which are considered more prestigious than other universities. The highly
specialised higher education institutions include those universities such as National Defence
University of the Chinese People‘s Liberation Army, China Foreign Affairs University, and
the Central University of Nationalities. These universities account for a small proportion of
the total number of China‘s universities. Currently, there are 111 universities and colleges
affiliated with the departments of the Central Government and about 2 500 affiliated with the
provincial governments (Zen and Zen, 2009).
183
The Medium and Long-term Outline (2010) clarifies corresponding powers of the
Central Government and local governments. Within this two-layered administration system,
the Central Government administers the reform of China‘s higher education, whereas local
governments are responsible for implementing the policies and plans of the Central
Government (Office of the Working Group of the Outline of State Plans for Medium and
Long-term Reform and Development of Education, 2010). Hence, although the Chinese
government adopts the strategy of decentralisation and devolution, the Central Government
still has a centralised control over the reform process. This can be evidenced by the 111 key
universities directly administered by the Central Government. Despite the fact that the
number of universities affiliated with provincial governments is twenty times more than that
of key universities affiliated with the departments of the Central Government, these key
universities receive more funding from the government and develop more rapidly (Wang,
2001). Moreover, these key universities are closely linked with social and economic
development. By managing these key universities, the Central Government can better control
China‘s social and economic development.
2) The relationship between governments and universities
In the reform of China‘s higher education system, it is not only the Central
Government that devolves its authority to local governments, but also local governments that
devolve their authority to universities. As discussed in the analysis of the 1985 Decision
document, this devolution strategy consists in ―changing the administration system of
governments over-controlling the higher education sector‖ and ―enhancing university
autonomy‖ (Chinese Communist Party, 1985, lines 98-100). While the discourse of
―enhancing university autonomy‖ is preserved in the reform of China‘s higher education
system since 1992, the other discourse is changed to the ―transformation of government
functions‖ (Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China,
1993, lines 133-138). In this sense, transformation of government functions and enhancement
of university autonomy are conceptualised as two significant discourses and policy strategies,
which are discussed as follows.
The discourse of transforming government functions emerged during the process of
the shift of China‘s economic system from a planned economy system to a socialist market
economy system. In 1992, the Fourteenth National People‘s Congress of the CCP introduced
184
the socialist market economy system in order to liberate China‘s economy. The Congress also
put forward the task of transforming government functions in order to fit the requirements of
the market economy for the political system (Yu, 1999). As a result, two forms arose in the
transformation of government functions. In the first form, the government employed indirect
market means to regulate economic activities instead of direct administrative means such as
planning (Wang, 2004). Wang argues that the Chinese government‘s focus in this type of
transformation was on the economic development. The second form of transformation of
government functions is based on the first type. With the enhancement of productive forces,
the function of Chinese government was shifted to focus on social development (Wang,
2004). Specifically, instead of GDP, public services such as education, social security, social
welfare, employment status, and environmental protection became the major index for the
evaluation of government performance (Wang, 2004). In this vein, the objective of the second
type is similar to the concept of a xiaokang society which emphasises an all-round
development of society.
Wang (2004) contends that transformation of government functions since the reform
and opening-up policy in 1978 belongs to the first type. That is, during the process of
focusing on economic development, the Chinese government indirectly regulates economic
activities by introducing market mechanisms such as competition, quality and efficiency.
Following an examination of the seven policy documents, it is evident that transformation of
government functions in university management has occurred in a similar vein.
The 1993 Outline is the first document to use the discourse of transforming
government functions. It states in the following manner:
The government needs to transform its functions. Instead of direct administrative
regulation, the government should use macro-regulation, such as legislation,
appropriation, planning, information services, policy guidance and necessary
administrative means, to manage the university. (Chinese Communist Party and
State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993, line 136)
Therefore, transformation of functions was a crucial task to the government in the reform of
China‘s higher education system. Similar to the changing role of the Chinese government in
economic activities, the government adopted macro-regulatory means such as legislation and
fund appropriation to govern universities. The other six documents have a similar articulation
of transformation of government functions. Appropriation of funds and legislation were the
two main measures to assist this transformation. A shortage of educational funding is a
185
common discourse in the seven documents. In view of this problem, the government adopted
a policy strategy to increase educational investment, which is represented as ―three increases‖:
1) The increase of educational financial appropriation from governments of all
levels should be higher than the increase of regular financial revenues of the same
level. 2) The increase of per capita educational funds for enrolled students should
be increased gradually. 3) Per capita public funds for teacher salary and students
should be increased gradually. (Ministry of Education, 1998b, lines 192-193)
The strategy of three increases remained without change throughout the course of China‘s
higher education reform from 1992 to 2010. Meanwhile, China‘s economy also developed
rapidly during this period. In 2010, China‘s GDP was the second largest in the world.
However, the proportion of China‘s fiscal educational expenditure to GDP was lower
compared with developed countries. As the 1993 Outline claims, the fiscal expenditure on
education was expected to cover 4% of the GDP by the end of the twentieth century (lines
276-277). In fact, this number was only 2.58% in 2000, as is evident in Table 5.3 (Liang and
Zhang, 2010; Zen and Zen, 2009). Since the 1993 Outline put forward this goal, it has not
been achieved. The most recent document, the Medium and Long-term Outline (2010), also
proposes that the fiscal educational expenditure was expected to cover 4% of the GDP by the
year 2012 (Point 56).
Table 5. 3
The proportion of China’s fiscal expenditure on education to GDP(1995-2009)
The second measure that the Chinese government used to transform its functions in
university management was legislation. With the assistance of laws, the government did not
need to directly administer the university sector. University readjustment was carried out on
legal grounds. For instance, the 21st Century Programme (Ministry of Education, 1998b)
mentions that according to the Higher Education Law of the People’s Republic of China
(1998), university autonomy should be enhanced. Furthermore, the kinds of autonomy
universities should have were also prescribed by the law. In this way, the process of the
reform of China‘s higher education system is also a process of legalisation. Table 5.4 shows
how China‘s higher education policy used legislation a measure to promote reforms:
Year 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
(%) 2.46 2.44 2.49 2.55 2.79 2.58 2.79 2.90 2.84 2.79 2.82 3.01 3.22 3.48 3.59
186
Table 5. 4
The legalisation process of the reform of China’s higher education system
Policy documents Corresponding laws
Ninth 5-Year Plan
(1996)
The Compulsory Education Law, the Teachers’ Law and the Education Law
have been promulgated and implemented. The Vocational Education Law
and the Higher Education Law will be drafted.
21st Century
Programme (1998)
The Education Law, the Vocational Education Law and the Higher
Education Law are referred to.
Tenth 5-Year Plan
(2002)
The Regulations of Academic Degrees and the Compulsory Education Law
will be revised. The Law of Non-government Funded Education will be
formulated. The Life-long Learning law will be drafted.
2003-2007 Action
Plan (2004)
The Compulsory Education Law, the Education Law, the Teacher’s Law,
the Higher Education Law and the Regulations of Academic Degrees will
be revised. The Law for the Promotion of Non-government Funded
Education has been carried out. The School Law, the Educational
Examination Law, the Educational Investment Law and the Life-long
Learning law will be drafted.
Eleventh 5-Year
Plan (2007)
The Education Law, the Teacher’s Law, the Vocational Education Law, the
Higher Education Law and the Regulations of Academic Degrees will be
revised. The Law for the Promotion of Non-government Funded Education
has been carried out. The School Law, the Educational Examination Law,
the Life-long Learning law, the Pre-school education Law and the
Regulations of Educational supervision will be drafted.
Medium and Long-
term Outline (2010)
The Vocational Education Law, the Education Law, the Regulations of
Academic Degrees, the Higher Education Law, the Teacher’s Law and the
Law for the Promotion of Non-government Funded Education will be
revised. Laws on examination, school management, life-long learning, pre-
school education and family education will be formulated.
In sum, under discourses of transforming government functions, the Chinese
government employs indirect measures, mainly legislation and fund appropriation, to manage
higher education reform. One point should be noted here. As discussed in Chapter Two, in
the context of globalisation, the readjustment of universities across the world is driven by the
cutbacks in state funding. This is in contrast with the Chinese government‘s policy strategy to
increase educational funding. The reason for this phenomenon might lie in the low level of
public educational investment in contemporary China. As shown in Table 5.3, the proportion
of fiscal expenditure on education to GDP did not exceed 3% until 2006. Meanwhile, China
has a large population in need of education. Thus, increase in educational investment is a
187
necessity to produce enough educated human capital for China‘s economic growth and social
harmony.
In contrast to the low level of public educational funding, the average proportion of
public expenditure on education to GDP in Western countries is relatively large, about 4.8%
in 2001 (Liang and Zhang, 2010). Reduction of public funding in the Western context is
considered as a neoliberal strategy. Under this strategy, universities are constructed as
entrepreneurs who have intentions to earn funds for self-development through such means as
selling educational services and commercialising research achievements. Through creating
such autonomous and entrepreneurial subjects, the government can realise governance at a
distance. In this regard, the indirect macro-regulatory strategy—such as cutbacks in state
funding—together with the mechanism of enhancing university autonomy constitute a
neoliberal art of governance: action-at-a-distance (Miller and Rose, 2008).
The Chinese government also adopts the technology of governing at a distance, albeit
in a different way. For example, the Chinese government transforms its functions by
employing indirect macro-regulatory measures to manage the process of higher education
reform. As well, it enhances university autonomy via policy decisions. However, the driving
force for enhancing university autonomy is not the cutback of government funding, but is the
fact that the level of public funding on education is so low that universities need to seek other
sources for self-development.
Data from the present study suggest that within the technology of governing at a
distance, the role of the Chinese government lies in establishing policies for the reform in
response to the lack of funding. Universities are the objects of these policies. Due to
insufficient government funding, they seek other sources in order to enhance their economic
competitiveness and academic prestige. In this way, they become autonomous and
entrepreneurial institutions. As the aim of this section is at examining the duties and
principles of government authorities, it only discusses the transformation of government
functions in China. A detailed investigation of the policy of enhancing university autonomy
will be conducted in Chapter Six, which discusses how Chinese universities are constituted,
or constitute themselves, as autonomous and entrepreneurial entities.
3) The relationship between governmental and non-governmental provision of higher
education
188
Non-government provision of higher education services emerged as an important factor
in the development of China‘s higher education from 1992 to 2010. As Table 5.5 (Zen and
Zen, 2009) indicates, the proportion of funds from non-government sectors and individual
citizens to state educational funds increased from 1.1% in 1995 to 5.3% in 2004.
Table 5. 5
The constituents and proportion of national educational funds in 1995 and 2004
Constituents of educational funds
1995 2004
Expenditure
(Billion AUD)
Proportion
(%)
Expenditure
(Billion AUD)
Proportion
(%)
National fiscal educational funds 28.6636 75.2 104.7683 61.3
Funds from non-governmental
sectors and individual citizens
0.406 1.1 9.1756 5.3
Funds from private donations and
public funds raising
3.3089 8.7 1.8879 1.1
Tuition and other sundry fees 4.0803 10.7 31.5259 18.4
Other educational funds 1.6646 4.4 23.5277 13.8
Total 38.1234 100 170.8854 100
This increase was due to the relatively low level of government investment in education as
noted earlier. The proportion of fiscal educational expenditure to GDP did not exceed 4% by
the year 2009 and could not, therefore, meet the needs of China‘s large population for access
to higher education. In consideration of this problem, the Chinese government decided on a
policy strategy to augment non-government investment in higher education. The 1993
Outline articulates this strategy in the following manner:
It is necessary to change government‘s role in undertaking the whole provision of
education. A new system should be set up gradually: taking governmental
provision of education as the main part, supplemented by the provision from all
sectors of society. (Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s
Republic of China, 1993, line 115)
According to this statement, it is not only the duty of the government, but also the
responsibility of the whole society, to provide education services. The Ninth 5-Year Plan
(Ministry of Education, 1996) developed this system as follows: government provision of
education as the main part, supplemented by provision from all sectors of society, public and
private schools co-developing (lines 109-110). The Chinese government used these policy
strategies to share responsibility in the provision of education and increase citizen‘s chances
of accessing to higher education. Wang and Liu (2009) argue that another purpose for
189
developing non-government funded higher education was to enhance educational quality by
introducing competition between public and private sectors. This is evidenced in the 2003-
2007 Action Plan (Ministry of Education, 2004), which considered competition as the main
mechanism to promote the co-development of public and private universities (lines 205-214).
In addition to these policy strategies and competition mechanisms, the Chinese
government employed legal measures to manage the development of private higher education.
As Table 5.4 indicates, the Tenth 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 2002) states that the
law on non-government funded education would be formulated. Then in 2002, the Law for
the Promotion of Non-government Funded Education (Chinese Communist Party, 2002) was
issued. After its publication, both the 2003-2007 Action Plan (Ministry of Education, 2004)
and the Eleventh 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 2007d) implemented this law to
regulate the private education sector. Recently, the Medium and Long-term Outline (2010)
claims that the law would be revised. Specifically, the Law for the Promotion of Non-
government Funded Education (2002) sets up rules—such as legal status, property rights,
management style, supervision and evaluation—and preferential policies for private
institutions. For example, the university council manages and administers the institution
(Item 19); the Ministry of Education directs, supervises and evaluates university management
(Item 39; Item 40); governments above the level of county could set up special funds to
support its development, and reward and honour those universities with outstanding
performance (Item 44).
Therefore, the Chinese government adopted three measures to develop non-
government funded education. First, it used policy strategies to encourage and support the
private sector to share responsibility for the provision of higher education. Second, it
employed competition mechanism to enhance the quality of private education. Third, it
applied legal forces to the management of the non-government higher education sector. These
measures assisted the government in playing an indirect role in the practice of governance. In
this way, the Chinese government used technologies of governing at a distance. Having
discussed the duties of the Chinese government, the next two parts investigate two distinctive
principles deployed by the government in managing the reform of China‘s higher education.
4) Social supervision over government authorities
190
In China, social supervision is a form of supervision from citizens or social entities
over the administrative activities of the government, and it has no legal force (Lao, 2009).
The principle that government authorities should receive social supervision was first
introduced in the 2003-2007 Action Plan (Ministry of Education, 2004). The document
maintains that a system would be set up to supervise and evaluate the work of county-level
governments in education, the result of which would be taken as important criteria for
performance assessment and reward (lines 191-192). The Eleventh 5-Year Plan (Ministry of
Education, 2007d) extended the objects of social supervision to Chinese governments at all
levels. The Medium and Long-term Outline (2010) further extended the objects to both CCP
Committees at all levels and governments at all levels. Together with the principle of social
supervision is the mechanism of accountability. Under social supervision, Chinese
governments and CCP Committees are held accountable for their performance in managing
the reform of China‘s higher education system.
Social supervision has no legal force. However, when synergised with accountability
mechanism, it can be conceptualised as a political technique to secure public trust and
support by increasing administrative transparency and enhancing government performance
(Lao, 1999). As noted earlier, this approach is especially significant as China has a one-party
system, and this political tactic can also help consolidate the authority of the CCP and the
government (Sigley, 2006).
5) Educational justice and equity
Educational equity refers to the requirement that citizens have equal rights to receive
education, and is an important element of social equity (Lao, 2009). The underlying rationale
for promoting educational equity is to achieve social justice and enhance economic benefit
(Rizvi and Lingard, 2010). Provision of equal opportunity for participating in education can
contribute to the development of social cohesion. Moreover, greater numbers of educated
citizens constitute the human capital necessary for economic development. Within this
rationality, the Tenth 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 2002) took the provision of
educational equality as one of the main principles of the government (lines 225-227). In
China‘s higher education policies, the objects upon which this principle is practiced are
mainly citizens in disadvantaged rural areas, social groups who have low level of incomes
and those who are disabled. Such disadvantaged groups in Chinese society have limited
191
opportunity to access higher education compared with those from urban and economically
developed regions. Following an examination of these policy documents, the principal
measures to promote educational equity focus on the expansion of the higher education sector
and the establishment of a life-long learning system.
The expansion of the higher education sector can increase the opportunity for those
individuals seeking access to university education (Cheng, 2006). Since the State Council
initiated the expansion of China‘s higher education sector in 1997, the gross enrolment rate of
higher education had experienced a rapid increase, as demonstrated in Table 2.1. As the
Medium and Long-term Outline (2010) shows, it reached 24.2% in 2009 and was expected to
reach 40% by the year 2020. A greater number of citizens were expected to receive higher
education during this process of expansion.
The Tenth 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 2002) considered life-long learning as
a significant strategy to comply with the principle of educational equity and justice (line 67).
In general, the life-long learning system embodies a coordinated development between
credentialed and non-credentialed education, between vocational and general education, and
between pre- and post-service education (Office of the Working Group of the Outline of State
Plans for Medium and Long-term Reform and Development of Education, 2010, Point 3). In
the seven policy documents, other forms of life-long learning include open university, open
educational resources, distance education, continuing education, and community education.
Within the life-long learning system, citizens, particularly those from disadvantaged groups,
can receive various types of higher education according to their own needs. Therefore, the
assumption is that educational equity can be realised through a life-long learning system.
Within the theoretical framework of this study, expansion and the life-long learning
system are deemed as arts of governing. These forms of governance act upon citizen‘s desires
and expectations for participating in higher education. Students are constituted as
entrepreneurial subjects who seek returns from receiving educational services (Simons and
Masschelein, 2006). In this way, such subjects govern themselves, and are also governed by
government authorities.
Hence, the principal duties of the Chinese government lie in the transformation of its
functions by employing indirect macro-control means in managing universities, as well as the
adoption of the mechanism of devolving its authority to enhance university autonomy. In this
manner, the Chinese government can govern the reform process at a distance. Moreover, two
192
principles, social supervision and educational equity, are underlined to strengthen the
authority of the government and enhance social cohesion. The next section examines the role
of the Ministry of Education.
5.3.2.3 Morality of the Ministry of Education
As a department of the Central Government, the Ministry of Education is in charge of
China‘s educational affairs. As noted, it plays an important role in investigating China‘s
educational development and formulating policies for higher education reform (Ministry of
Education, 2008b). In this regard, it has one specific duty as manifested in the Ninth 5-Year
Plan (Ministry of Education, 1996); that is, to implement policies and provide feedback.
Specifically, the Ministry of Education is responsible for mobilising policy-makers and
educational researchers to track and study the key issues in the implementation of educational
programmes. In this way, suggestions for policy making are provided for reference.
Moreover, the Ministry of Education is responsible for establishing systems to monitor the
implementation progress. Consequently, it is able to compare the policy outcomes with
planned objectives in order to ensure that policy objectives are met and, if not, to provide
countermeasures. Based on the data collected from the monitoring system, the Ministry of
Education is also responsible for providing annual report for the Chinese government
(Ministry of Education, 1996, lines 185-188).
Miller and Rose‘s (2008) argument that governing activities are the continuous failing
operation of government verifies the purpose of this specific duty of the Ministry of
Education. Policy implementation is a typical governing activity and is influenced by
different forces. Some forces are supportive, some resistant, and some neutral. Resistant
forces might cause differences between the objectives planned in the policy and outcomes
actually happening in the reality. In this respect, the purpose of the monitoring system set up
by the Ministry of Education is to collect information about these different forces. Based on
this information, the government can improve its art of governance and formulate new
policies to better manage these issues. Accordingly, the practice of governance forms an
―endless loop‖: one policy failing to achieve planned objectives contributes to the emergence
of a new policy, the continuous failing of which leads to another policy. Therefore, the role of
the Ministry of Education lies in supporting the government to maintain effective governance.
193
In sum, this section (Section 5.3.2) has examined the duties and principles of Chinese
authorities in the process of managing higher education reform. Three levels of Chinese
authorities have different moralities. First, the morality of the CCP consists in its central
leadership in university management. This tight control constitutes obedient subjects by
means of socialist moral education. Second, the morality of the Chinese government lies in its
transformation of functions. Instead of direct administration, the government employs
indirect macro-regulatory means to govern the reform process. The transformation of
functions helps the government to operate at a distance. Finally, the morality of the Ministry
of Education is reflected in the practice of assisting the government in maintaining effective
governance by monitoring the policy implementation process and providing data support for
further policy reform. Here, a hybrid form of governance can be identified from the
examination of the morality of Chinese authorities. The centralised control of the CCP
represents an authoritarian mode, while technologies of governing at a distance embody a
neoliberal mode. Furthermore, this hybrid governmentality can be investigated from the
languages used by these policy documents. The next section analyses the discursive apparatus
embedded in the policy texts.
5.3.3 Language of representation
Policy texts are the product of the policy process, which is often conflicted given that
different political forces impact on it (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010; Taylor et al., 1997).
Language is the device used to represent this process. In this respect, language is regarded as
an intellectual technique or discursive apparatus to assist governing activities (Miller and
Rose, 2008). This discursive apparatus makes the objects of government intelligible and
thinkable. As well, language is used to inform policy texts. With the assistance of language,
political authorities gather knowledge about particular social phenomena, and this enables
them to formulate policies to achieve certain ends. Discourses, as the articulator of political
forces, are embedded in the policy texts in order to impact on the policy audience. However,
discourses only represent; they do not have any material effect. Discourses need to work with
material apparatuses—governmental mechanisms, strategies and spaces—to act on the
objects of political activities. This section investigates how discourses prepare the knowledge
necessary for technological intervention in China‘s higher education reform. The examination
of technological intervention will be provided in Chapter Six.
194
Overall, the language of the seven policy documents of China‘s higher education
reform can be categorised into two groups. The first category comprises discourses of
globalisation with reference to the market economy, the knowledge economy, information
technologies, and human capital. They are introduced by political authorities in their
governance of China‘s higher education reform in the context of globalisation. The second
category refers to socialist discourses. These discourses comply with the socialist regime of
China. As most of these discourses have been considered in Section 5.3.1 and Section 5.3.2,
the discussion in this section (Section 5.3.3) focuses on examining how they work together to
represent certain forms of governance. Table 5.6 collects these three categories of discourses
from the seven policy texts.
Table 5. 6
Categories of discourses in China’s higher education policy documents from 1992 to 2010
Discourses
of
globalisation
Market
economy
market economy, quality, quality assurance/evaluation, efficiency,
competition, performance, evaluation, social supervision,
responsibility, accountability, investment, non-government funded
universities, self-funded students, enterprises, industrialisation,
marketisation, loan, enterprising ability, practicability, devolution,
autonomy, macro-regulation (transformation of government functions),
appropriation, law
Knowledge
economy
knowledge economy, national knowledge innovation system,
creativity, innovation
Information
technology
information technology, informationisation, Internet, computer,
digitalise
Human
resources
human resources, rencai, new path of industrialisation, life-long
learning, massification, internationalisation
Socialist discourses socialist, leadership, direct, master, plan, jihua, guihua, socialist moral
education
5.3.3.1 Discourses of globalisation
Since the opening-up policy in 1978, China‘s higher education sector has been influenced by
external forces. Among these forces, discourses of globalisation account for a significant part.
As discussed in Section 5.3.1, international competition, market economy, knowledge
economy, and human capital emerged as prominent themes in the Chinese government‘s
response to pressures of globalisation. These themes constitute the multiple dimensions of
globalisation. There are corresponding discourses about these themes, which are discussed as
follows.
195
1) Discourses of the market economy
The introduction of market economy discourses symbolises the transformation of a
planned economy system into a market economy system in contemporary China. While
―scale‖ and ―speed‖ are classical terms of the planned economy, ―quality‖ and ―efficiency‖
are typical discourses of the market economy. The Ninth 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education,
1996) claims that the development pattern of education should centre on quality and
efficiency rather than on scale and speed. The Eleventh 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education,
2007d) further suggests that systems of quality assurance and evaluation should be set up to
promote the reform of China‘s higher education. Moreover, ―competition‖ is both a discourse
and technique used to enhance quality and efficiency. As noted earlier, except for the Ninth
5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 1996), the other six policy documents employed the
discourse of ―international competition‖ to raise Chinese people‘s awareness of competition
in educational development.
―Performance‖, ―evaluation‖, ―social supervision‖, ―accountability‖, and
―responsibility‖ are four closely related terms to speak about the economic efficiency of
one‘s work. In these policies, a range of subjects—teachers, university presidents, academic
researchers and government authorities—were held accountable for their performance. An
evaluation and supervision system was used to measure their performance, the results of
which determined the issue of reward or punishment. Within these discourses, the subjects
were considered as workers in the market system, whose performance was linked with their
interests and returns.
All the seven policy documents described education as a practice of ―investment‖.
Governments, individuals and the non-government sector were all constituted as investors of
education. Accordingly, there emerged ―non-government funded universities‖ and ―self-
funded‖ students. Non-government funded universities were first introduced in the Ninth 5-
Year Plan (1996) to compete with public universities, the aim of which was to enhance the
overall quality of China‘s higher education. The 1993 Outline (1993) describes that higher
education was non-compulsory education and students should pay tuition fees in order to
receive higher education services. In this regard, higher education was considered as a market
commodity. Providers of this commodity were diversified by the introduction of non-
government funded institutions. Students became the buyers of educational commodities.
196
Moreover, the operation of a university was compared to the operation of an
―enterprise‖. In these policies, teaching and researching activities in universities were
connected with social production. The 21st Century Programme (Ministry of Education,
1998b) proposed to ―industrialise‖ and ―marketise‖ the innovative technologies produced by
research activities in the university (line 104). As well, universities were encouraged to use
―bank loans‖ to earn funds for self-development (Ministry of Education, 2002, line 130). In
the meantime, students and teachers were expected to be educated or trained to develop their
―entrepreneurial ability‖ (Ministry of Education, 1998b, line 111) and ―practicability‖
(Ministry of Education, 2002, line 143). With these abilities, students and teachers could not
only contribute to the development of university enterprises, but also start and manage their
own enterprises.
Under the discourse of ―transformation of government functions‖ (Chinese
Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993, line 136), the
Chinese government constituted itself as the general manager of the reform process. It adopts
indirect ―macro-regulatory‖ market mechanisms—―devolution of government authority‖ and
―enhancement of university autonomy‖—to manage higher education reform. ―Fund
appropriation‖ and ―legislation‖ were two principal means utilised by this manager.
2) Discourses of the knowledge economy
Peters (2007) argues that the knowledge economy is a late phase of globalisation
driven by neoliberal policy. Technologies, knowledge workers and innovation are the core
elements in knowledge economy discourses (Ernst and Hart, 2008; Rizvi and Lingard, 2010).
The 21st Century Programme (Ministry of Education, 1996) is the first milestone document to
use discourses of the knowledge economy. It required universities to be bases for knowledge
and technology innovation. At this point, the ―211 Project‖—the purpose of which is to
establish China‘s 100 top level universities and key disciplines in the twenty-first century—
had provided an important foundation for the cultivation of ―creative‖ and ―innovative‖
human resources, as well as for the construction of a ―national knowledge innovation system‖
(Ministry of Education, 1996, line 72).
3) Discourses of information technologies
197
Information technology is also a core element for developing an economy that is
driven by forces of innovation. As argued by Castells (1996), this technological development
played a significant role in enhancing productivity and competitiveness in the global market.
The 2003-2007 Action Plan (Ministry of Education, 2004) initiated the ―project of
educational informationisation‖ under the discursive and technological influence of
―information technology‖ (line 151). Within this project, the university was modernised by
constructing spaces such as ―computer‖, ―Internet‖, ―digital campus‖, ―digital library‖, and
―digital educational resources‖ (Ministry of Education, 2004, lines 59-61).
4) Discourses of human capital
Globalisation is a multi-dimensional process. In addition to discourses of the market
economy, knowledge economy and information technology, human capital discourses are one
of the themes of these policy documents. Within these discourses, modern economy tends to
focus on the knowledge and skills of the workforce (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010). As for
individuals, they become entrepreneurs who calculate the costs and benefits for their
behaviours (Foucault, 2008). The cultivation of rencai (a kind of specialised and quality
human resources) was the objective of China‘s higher education reform. With the discursive
and material constitution of rencai, China‘s burden of its large population could be
transformed into the advantage of educated and talented human resources.
―New path of industrialisation‖ was the discourse and project used to enhance the
quality of human resources by applying information technologies in the process of
industrialisation (Ministry of Education, 2007d). Under the discourse of the ―new path of
industrialisation‖, a balanced development between technology-intensive industries and
labour-intensive industries was emphasised. Accordingly, this discourse underlined the
importance of both the specific cultivation of IT rencai and the overall enhancement of
human capital.
The notion of ―massification‖ and a ―life-long learning‖ system were discursive and
strategic measures to improve the quantity and quality of human resources. Within the
discourse of ―life-long learning‖, both university students and teachers were constituted as
―life-long learners‖ who seek self-development by continuously upgrading themselves. The
discourse of ―massification‖ emphasised that expansion of higher education could bring more
opportunities for Chinese citizens to participate in tertiary education. These two types of
198
discursive and material apparatuses can be conceptualised as the ―technology of the self‖
(Foucault, 1997b, 1997c). This technology acts on students and teachers‘ willingness to
develop themselves by participating and investing in higher education for career benefits.
The policy strategy of internationalising China‘s higher education sector was also a
form of governance to produce, import and export high-class human resources. Discourses of
―internationalisation‖ emphasised the international cooperation and exchange of higher
education. For instance, academic leaders in China were selected and sent overseas to learn
advanced sciences and technologies (Ministry of Education, 2004). Chinese language
teachers for foreign learners were trained and sent overseas for the development of
―Confucius Institutes‖ (Ministry of Education, 2004).
5.3.3.2 Socialist discourses
In contrast to discourses of globalisation introduced by the Chinese government were
socialist discourses. The socialist mode of government has existed from the founding of the
People‘s Republic of China in 1949 to date. This governing mode has a deep influence on
China‘s education system. As the 1993 Outline (Chinese Communist Party and State Council
of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993) asserts, the purpose of higher education reform was
to better serve the socialist modernisation of China. In this sense, the process of higher
education reform is managed and administered by the socialist government.
Socialist discourses are embodied in the tight authoritarian control of the CCP. As
discussed with reference to the morality of the CCP, the university-level CCP Committee
plays an overarching role in university operations. It makes overall plans and policies, as well
as controls the establishment of internal university organisations and the appointment and
dismissal of administrative personnel (Chinese Communist Party, 1998). In this respect,
discourses such as ―be under the leadership of‖, ―direct‖, and ―master‖ indicate the supreme
authority of the CCP in managing China‘s higher education reform.
―Planning‖ is one of the important discourses and techniques used by political
authorities in China. There are two parallel Chinese terms—―jihua‖ and ―guihua‖—for the
English word ―plan‖. As noted by Jeffreys and Sigley (2009), the discourse about ―plan‖ was
changed from ―jihua‖ to ―guihua‖ in contemporary China. Amongst the seven documents, the
Ninth 5-Year Plan (1996), the 21st Century Programme (1998), the Tenth 5-Year Plan (2002),
and the 2003-2007 Action Plan (2004) use the word ―jihua‖ in the title; the Eleventh 5-Year
199
Plan (2007) and the Medium and Long-term Outline (2010) include ―guihua‖ in the title.
However, these two terms have different meanings. While ―jihua‖ refers to the direct socialist
planning since the 1950s, ―guihua‖ implies overall regulation that constitutes a managerial
and guiding role for the CCP and the Chinese government (Jeffreys and Sigley, 2009, p. 12).
Therefore, ―jihua‖ indicates the authoritarian manner of governance, and ―guihua‖ manifests
the neoliberal means. In this respect, the discursive transformation from ―jihua‖ to ―guihua‖
embodies the shift of governmentality from the authoritarian to the neoliberal. Nevertheless,
this transformation of governing mode is aimed only for the Chinese government. The CCP
still employs the authoritarian mode in directing the reform process.
―Moral education‖ is another significant discourse and strategy adopted by the
socialist form of governance. Socialist values such as ―nationalism‖—in China, it refers to
Maoist norms and values of serving the country (Hoffman, 2006, p. 561)—are conveyed in
the moral education. Political authorities in China use moral education to produce ―socialist
builders and successors‖ (Ministry of Education, 2007d, line 25). In this way, this discursive
constitution of socialist subjectivities by moral education reflects a socialist mode of
governance.
In sum, a range of discourses constitute the process of China‘s higher education
reform. In the context of modern China, the reform is governed by different levels of
authorities. They use different types of discourses in their governing activities. The CCP, as
the highest level of authority, tightly controls the reform by using authoritarian discourses
and technologies. In contrast, the Chinese government employs neoliberal discourses, as used
by company managers, to regulate the reform in an indirect and macro manner. Finally,
Figure 5.5 is used to summarise the analysis of Section 5.3.
200
Rationalities of
higher education
policy in China
from 1992 to 2010
Knowledge of the
objects of government
International competition The problem that China is at an uncertain position in the international
competition justifies the needs for educational reform to produce information,
technology and human capital that are crucial for social and economic
development.
Socialist market economy The introduction of a socialist market economy into the reform of China‘s
higher education system is the response of the Chinese government to address
national needs and external pressures in the context of globalisation and the
knowledge economy. This response embodies a hybrid model of governance—
socialist authoritarian and market neoliberal.
Knowledge economy Higher education reform can produce creative human resources and innovative
technologies required by the knowledge economy.
Human capital Development of human capital could transform the burden of China‘s large
population into the advantage of high quality human resources.
Xiaokang society The building up of a xiaokang (moderately prosperous) society fits the basic
national needs of China. Higher education reform can contribute to economy
prosperity, balanced and sustainable development, and a harmonious society
required by the xiaokang society.
Morality of authorities
CCP Committee The morality of the CCP lies in its tight and centralised control in university
management and administration.
Chinese government Principal duties of the Chinese government lie in the transformation of its
functions by adopting indirect macro-regulatory means in managing
universities, as well as the adoption of the mechanism of devolving its
authority to enhance university autonomy. Principles of social supervision and
educational equity are used to secure public support and social harmony.
Ministry of Education The morality of the Ministry of Education is reflected in the practice of
assisting the government in maintaining effective governance by monitoring
201
the policy implementation process and providing data support for the
government to adjust its agenda for further reforms.
Language of
representation
(or discursive forms of
apparatuses)
Neoliberal discourses Market
economy
market economy, quality, quality assurance/evaluation,
efficiency, competition, performance, evaluation, social
supervision, responsibility, accountability, investment, non-
government funded universities, self-funded students,
enterprises, industrialisation, marketisation, loan, enterprising
ability, practicability, devolution, autonomy, macro-regulation
(transformation of government functions), appropriation, law
Knowledge
economy
knowledge economy, national knowledge innovation system,
creativity, innovation
Information
technology
information technology, informationisation, Internet, computer,
digitalise
Human
resources
human resources, rencai, new path of industrialisation, life-long
learning, massification, internationalisation
Authoritarian discourses
socialist, leadership, direct, master, plan, jihua, guihua, socialist moral
education
Figure 5. 5. Governmental rationalities of higher education policy in China from 1992 to 2010
202
5.4 Chapter summary
This chapter conducted a critical analysis of higher education policy at the national level in
China through the conceptual framework of governmentality. The chapter began by
examining the 1985 Decision document because it foreshadowed a profound reform of
China‘s higher education sector. The rationale of this document was evident in identifying
problems that China‘s higher education system was rigid due to the planned economy.
University operations lacked vigour and flexibility and could not meet the needs of social and
economical development. Based on this rationale, political authorities of China focused their
duties on enhancing university autonomy and prompting universities to adapt to the economic
development. In this way, the Chinese government used technologies of governing at a
distance to indirectly intervene in the reform. The government managed the reform process in
a macro manner and devolved its authority to universities in order to limit its direct
intervention. As well, Chinese universities were constituted as autonomous and enterprising
entities that desired to develop and reform so as to contribute to China‘s development. During
the process of enhancing university autonomy, three types of subjects were constituted.
Students were constituted as self-governing, enterprising and obligatory subjects, who were
also expected to be socialist professionals. Teachers became socialist subjects with firm
beliefs in the CCP. University presidents were both autonomous subjects who had the will to
manage the university and docile subjects who obeyed the decisions of the CCP.
On the basis of the 1985 Decision policy document, during the period 1992 to 2010,
China‘s higher education sector experienced deeper reforms and changes with the
introduction of a socialist market economy and the deepening of opening-up to global links.
The five underpinning rationales during this period were based on international pressures and
China‘s national needs. First, the problem that China was at an uncertain position in the
international competition justified the need for educational reform in order to produce
information, technology and human capital that were crucial for economic growth and social
development. Second, given China‘s large population, development of human capital could
transform the burden of population into a high quality asset. Third, higher education reform
could produce those creative rencai and innovative technologies required by the knowledge
economy. Fourth, the introduction of a socialist market economy would make higher
education better align with social and economic development. Finally, it was assumed that
higher education reform could contribute to economic prosperity, balanced and sustainable
development, and the creation of a harmonious community required by the xiaokang society.
203
In view of these five rationales for higher education reform, the Chinese government
transformed its functions through policy prescriptions to manage the reform process at a
distance. On the one hand, it adopted indirect macro-regulatory means in managing
universities. Appropriation of funds and legislation were two principal means that assisted the
government in macro-regulating university development. Social supervision and educational
equity were two principles that the government pursued to enhance its performance and
social harmony. On the other hand, the government utilised the mechanism of devolving its
authority to enhance university autonomy. Although the government devolved its authority to
universities, the Chinese Communist Party retained a tight control of university operations.
Moreover, in order to help the government maintain effective governance, the Ministry of
Education was required to monitor the policy implementation process and provided data
support for further policy reforms. Following the critical analysis of governmental
rationalities underpinning China‘s higher education policies, Chapter Six examines the
governmental technologies of these policies.
204
205
CHAPTER SIX
GOVERNMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES
OF HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY IN CHINA
6.1 Introduction
The previous chapter examined governmental rationalities underpinning the reform of
China‘s higher education system during the period 1992 to 2010 and identified three elements.
The first element concerns the understanding of the reality of China‘s higher education sector
as well as its international and national contexts. The second element relates to the duties and
principles of Chinese authorities in managing the reform, while the third element is
concerned with discourses used to represent these knowledge, political tasks and principles.
These rationalities also inform the selection of those governmental technologies that emerged
during this reform process.
According to Miller and Rose (2008), governmental technologies are ways of acting
on the objects of governing activities. Objects can be a particular social phenomenon such as
the reform of an education system, a group of people such as university teachers, or an
individual person such as the university president. Based on the knowledge about the objects
informed by rationalities, government authorities utilise technologies to act on these objects
in order to transform them for political purposes. Such technological intervention is, in fact,
the exercise of power over objects. Governmental technologies form a network of powers that
operates through a range of mechanisms, strategies, techniques and spaces (Miller and Rose,
2008). The effect of the exercise of power is the constitution of social subjects. Accordingly,
this chapter examines what kinds of mechanisms and strategies are used, as well as what
kinds of spaces and subjects are constituted in the process of China‘s higher education reform.
Before examining governmental technologies, it is necessary to note that, as
rationalities inform the use of technologies, there will be overlaps between them in the
following analysis. For example, sometimes principles of political authorities can be used as
political strategies. As discussed in Chapter Five, the principle that governing activities
should receive social supervision has been used by the Chinese government as a political
move to secure public support. Moreover, some discourses themselves are techniques. For
example, ―moral education‖ is both a discursive and technical device to constitute patriotic
subjects. Therefore, the following analysis will enumerate these technologies for the purpose
206
of an overall study. When encountering technologies which overlap with rationalities that
have been investigated in Chapter Five, the researcher summarises the discussion and
provides reference to corresponding rationalities. Figure 6.1 is used to summarise the analysis
of this chapter. The next section examines the mechanisms and strategies adopted by the
Chinese government to manage the reform of China‘s higher education system.
Technologies of the policy programme
Materialised forms of apparatuses
in Subjectivities Mechanisms or
strategies
Spaces
Figure 6. 1. Technologies of the policy
6.2 Mechanisms and strategies
Mechanisms and strategies are important constituents of governmental technologies and act
as the forces employed to influence the objects of government. These forces can take various
forms such as administrative, managerial, financial, and legal forces (Miller and Rose, 2008).
For instance, the Higher Education Law (1998) was utilised to provide legal guidelines for
the reform of China‘s higher education. In addition to legal forces, the Chinese government
employs a series of mechanisms and strategies to administer higher education reform. This
assemblage of governmental forces is embodied in the technology of governing at a distance
(Miller and Rose, 2008).
As discussed in Chapter Five, with reference to the morality of the government, the
Chinese government adopts the technology of governing at a distance. It employs indirect
macro-regulatory means, such as funds appropriation, legislation, planning, and information
services, to manage the reform of China‘s higher education. Concomitantly, the government
adopts a range of policy strategies to enhance university autonomy. Enhancing university
autonomy is used as a means of encouraging universities to seek sources to develop
themselves in response to lower levels of government funding. In this way, the university
operates in the manner of an enterprise that is responsible for its own undertakings. By
constituting this kind of autonomous, entrepreneurial and self-responsible educational
207
institution, the government realises its governance at a distance through macro-regulatory
means.
Given this technological framework of governing higher education reform at a
distance, the researcher conducted an examination of these macro-regulatory mechanisms by
investigating the themes that emerged in those policy strategies aimed at reforming the higher
education sector. In broad terms, six significant themes in governmental strategies were
identified from the seven milestone policy documents. These themes include the reform of
university administration system and transformation of government functions, fund
appropriation and legislation, diversified provision of higher education, supervision,
educational equity and justice, and tracking and monitoring the policy implementation
process.
As well, the researcher sought to examine how universities are constituted, and
constitute themselves, as enterprise bodies that maximise their autonomy while accepting
responsibility for their own development. Five significant themes that reflected the nature of
universities‘ efforts in capacity building emerged from the data, including: independent fund-
raising by the university, means to improve quality and efficiency in order to enhance
institutional competitiveness and prestige, rencai (specialised and talented human resources)
cultivation, construction of campus infrastructure, and moral education. The following
section examines the macro-regulatory strategy of the government.
6.2.1 Macro-regulation of the government
As noted, macro-regulation is a measure the Chinese government employs to regulate the
operation of the market economy by indirect means such as policies, laws and taxation. The
purpose is to keep commodity prices steady, curtail inflation, and maintain a steady
development of economy. As the macro-regulatory strategy has been examined in the
morality of the Chinese government in Section 5.3.2, a summary of this strategy is provided
here.
6.2.1.1 Reform of administration and transformation of government functions
All seven documents include the strategy of decentralisation to devolve the authority of the
Central Government to local governments. This strategy is embodied in the establishment of
208
a corresponding university administration system: a two-layered administration system of the
Central Government and provincial governments, with provincial governments as the main
agencies of administration. Within this two-layered administration system, the Central
Government exercises its central leadership in managing the reform of China‘s higher
education; local governments are responsible for implementing the policies and programmes
of the Central Government. Therefore, the Central Government still has centralised control
over the practice of university administration though it claimed to devolve its authority.
The decentralisation strategy was also applied with reference to the relationship
between the government and universities. With the introduction of a socialist market
economy system, the Chinese Government made the political move to transform its functions
in order to adapt to the market economy. The 1993 Outline (Chinese Communist Party and
State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993) asserts that the government should
use indirect macro-regulation, instead of direct administrative regulation, to manage the
university. Appropriation of funds and legislation were two major indirect mechanisms in the
process of government function transformation.
6.2.1.2 Appropriation of funds and legislation
A lack of educational funds contributed to the main problem in developing China‘s higher
education. Accordingly, the government adopted the strategy of increasing educational
funding. Most of the policy documents claimed that the fiscal expenditure on education was
expected to cover 4% of the GDP by the year 2009. However, this goal has not been reached.
Therefore, the level of public expenditure on higher education was relatively low, compared
with that of developed countries. This lack of public funding has driven universities to seek
other sources such as tuition fees and bank loans for self-development.
Legislation was another important indirect mechanism adopted in the transformation
of government functions. With the implementation of educational laws, the reform of higher
education system was carried out on legal grounds and the government did not need to
directly administer universities. Table 5.4 in Chapter Five demonstrated that the readjustment
of Chinese universities involved the process of legalisation.
209
6.2.1.3 Diversified provision of higher education
Non-government funded higher education institutions emerged as an important element that
supplemented China‘s higher education sector. The underpinning rationale for their
emergence can also be linked to the relatively low level of educational investment from the
government. The 1993 Outline (Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s
Republic of China, 1993) asserts that it is not only the duty of government, but also the
responsibility of the whole society, to provide higher education services. Therefore, the
Chinese government utilised policies and laws—such as the Law for the Promotion of Non-
government Funded Education (2002)—to encourage non-governmental sectors to share
responsibility in the provision of higher education. The use of policy and legal forces also
manifested the indirect macro-control mechanism of government in regulating the
development of China‘s higher education sector.
6.2.1.4 Supervision
The supervision mechanism can be categorised into the social supervision over the
government and supervision over university operations. The 2003-2007 Action Plan
(Ministry of Education, 2004) is the first document to state that the government should
receive social supervision and evaluation. Under social supervision, the government is held
accountable for the performance of their governing activities. In this connection, when
working with accountability mechanism, social supervision can be viewed as a political
technique to enhance government performance and elicit public support.
Under government legislation, supervision over university operations can be
conducted by local governments, local ministries of education, as well as independent and
specialised agencies. As noted earlier, evaluation is the major technique for supervision. For
example, the 2003-2007 Action Plan (Ministry of Education, 2004) states that independent
organisations were expected to be established to evaluate the quality of university teaching
and research activities every five years. Supervision can also emerge in the internal
operations of universities. This form of internal supervision via performative measures
impacts on university academics in various ways. For example, performance measures, such
as the calculation of the numbers of academic papers published each year, were central
elements for staff to maintain their contractual employment or to promote their academic
210
titles. These measurement outcomes prompted university academics to behave in
entrepreneurial ways to manage their careers in this university context.
6.2.1.5 Educational equity and justice
Educational equity is a discursive and technical device to achieve social justice and increase
economic benefits (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010). The principle of promoting educational equity
is a part of China‘s higher education policy agenda, and three strategies were adopted. These
strategies include a focus on improving the higher education participation rates between the
rural and urban population, addressing the imbalance between the economically developed
eastern coastal areas and underdeveloped western areas, and guaranteeing the rights of
disabled and economically disadvantaged citizens to participate in higher education.
6.2.1.6 Tracking and monitoring the policy implementation process
Maintaining effective governance is the objective of the government, and policy strategies are
devised to achieve this end. However, in the process of implementation, resistant forces
might cause differences between the objectives planned in the policy and outcomes actually
happening in reality. Therefore, the Chinese government assigns the tasks of tracking and
monitoring policy implementation to one of its departments, the Ministry of Education, as
evident in the Ninth 5-Year Plan (1996) and the Medium and Long-term Outline (2010). The
Ministry of Education is required to collect information and data about the implementation
process and report back to the government. Based on these reports, the government can adjust
its policy agenda to secure better outcomes.
In sum, these six mechanisms and strategies comprise the technological forces
exercised by the government to administer the reform of China‘s higher education system in a
macro manner. For the convenience of governing at a distance, these macro-regulatory
techniques need to work with mechanisms of enhancing university autonomy. The next
section examines how universities develop themselves in response to the policy strategy of
indirect macro-regulation.
211
6.2.2 Measures of university self-development
The enhancement of university autonomy is one of the motifs of higher education policy in
contemporary China. It is also the principal mechanism used in China‘s higher education
reform. The 1993 Outline (Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s
Republic of China, 1993) provides a general definition for the mechanism of enhancing
university autonomy: ―a self-developing and self-disciplined operating mechanism that is
required to autonomously fit the social and economic development‖ (line 135). Within this
mechanism, the university, as managed by the university president, was considered as a ―self‖
that disciplined and developed itself. These disciplines were mainly regulated through
national policies and law, while institutional operations were closely related to the China‘s
social and economic development. In other words, restricted by national policies and laws,
the university is an autonomous self that conducts social and economic activities for
development.
The 1993 Outline demonstrates that universities‘ autonomous activities included the
following aspects: ―enrolment, specialty adjustment, setup of organisations, appointment and
dismissal of administrative cadres, use of funds, assessment of professional titles, salary
distribution, and international cooperation and communication‖ (lines 134-135). Among the
remaining six documents, only the Medium and Long-term Outline (2010) restates the
composition of universities‘ autonomy. This is elaborated in the following manner:
According to national laws, regulations and macro-policies, universities have the
autonomy to carry out teaching activities, scientific research, technological
development and social services; to formulate and implement plans for university
development; to set up teaching, scientific research, and administrative
organisations; to decide the internal distribution of incomes; to manage and use
human resources, to manage and use university properties and funds. (Office of
the Working Group of the Outline of State Plans for Medium and Long-term
Reform and Development of Education, 2010, Point 39)
Compared with the 1993 Outline (1993), the Medium and Long-term Outline (2010)
describes university operations in terms of managing an enterprise. As the Higher Education
Law (1998) prescribes, the university becomes a legal entity on its establishment, and the
university president becomes the legal representative of the university (Item 30). While
providing education services, this legal entity makes plans as well as uses human capital,
funds and policy strategies to develop itself. The following five themes examine in detail how
Chinese universities manage their development.
212
6.2.2.1 Independent fund-raising by the university
As noted, in contemporary China, the driving force for the university to function like an
enterprise can be attributed to the shortage of public funding. In this regard, the university
requires other sources for self-development. After coding and analysis of the seven policy
documents, four means of independent fund-raising emerged from the data, including
charging tuition fees, cooperation between the teaching, scientific research and social
production, private donations, and bank loans.
First, all seven documents emphasise tuition fees as an important supplement to
public funding. In fact, apart from government investment, tuition fees are the largest sources
of funding. As Table 5.5 (Zen and Zen, 2009) in Chapter Five indicated, the proportion of
tuition and other sundry fees to national educational funds increased from 10.7% in 1995 to
18.4% in 2004, which accounts for the second largest part of the funding for university
development. Another statistics from Beijing Morning (Luo, 2009) shows that among the
total funding of higher education, tuition fees increased approximately 18 times while
government funding only increased 3.5 times from 1999 to 2009.
However, from the founding of the People‘s Republic of China in 1949 to the mid
1980s, no tuition fees were charged by the university. It was the 1985 Decision (Chinese
Communist Party, 1985) that introduced tuition fees into higher education in China. The 1985
Decision states that universities could recruit a small number of self-funded students outside
the state plan at a time when state-funded students still occupied the majority of university
enrolment. The Decision on the Charging of Tuition and Sundry Fees and Accommodation
Fees (1989) took this further and initiated the policy that the cost of higher education should
be shared by the receivers of education services. In most universities, enrolled students were
required to pay tuition fees of approximately AUD 20-70 per student to attend university.
There were, in fact, no fully state-funded students since this time. In 1992, the same year as
the Chinese government introduced the socialist market economy system, universities began
to considerably increase the level of tuition fees. The 1993 Outline (Chinese Communist
Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993) re-emphasises that higher
education was non-compulsory education and students needed to pay tuition fees. By the year
1997, the notion of state-funded students was removed from the undergraduate education and
every undergraduate was required to pay tuition fees (Wang and Liu, 2009). In 1998, the
213
Higher Education Law (1998) legitimated the policy of charging tuition fees and the amount
of tuition fees increased rapidly to reach approximately AUD 1 000 by 2007 (Q. Guo, 2007).
The emergence of ―self-funded students‖ can be ascribed to the transformation of a
planned economy system to the market economy system in contemporary China. During the
planned economy period, the provision of higher education was the responsibility of the
government. Universities recruited students according to national plans. Students did not
need to pay fees because they were the objects of national plans and would be assigned with
planned jobs when they graduated. With the introduction of the market economy, higher
education was regarded as an investment, from which both the government and individuals
could gain future returns. Therefore, both the government and individual students were
responsible for educational investment. In this respect, individuals invested in higher
education in the manner of paying tuition fees, while tuition fees became an important source
of funding for university development.
In general, the policy strategy of charging tuitions fees was assumed to have three
positive outcomes and one negative effect. First, the government‘s burden of educational
expenditure was reduced. Second, the university obtained supplementary funds. Third, as
they were now positioned as investors in their own education, students were more likely to
apply themselves to their study in order to gain future returns, hence a general boost to the
quality of human resources (Wang and Liu, 2009). However, the unified standard of tuition
fees did not take into consideration the difference between the income level of urban and
rural residents (Wang and Liu, 2009). According to data from the National Bureau of
Statistics, per capita annual income of urban residents was about AUD 2 300 in 2006, while
per capita annual income of rural residents was about AUD 700. Meanwhile, the tuition fee
was about AUD 1 000 per student in 2007. Given the large number of economically
disadvantaged students who could not afford tuition fees, it is difficult for these students to
access higher education. Although national scholarships and student subsidies were factored
into university administrative practices, this did little to address China‘s large number of
economically disadvantaged students (Wang and Liu, 2009). This indicates that educational
equity is a pressing issue to be addressed in China.
Second, universities have endeavoured to develop the relationship between teaching,
scientific research and social production. Teaching and research are two traditional functions
of the university. However, in the context of the knowledge economy, university functions
have expanded to engage in capital building activities to ensure more productive outcomes
214
for the society (Etzkowitz and Zhou, 2007). The 1993 Outline (Chinese Communist Party and
State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993) proposed that the university should
adhere to the guideline that ―science and technology constitute a primary productive force‖
(line 84). In this regard, teaching activities were required to be closely linked with scientific
and technological development which was, in turn, geared towards social and economic
development (Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China,
1993). Consequently, the emphasis on the cooperation between teaching, scientific research
and economic outcomes became a distinctive discourse in all seven policy documents. Hence,
Chinese universities have been embarking on ways to utilise scientific research and related
enterprises to secure income required to make themselves competitive.
Furthermore, universities applied themselves to scientific and technological research
in order to develop innovative technologies. Both the 1993 Outline (1993) and the Ninth 5-
Year Plan (1996) reiterate the importance of developing innovative technologies. The 21st
Century Programme (Ministry of Education, 1998b) is the first document to introduce the
role of ―university science parks‖ in scientific and technological development (line 111).
University science parks were constituted as the ―incubators‖ of innovative and advanced
technologies. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Science and Technology, there
were altogether 69 university science parks by the year 2008.
After establishing such innovative technologies, universities utilised them to secure
income in the form of providing technological consultation services for governments,
industries and enterprises (1993 Outline, 1993; Eleventh 5-Year Plan, 2007). Second, their
usage rights were transferred to industries and enterprises (21st Century Programme, 1998).
Third, they were used by the enterprises established by universities themselves, as noted in all
seven documents. As well, students and academics were encouraged to start their own
enterprises by applying these innovative technologies (21st Century Programme, 1998).
Fourth, specialised hubs were established within university precincts for marketing these
technologies (21st Century Programme, 1998; 2003-2007 Action Plan, 2004).
Such university-industry engagement was also evident in the sale of educational
services, as universities were encouraged to provide paid training programmes for industries
and enterprises (21st Century Programme, 1998). Furthermore, the strategy of socialising or
commercialising logistical services in higher education institutions is evident in all seven
policy documents. Universities responded by applying corporate styles of governance to
operate university logistics, or by outsourcing logistical services, partly or wholly, to
215
enterprises in the community (Zhang, 2001). In this way, the university was positioned in a
contractual relationship with the enterprises undertaking logistical services such as the
managing of student accommodation, the provision of meals and transport on campus. The
purpose of both ways of commercialising university logistics was to raise funds.
As with the charging of tuition fees, the commercialisation of university logistics was
also the effect of the transformation of a planned economy system into the market economy
system. Under the planned economy, logistical services in universities were paid for and
administered by the government (Chen, 2011). Students, who were the main receivers and
beneficiaries, did not need to pay for such logistical services. However, the introduction of a
market economy reconfigured logistical services as marketable commodities because
universities and enterprises cooperated or competed with each other to sell logistical services
to their students. In this context, students became the consumers or customers who were
required to pay for logistical services. For example, students had to pay accommodation fees
in the mid 1980s (Wang and Liu, 2009).
Third, social or private donations from individuals, enterprises and other social
entities became an important constituent of educational funds. Except for the 21st Century
Programme (Ministry of Education, 1998b), the other six policy documents encouraged
universities to seek private and philanthropic funding. For example, the Tenth 5-Year Plan
(Ministry of Education, 2002) encouraged individuals to donate their inheritance for
educational development (line 133). Most of private donations came from overseas Chinese,
foreign citizens of Chinese origin, and compatriots in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao (Wang
and Liu, 2009). However, the proportion of private donations to public expenditure on
education was relatively small. As Table 5.5 in Chapter Five has demonstrated, it decreased
from 8.7% in 1995 to 1.1% in 2004 (Zen and Zen, 2009). Hence, although private donations
were not a steady source of educational funding, universities still actively sought this type of
source under the context of limited state funding.
Fourth, except for the Ninth 5-Year Plan (1996), the 2003-2007 Action Plan (2004)
and the Medium and Long-term Outline (2010), the other four policy documents deemed
bank loans as an important means for raising funds. The 1993 Outline (Chinese Communist
Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993) states that universities were
encouraged to use bank loans to develop industries managed by universities (lines 73-74).
The 21st Century Programme (Ministry of Education, 1998b) suggests that universities
should use bank loans for the construction of campus infrastructure such as the housing of
216
teaching and administrative staff (lines 205-207). The Tenth 5-Year Plan (Ministry of
Education, 2002) supports universities to seek loans from the World Bank (line 130). As well,
the Eleventh 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 2007d) emphasises that universities should
―limit the scale of bank loans as well as take precaution against and resolve loan risks‖ (lines
429-430).
The Eleventh 5-Year Plan‘s (2007d) emphasis on the precaution against, and the
resolution of, loan risks should be noted here. It was reported that China‘s universities were
in debt of approximately AUD 40.6 billion by 2007 (Ministry of Education, 2007a). Some
indebted universities, such as Jilin University—a prestigious university in northeast China—
which was AUD 609 million in debt, were on the verge of bankruptcy (L. Wang, 2007).
Under such circumstances, Zhou Ji, then Minister of the Education, emphasised that the loan
risks in higher education institutions should be urgently addressed and proposed a series of
options (Ministry of Education, 2007a). For example, Zhou Ji suggested that Jilin University
could sell part of its campus to settle its debts (Ministry of Education, 2007a). It was against
this background that the Eleventh 5-Year Plan (2007d) addressed the risk of excessive
borrowing in the higher education sector.
In sum, the above four measures—charging tuition fees, engaging teaching and
research activities with economic production, attracting private donations, and applying for
bank loans—were employed by the university to collect funds for development. Diminished
public funding and the desire for self-development drove this process, as universities
positioned themselves as enterprises providing a range of services to consumers, marketing
technological innovations and research outcomes to business and industry sectors. Moreover,
universities created spaces of science and technology hubs within and adjacent to campuses
while securing bank loans and some private funding to enable its activities. As well,
universities aspired to high levels of competiveness and prestige, and the following section
examines this with reference to efforts to improve the efficiency of institutional operations.
6.2.2.2 Quality and efficiency: Competitiveness and prestige
The introduction of the market economy system prompted the emphasis on ―quality‖ and
―efficiency‖ as dominant discourses in China‘s higher education policy, and this manifested
in those strategies to promote universities‘ competitiveness. Competitiveness was evident in
the pursuit of high quality teaching, scientific research capacity, and high levels of academic
217
research. The assumption was that these strategies would enhance a university‘s reputation by
producing high quality outcomes in efficient and economically viable ways (Marginson and
Considine, 2000). Following an examination of seven milestone policy documents, the
researcher identified four strategies used by Chinese universities to enhance their
competitiveness and prestige. These strategies are the amalgamation of higher education
institutions, introduction of market mechanisms, international benchmarking, and the
construction of elite institutions.
First, the Ninth 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 1996) proposed the policy
strategy of promoting ―cooperation‖ between different universities in order to increase the
efficiency of university operations. Cooperation occurred via the amalgamation of higher
education institutions during the 1990s when a total of 612 higher education institutions were
merged into 250 (Li, 2000). In brief, this took two forms. One was to merge those universities
in close geographic proximity, which had the same or similar configuration of disciplines but
were affiliated with different government ministries, as a way of increasing efficiency and
reducing costs (Chen, 2002). The other form of amalgamation involved constituting larger
and stronger universities through merging leading universities with those universities with a
limited number of disciplines (Chen, 2002). It was assumed that both forms of amalgamation
would increase the competitiveness of universities and enhance their prestige (Chen, 2002).
The second form of amalgamation resulted in the establishment of some key universities.
Second, the 1993 Outline (1993) changed employment practices in universities, as a
contractual employment system was adopted to replace the life-long tenure for academic staff.
Three types of market mechanisms, competition, incentive and accountability, were
embedded across the contractual employment system. University staff were required to
―compete‖ with each other in order to obtain an employment and they were held
―accountable‖ for their teaching, academic and administrative performance. For example,
The Medium and Long-term (2010) proposed the use of ―performance evaluation‖ to assess
the performance of university personnel, which required staff to achieve quantified and
qualified indicators in order to secure their positions. Moreover, an ―incentive mechanism‖
was introduced to reward those individuals with higher performance. This was evident in the
1993 Outline‘s notice that egalitarian means of salary distribution should be discarded and
material incentives used to enhance staff enthusiasm. In general, such means were examples
of market mechanisms to manage university personnel. The purpose of using these
mechanisms was to improve the quality of teaching, academic research, scientific research
218
and administration. In this context, university staff were constituted as entrepreneurial
subjects who endeavoured to meet performative outcomes in order to secure their
employment and develop their careers.
Third, international benchmarking was employed as a means to enhance universities‘
competitiveness and prestige. Except for the Ninth 5-Year Plan (1996), the remaining six
documents refer to this technique. International benchmarking was mainly used in two ways.
One way aimed to draw on international ideas and experience of developing higher education,
as evidenced in the1993 Outline (1993) and the Medium and Long-term (2010) policy
documents. Second, universities used benchmarks to measure their performance against
international standards in university development and management. For example, the 1993
Outline claims that ―a number of universities, disciplines and specialties were expected to
reach the international standards in terms of teaching quality, scientific research and
management‖ (lines 82-83). This objective of the 1993 Outline was then implemented via
two projects, namely, the ―Project 211‖ and the ―Project 985‖.
Fourth, the ―Project 211‖ and the ―Project 985‖ were used to create elite higher
education institutions according to international standards. The ―Project 211‖ was
promulgated in 1995 for the purpose of establishing China‘s 100 top level universities and
key disciplines in the twenty-first century. Universities involved in the project were provided
with additional funding from the government. For example, during the tenth five-year plan
(2001-2005), 107 universities and 821 key disciplines were involved, with an overall fund of
about AUD 3.8 billion (Ministry of Education, 2008d). The role of these key universities
centred on ―resolving key problems of economic, technological and social development for
the whole nation‖ (Ministry of Education, 2004, line 57).
Compared with ―Project 211‖ universities, ―Project 985‖ universities had an extended
role in constructing themselves to be world-class universities. The concept of ―Project 985‖
universities was put forward by Jiang Zeming, then president of China. In May 1998, Jiang
noted in his speech on the celebration of the centennial of Peking University that China
required some first-rate universities by international standards. Following Jiang‘s statement,
the 21st Century Programme (1998b) decided to build world-class universities in China. By
the year 2008, 39 universities received a total of approximately AUD 6 billion to construct
themselves to be ―Project 985‖ universities (Ministry of Education, 2008c).
219
In brief, the new policy environment for universities in China meant that institutions
turned to various strategies to boost their competiveness and prestige. Universities became
more competitive following amalgamation with other universities. ―Project 211‖ and ―Project
985‖ universities strove to be the best universities in China, and endeavoured to reach
international standards in teaching quality, scientific research and management. In addition,
Chinese universities used market mechanisms and international benchmarking to increase the
quality and efficiency of their operations while also fulfilling their mission to cultivate high-
quality human resources for China‘s social and economic development.
6.2.2.3 Rencai selection, cultivation and distribution
The concept of rencai is a significant theme in China‘s higher education policy and it refers
to specialised and talented human resources. Rencai, mainly produced by education and
training, was considered a decisive element in China‘s economic development (Ministry of
Education, 1996). Students generate the major form of rencai in the university sector, and the
development of rencai embodies processes of selection, cultivation and distribution. In the
higher education sector, the production of rencai is dependent on university management
strategies for student enrolment, education and graduate employment. During China‘s higher
education reform, a set of strategies were employed to intervene in this process to improve
the quality of human resources. As discussion about these strategies is mainly based on the
examination of the theme of human capital in Section 5.3.1.4, it is briefly referred to here
with respect first to enrolment.
University enrolment process in China was transformed from a rigid planned system
to a more flexible and comprehensive system, as reflected in the policy documents. For
example, the 1993 Outline (Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s
Republic of China, 1993) notes that, according to national plans of development, universities
were required to focus on the enrolment of those students needed by ―national key
construction projects, national defence, cultural education, fundamental disciplines, and
remote areas‖ (line 150). This enrolment system adopted a typical planned strategy. By
contrast, the Medium and Long-term Plan (2010) adopted diversified forms of enrolment.
The university entrance examination was no longer the sole means of selecting students for
enrolment, as universities could now enrol those students with outstanding special skills
based on the results of interviews and tests (Point 36). Universities could also directly enrol
220
those students who had achieved excellent overall high school accomplishment in terms of
morality, study, physique, aesthetics and labour during their senior high school years (Point
36). Therefore, this enrolment system now catered for students‘ special skills and their
overall performance. It was assumed that students selected through this system would meet
the market demand for human resources with special skills and high quality. The next stage in
the development of rencai is education, which is examined as follows.
As discussed, the underlying rationale for rencai cultivation was to transform the
burden of China‘s large population into the advantage of human capital by creating well
educated citizens. Strategies used to cultivate rencai were mainly embodied via the
constitution of a range of subjects. For example, teachers who adhered to the socialist
educational cause were viewed as the hope of rejuvenating China‘s education in the 1993
Ouline (1993). Students and academics were cultivated as entrepreneurs and encouraged to
establish their own enterprises to develop and commercialise innovative technologies
(Ministry of Education, 1998b). The Tenth 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 2002) carried
out the ―project of educational informationisation‖ to produce IT rencai from students and
teachers. Undergraduates were expected to acquire comprehensive English language
proficiency (Ministry of Education, 2004). Furthermore, both teachers and students were
constituted as life-long learners who constantly sought self-development (Ministry of
Education, 2002, 2004).
As subjects constituted by the strategy of rencai cultivation, individuals took
opportunities to develop their skills in IT and English language proficiency, improve their
qualifications or advance their careers by establishing enterprises. Accordingly, this
subjectivity formation can be considered as the effect of the technology of the self. That is,
Chinese citizens sought to govern and manage themselves in order to fulfil their desire for
improvement. These social subjects could also be governed by the government. Political
authorities utilised policy strategies and programmes to act on citizen‘s free will of self-
development and constituted them into autonomous, entrepreneurial and self-responsible
subjects. Yet, other facets of governing also impacted on Chinese subjects and these resulted
from authoritarian technologies such as socialist moral education and national plans.
Accordingly, citizens were constituted as obedient subjects such as teachers loyal to
socialism and the CCP. Therefore, the emerging strategy of rencai cultivation in China‘s
higher education sector embodied a hybrid form of governance—neoliberal and authoritarian.
Meanwhile, this technology constituted the subjects who were both enterprising and obedient.
221
Those rencai produced by this university education system were assigned different forms of
employment following graduation. The next part investigates the policy strategies employed
to distribute rencai of university students.
As with the system of university enrolment, the system of graduate employment also
underwent a transformation from a planned system to a market system. As noted earlier, the
1993 Outline (1993) states that cohorts of students who selected to enrol at university under
the requirement of national plans were obliged to fulfil their employment obligations to the
government. However, the 1993 Outline also maintains that apart from this planned
proportion of students, most graduates had autonomy to seek employment. Here, a strategy of
―bidirectional selection‖ was proposed by the 1993 Outline. Graduates could choose
employers according to their own will, while employers could select graduates according to
their needs. The intermediary between the graduates and employers was the market. The
2003-2007 Action Plan (2004) emphasises the role of markets in the strategy of ―bidirectional
selection‖. These markets included job markets particularly for graduates, and labour markets
for the supply and demand of all kinds of human resources in society (Ministry of Education,
2004). Therefore, university graduates were constituted as autonomous subjects seeking
employment in job markets. In this regard, the strategy of bidirectional selection, together
with the market spaces, can be conceptualised as technologies to manage the issue of
graduate employment.
In sum, a set of governmental strategies intervened in the process of student
enrolment, education and graduate employment following new policy directions during this
period of reform. With the intervention of market mechanisms and strategies, both the system
of university enrolment and the system of graduate employment were transformed from the
planned system to a market system. Correspondingly, enrolled students and graduates were
transformed from obedient subjects of national plans to autonomous subjects in market
spaces. As for the strategy of rencai cultivation, neoliberal and authoritarian technologies co-
worked to constitute entrepreneurial and obedient subjects. The following section examines
how universities in modern China applied themselves to construct their infrastructures.
6.2.2.4 Construction of university infrastructure
Infrastructural construction in universities was based mainly on the application of
information and communications technologies to university procedures and practices. The
222
Tenth 5-Year Plan (2002) is the document that introduced information technologies to
develop campus infrastructure via implementation of the ―project of educational
informationisation‖. In general, educational informationisation referred to ways of utilising
information technologies to promote the modernisation of China‘s higher education sector
(Ministry of Education, 2002, lines 162-165). Specifically, this strategy required the
construction of a range of spaces generated in and by electronic discourses. For example,
computer networks and digital libraries were the main sites in the Tenth 5-Year Plan
(Ministry of Education, 2002). The 2003-2007 Action Plan (Ministry of Education, 2004)
focused on establishing a public service platform for networked education. The Eleventh 5-
Year Plan (Ministry of Education, 2007d) sought to establish an administration system using
information technologies in order to enhance the quality and efficiency of university
management. The Medium and Long-term Plan (2010) proposed to import high-quality
international digital educational resources.
The strategy of ―informationising‖ China‘s higher education sector was influenced by
discourses of the knowledge economy. Knowledge, technology and innovation are the key
concepts of the knowledge economy (Ernst and Hart, 2008). In this respect, information
technologies, as innovative technologies, are the main constituent of this knowledge-driven
economy. Based on this perception, political authorities in China adopted the policy strategy
of applying information technologies to modernise China‘s higher education system.
Universities, keen on developing themselves, responded to this strategy and utilised
information technologies to construct their campus infrastructure. Therefore, knowledge
economy discourses impacted China‘s higher education reform in the process of globalisation.
The next section examines the final strategy, moral education, employed by universities in
China as they responded and reshaped to meet new policy environments.
6.2.2.5 Moral education
In general terms, moral education can be conceptualised as a discursive and technological
apparatus in the reform of China‘s higher education system. This apparatus can be used by
political authorities to govern the behaviours of university teachers and students. Moral
education can also be used by teachers and students in China to govern their selves. Two
types of moral education were evident in the seven policy documents, namely, neoliberal and
socialist. This section examines how these two forms of moral education act on the conduct
223
of students and teachers in Chinese universities. The following examination is based on the
discussion of moral education with reference to the theme of human capital and xiaokang
society in Chapter Five.
First, moral education can be considered as a neoliberal technique to govern the selves
of university students. This technique focuses on constituting self-governing, self-disciplined
and self-reliant subjects (Foucault, 1997c). That is, individuals behave like entrepreneurs who
are self-disciplined through their desire to improve themselves while being responsible for
their own actions. For example, the Eleventh 5-Year Plan (2007) states that moral education
was the most significant factor for Chinese students‘ overall development—including
morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics and labour.
Moreover, the Medium and Long-term Plan (2010) used moral education as a
technique to govern university teachers. This technique acted on teachers‘ loyalty to their
students and their willingness to apply themselves to teaching. In this way, teachers were
constituted, and constituted themselves, as free and self-directed professionals. Moreover, the
Medium and Long-term Plan (2010) employed an accountability mechanism to ensure the
successful implementation of the moral education of teachers in the higher education sector.
An evaluation system was used to assess teachers‘ morality, the result of which became the
most important indicator of their contractual employment. In this respect, teachers were held
accountable for their morality in teaching activities. Hence, this technique of moral education,
when synergised with the accountability mechanism, could be conceptualised as a neoliberal
art of governance.
The second type of moral education in Chinese universities was characterised with
socialist norms. Both university students and teachers were the objects of the socialist moral
education. The Eleventh 5-Year Plan (2007) incorporated socialist values such as
―nationalism‖—Maoist norms and values for serving the country (Hoffman, 2006, p. 561)—
in the moral education for students. The purpose was to produce ―socialist builders and
successors‖ (Ministry of Education, 2007d, line 25). In this way, students were not only
constituted as ethical subjects to serve the nation and their fellow citizen, but also as obedient
subjects who were required to be loyal to the socialist cause and the Chinese Communist
Party. As for teachers, the 1993 Outline used moral education to construct ―a group of
teachers with good political and professional quality‖ (line 238). Here, the good political
quality of university teachers referred to their loyalty to socialism and the CCP. Therefore,
teachers were also constituted as obedient subjects of the socialist form of government. In
224
both cases, socialist moral education was carried out in a top-down manner. Both students
and teachers were required to receive socialist moral education. For example, courses for
imparting socialist values such as socialism, Marxism and Mao Zedong Thoughts were all
compulsory university courses, and served as requirements for students to graduate.
Accordingly, this form of moral education can be perceived as an authoritarian technique of
governance.
In sum, this section examined five strategies that universities in contemporary China
adopted to pursue self-development in response to policy prescriptions for reform.
Universities behaved like enterprises by using human capital, funds, information technologies,
market mechanisms and other policy strategies to develop themselves. As well as employing
mechanisms and strategies, universities also constituted particular spaces and subjectivities
during the period 1992 to 2010. The next section summarises the nature of these spaces and
subjects.
6.3 Subjectivities and spaces
As most of the subjects and spaces have been examined in Section 5.3 of Chapter Five and
Section 6.2 of this chapter, this section provides a brief summary of human and institutional
subjects constituted in the seven policy documents according to two categories. The first
category refers to autonomous and entrepreneurial subjects that emerge in response to
neoliberal forms of governance. The second category concerns those obedient subjects
constituted through authoritarian modes of governance. The following section discusses the
first form of subjectivity.
6.3.1 Autonomous and entrepreneurial subjects
Foucault (1982) argues that subjects have an implicit value when they govern their own
conduct or are governed by others; that is, they are ―free to have a field of possibilities in
which the individual or collective subjects are able to realise several behaviours‖ (p. 790). In
this vein, subjects have autonomy to make their decisions, to pursue their preferences, to
maximise the quality of their lives, and also to take responsibility for their actions. The
principle of freedom or autonomy is used by neoliberal governing mentalities to constitute
self-regulated, self-responsible and entrepreneurial subjectivities (Miller and Rose, 2008).
225
The Chinese government implemented the policy of opening the door to the outside world in
1978 and since this time, neoliberal arts of governance were introduced to manage China‘s
social and economic issues. As examined in Section 6.2, neoliberal technologies of
governance were also applied during the reform of China‘s higher education system, and this
can be reflected in the construction of autonomous and entrepreneurial subjects. These
subjects were categorised into three levels: the government, the university sector, as well as
university students, academics and administrative staff.
With regard to the first level, the Chinese government constituted itself as a general
manager of China‘s higher education reform. Within the neoliberal framework of governance,
the government is expected to minimise its intervention in social matters (Miller and Rose,
2008). Accordingly, the Chinese government devolved its authority to universities to enhance
their autonomy of development. Moreover, it employed macro-regulatory means such as fund
appropriation, legislation and policies to govern the reform of China‘s higher education
sector at a distance. In this way, the Chinese government became a general manager of higher
education reform. Moreover, in order to maintain effective governance, this manager
appointed the Ministry of Education to track and monitor the policy implementation process.
Based on the data and information collected by the Ministry of Education, the government
could revise and improve its policies and programmes for effective governance.
At the second level, universities in contemporary China, with the university president
as the legal representative, operated like enterprises to raise funds due to a lack of public
funding. For example, universities sold educational and training services to students and to
enterprises in the community. They engaged with industries by providing technological
consultation services for governments, industries and enterprises, transferring the usage rights
of technologies to the business sector, and establishing their own companies. In addition, in
response to diminished levels of government funding, universities sought private donations
and applied for bank loans to develop themselves. Some universities accrued unmanageable
levels of debt or suffered financial loss because of ill management, and attempted to address
the loan risk in order to survive. Driving this adoption of entrepreneurial strategies was the
desire to enhance institutional competitiveness and prestige. For instance, universities looked
to overseas examples and benchmarking strategies in their efforts to attain international
standards in terms of teaching quality, scientific research and management.
At the third level, teachers, academic and administrative staff emerged as autonomous
and entrepreneurial subjects in the new university environment. The university president was
226
responsible for the execution of administrative works such as teaching, research and the
employment of teachers. Educationists, who had outstanding capacities and devoted
themselves to the educational undertaking, were encouraged to participate in university
operations. Academics and other administrative staff competed with each other in order to
secure employment under a contractual system. Once employed, they were held accountable
for their performance under the supervision and evaluation from the government or social
agencies, and those who had excellent performance were rewarded in accordance with
incentive systems.
Furthermore, teachers, especially young and middle-aged teachers, were required to
participate in training programmes and further their credentials and degrees in order to
continuously upgrade themselves. In this way, they were constituted or self-governed as life-
long learners. Teachers were also trained to be IT rencai while displaying the morality of
dedicated educators. This morality was assessed by evaluation systems, the result of which
impacted on the renewal of their contractual employment. Moreover, Chinese language
teachers for foreign learners were sent to overseas Confucius Institutes to promote the
Chinese language and culture. Department deans, core staffs of research institutes and
laboratories were selected and sent overseas as senior visiting scholars under government
funding. Academic leaders were attracted both from home and abroad in order to develop
university disciplines into those of advanced international standards. Finally, famous overseas
scholars were invited for short-term lecturing and research practices in China.
Meanwhile, autonomous and entrepreneurial subjects emerged from those enrolled
students during the period 1992 to 2010. University students were required to pay tuition fees
in order to access higher education, and this could be considered as an investment in securing
future employment. Except for a cohort of graduates who were assigned with jobs according
to national plans, most graduates were now permitted to seek employment in job markets
according to their own intentions. Students were also encouraged to start their own
enterprises when they graduated. Moreover, this system of China‘s higher education
emphasised students‘ all-round development in relation to their morality, intelligence,
physique, and aesthetics. Accordingly, students were constituted as life-long learners. Some
were trained to be IT rencai and rencai with comprehensive English language proficiency.
Others were educated to be high-level administrative rencai for China‘s entrance into the
World Trade Organisation. Rural rencai were cultivated to be equipped with practical
agricultural technologies. Moreover, postgraduates were encouraged and funded to conduct
227
scientific and technological innovation that would improve social productivity. Finally,
overseas Chinese students were expected to return to China and contribute to the nation‘s
development.
6.3.2 Obedient subjects
As China is a socialist country, the government‘s introduction of neoliberal technologies is
framed within authoritarian forms of governance such as national plans and socialist moral
education in administering the reform of China‘s higher education system. The outcomes of
the practice of authoritarian forms of governance are the constitution of obedient subjects.
For example, university presidents, educationists and teachers are all required to obey the
socialist educational cause and the Chinese Communist Party. Students are constructed as
socialist builders and successors who receive education for the sake of serving and
contributing to the development of China.
6.3.3 New discursive and physical spaces
After analysing China‘s higher education policies, the spaces constructed during the period
1992 to 2010 can be considered the result of neoliberal technologies of governing at a
distance adopted by the Chinese government. The government employed macro-regulatory
strategies to govern the higher education sector. Due to the lack of public funding, the
Chinese government made the policy move to encourage and support non-government sectors
to share responsibility in providing higher education services. In this respect, non-
government funded higher education institutions emerged in response to this policy
prerogative.
Furthermore, the government adopted strategies to enhance university autonomy.
These strategies were evident in prompting universities to collect funds for self-development.
Correspondingly, university enterprises, logistical enterprises and university science parks
were constructed inside university campuses. Second, autonomy was manifested in
universities‘ aspirations for competitiveness and prestige. Amalgamated universities, ―Project
211‖ and ―Project 985‖ universities emerged as highly competitive and prestigious
institutions in China. Third, universities were constituted as the ―storehouse of rencai‖ in
which computerised classrooms, heuristic, explorative and open classrooms, as well as
quality open courseware were used to cultivate high-quality rencai. Fourth, outside
228
universities, job markets particularly for graduates and labour markets for the supply and
demand of all kinds of human resources in society were used to facilitate graduate
employment. Fifth, Chinese universities cooperated with overseas universities to establish
Confucius Institutes so as to promote the international influence of the Chinese language and
culture. Finally, universities utilised information technologies for the construction of campus
infrastructure. In this respect, a range of spaces were constructed such as digital libraries,
digital campuses, computerised classrooms, computer network, modern distance education
network, network colleges, a public service platform for network education, and an
―informationised‖ university administration system.
In sum, a range of spaces and subjects emerged in the process of China‘s higher
education reform. Amongst them, subjects and spaces which were the effect of neoliberal
technologies of governance accounted for a major part. The constitution of these educational
subjects and spaces consisted in the entrepreneurial will of universities as well as in the
desires of university students, academics and administrative staff to attain self-development.
In this way, the Chinese government could govern higher education reform at a distance. In
the meantime, the government used authoritarian methods to inculcate students, teachers,
academic and administrative staff with socialist values—the loyalty or the obedience to the
socialist educational cause and the Chinese Communist Party. Consequently, obedient
subjects were constituted. Figure 6.2 is used to summarise the governmental technologies and
corresponding spaces and subjects during the process of China‘s higher education reform
(1992 to 2010).
229
Governmental technologies of higher education policy in China from 1992 to 2010
Materialised forms of apparatuses
in Subjectivities Mechanisms or strategies
(Technologies of governing at a distance)
Spaces
1. Macro-
regulation on
the part of
the
government
1) Reform of university
administration system and
transformation of government
functions
● The Chinese Government that devolves its authority to universities
and acts as the general manager of China‘s higher education reform by
using macro-regulatory means
● University president as the legal representative of the university and
in charge of administrative works such as teaching, research and the
employment of teachers
● Educationists who are loyal to the Chinese Communist Party, who
have outstanding capacities, and who devote themselves to the
educational cause
2) Fund appropriation and
legislation
● The Chinese Government that uses fund appropriation and
legislation to macro-regulate China‘s higher education sector
3) Diversified provision of
higher education
● Non-government funded
higher education
institutions
● Independent colleges
4) Supervision
● Teachers, academics and administrative staff who are accountable
for their performance under the supervision and evaluation of
government or social agencies
5) Educational equity and
justice
● Rural people, economically disadvantaged people and disabled
people whose rights to participate in higher education are ensured
6) Tracking and monitoring
the policy implementation
process
● The Ministry of Education that is required to track and monitor the
policy implementation process to assist the government in maintaining
effective governance
230
2. Self-
development
on the part of
the
university
1) Independent funds-raising
by the university
● University science parks
as the incubators of high
and innovative technologies
● Specialised bases around
universities for
industrialising high
technologies
● University enterprises
● Logistics enterprises
● Universities that become enterprises to raise funds to develop
themselves such as selling educational and training services to
students and enterprises in the society
● Self-funded students who invest in education for future returns
● Universities that engage with industries such as providing
technological consultation services for governments, industries and
enterprises, transferring the usage rights of technologies to industries
and enterprises, and establishing their own enterprises
● Students and teachers encouraged to start their own enterprises
● Universities that seek private donations
● Universities like enterprises that use bank loans to develop
themselves, that are in debt because of ill management, and that need
to resolve loan risks in order to survive
2) Enhancement of
competitiveness and prestige
● Amalgamated
universities
● ―Project 211‖ universities
● ―Project 985‖ universities
● Universities with the desire to enhance its competitiveness and
prestige by operating in a quality and efficient manner
● Teachers, academics and administrative staff who compete to obtain
a job under a contractual employment system, and those who have
excellent performance are rewarded by an incentive system
● Universities with the desire to draw on international experience of
developing higher education
● Universities with the desire to reach international standards in terms
of teaching quality, scientific research and management
3) Rencai (specialised and
talented human resources)
selection, cultivation and
distribution
● Universities as the
―storehouse of rencai‖
● Quality open courseware
● Confucius Institutes
● Heuristic, explorative and
open classrooms
● Students enrolled according to national plans
● Students enrolled for their outstanding special skills
● Students enrolled for their excellent overall performance during
their senior high school years
● ―Core teachers‖ with higher academic degrees
● Academic leaders who are attracted both from home and abroad in
231
● Job markets particularly
for graduates
● Rencai markets or labour
markets for the supply and
demand of all kinds of
human resources in society
order to develop university disciplines into those of advanced
international standards
● Department deans, core staffs of research institutes and laboratories
who are selected and sent overseas as senior visiting scholars under
government funding
● Famous overseas scholars who are invited for short-term lecturing
and research in China
● Teachers (especially young and middle-aged teachers) who are
required to receive training programmes and further their
corresponding credentials and degrees in order to continuously
upgrade themselves
● IT rencai among students and teachers
● High-level administrative rencai for China‘s entrance into the
World Trade Organisation
● Rural rencai skilful at practical agricultural technologies
● Undergraduates with comprehensive English language proficiency
● Postgraduates who are encouraged and funded to conduct scientific
and technological innovation
● Students as life-long learners
● Teachers as life-long learners
● Overseas Chinese students who are encouraged to come back to
China to contribute to the nation‘s development
● Chinese language teachers for foreign learners
● Student rencai with an all-round development of morality,
intelligence, physique and aesthetics
● Graduates assigned to job positions according to national plans
● Graduates who seek employment in job markets according to their
own will
232
4) Infrastructural construction
(informationisation of
universities)
● Modern distance
education networks
● Computer networks
● Digital libraries
● Computer classrooms
● Digital campuses
● A public service platform
for network education
● Network colleges
● An informationised
university administration
system
● High-quality
international digital
educational resources
5) Moral education ● Self-governing, self-disciplined and self-responsible students
(autonomous)
● Self-devoted teachers whose morality is evaluated for their
contractual employment (autonomous)
● Students as socialist builders and successors (obedient)
● Professional teachers with loyalty to the socialist educational cause
and the CCP (obedient)
Figure 6. 2. Governmental technologies of higher education policy in China from 1992 to 2010
233
6.4 Chapter summary
This chapter examined the technologies used by the Chinese government to administer higher
education reform. In general, the government adopted the technology of governing at a
distance. It employed six major strategies and mechanisms to react to national needs and
global pressures on the higher education sector. First, the Chinese government transformed its
functions by utilising indirect macro-regulatory means and devolving its authority to
universities. Second, appropriation of funds and legislation were two principal means that
assisted the government in regulating university reconfiguration in a macro way. Third, the
government proposed the policy of diversifying the provision of higher education services. In
this respect, non-government funded higher education institutions emerged as an important
element that played a supplementary role in developing China‘s higher education. Fourth,
supervision mechanisms—social supervision over government and supervision over
university operations—were used to regulate the behaviours of the government and
universities. Fifth, educational equity was a discursive and technical device employed by
political authorities in China to achieve social justice and increase economic benefits. Sixth,
the Chinese government assigned the task of tracking and monitoring policy implementation
to the Ministry of Education in order to adjust its policy agenda for the purpose of
maintaining effective governance.
Furthermore, technologies of governing at a distance were made possible by
enhancing university autonomy. With the enhancement of autonomy, universities behaved
like enterprises in order to develop themselves. First, a lack of public funding drove
universities to elicit funds through four measures—charging tuition fees, engaging teaching
and research activities with industries, attracting private donations, and applying for bank
loans. Second, universities endeavoured to enhance their competiveness and prestige through
institutional mergers and via the creation of ―Project 211‖ and ―Project 985‖ universities.
Chinese universities also endeavoured to reach international standards for teaching quality,
scientific research and management while employing market mechanisms to improve the
quality and efficiency of institutional operations. Third, universities adopted various
strategies to enhance the quality of students. For example, enrolled students and graduates
were constituted as autonomous and entrepreneurial subjects who were expected to meet the
market demand. Fourth, universities utilised information technologies to construct their
campus infrastructure. Finally, moral education was used to construct self-governing, self-
234
disciplined and self-responsible students and teachers. Moral education was also used to
distribute socialist values to university students and teachers.
This chapter has identified the emergence of two categories of human and institutional
subjects during this period of higher education reform, namely, autonomous and obedient
subjects. As for the first category, the Chinese government positioned itself to be a general
manager of higher education reform. Universities reconfigured themselves as enterprises that
raised funds for self-development and worked to enhance their competitiveness and prestige
both in national and international contexts. Furthermore, university students, academic and
administrative staff were constituted, and constituted themselves, as self-governing and
entrepreneurial subjects. With regard to the second category of subjects, university presidents,
educationists and teachers were all required to conform to the socialist educational cause and
the Chinese Communist Party. As a result, they were moulded as obedient subjects. In a
similar way, students were shaped as socialist builders and successors. After the critical
analysis of higher education policy at the national level of China in Chapters Five and Six,
Chapter Seven examines the implementation of these policies by conducting a case study of a
specific Chinese university.
235
CHAPTER SEVEN
IMAGINARIES OF ONE LOCAL CHINESE UNIVERSITY
7.1 Introduction
This chapter offers an analysis of Pioneering University (a pseudonym) by focusing on its
response to higher education policy at the national level in China. As outlined earlier, policy
is a process consisting of production of the policy text, the text itself and the outcomes of its
implementation (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010; Taylor et al., 1997). The two previous chapters
analysed eight higher education policy documents in China through the analytic framework
of governmentality. This chapter examines the effects of the implementation of these eight
policy documents by investigating how a specific Chinese university reacts to national
policies. Pioneering University is also influenced by global forces of university reform.
Therefore, a case study of a specific instance of reform is undertaken in this chapter to
examine the implementation of China‘s higher education policies.
As noted in Chapter Four, the nature of the case study employed by this analysis is
instrumental. Stake (2000) explains that, in an instrumental case study, ―the case is of
secondary interest, it plays a supportive role, and it facilitates our understanding of something
else‖ (p. 437). In the present study, the examination of Pioneering University is used as a
particular case to provide understanding of the higher education reform in China during the
period 1992 to 2010. Hence, it must be noted that this case is not fully representative of
China‘s higher education but indicative of a local manifestation.
Stake (2000) argues that a case study is a report which is designed and narrated by the
researcher in a storytelling manner. In this regard, the present study adopts a situated method
of storytelling. According to Larner and Le Heron (2002), a situated method is a research
perspective or approach that is used to examine the materialised effects of governing
discourses and practices in particular contexts. The materialised effects refer to the
constitution of spaces and subjects. As outlined in Chapter Three, governing practices are the
exercise of power over personal conduct. Governing activities are rational; they have aims to
achieve, objects to manage, and principles to guide. Government authorities use political
reasons, programmes and techniques to exercise their power over individual behaviours in
order to transform them for the convenience of governance. In this way, individuals are
subjectified by the constitutive power of political practices (Foucault, 1982; Miller and Rose,
236
2008). Furthermore, individuals have their own reasoning and technologies to govern their
―selves‖ and constitute themselves as the subjects of their own power or will to govern
(Foucault, 1997c). Therefore, subjects are effects of governing practices. Moreover, there are
spaces in which people experience, imagine and practice, and in which people are placed, or
place themselves, into subject positions (Foucault, 2000c). Accordingly, spaces are both
means and effects of governing practices. That is, spaces are the material devices that are
constructed for the convenience of governance. The ―organisation of spaces has acted as
technologies of government in attempts to produce and regulate particular behaviours and
subjectivities‖ (Huxley, 2006, p. 772). As a result, a situated study explores how local people
and places are reframed in relation to the political discourses and practices in local sites.
The case study investigates the operational framework of Pioneering University. This
is illustrated in Table 4.2 in Section 4.4.3 of Chapter Four. The structure of this framework is
based on the official website of Pioneering University (http://www.xmu.edu.cn). Following
an examination of the website, eight categories were constructed by the researcher. These
eight categories constitute the operational framework of Pioneering University. Each
category has its sub-categories. These categories cover a range of Pioneering University‘s
governing activities—administrative affairs, teaching and research affairs, and social
services—and provide an insight to China‘s higher education reform. Moreover, this
investigation of the governing activities in these eight categories can reveal the human
subjects and spaces that emerge from the reform. The next paragraph introduces these
categories.
The first category in the research‘s schema refers to the introduction to the university,
which provides background knowledge for the analysis. The second category is concerned
with the organisational structure of the university, and consists of administrative departments
as well as teaching and research units. The third, fourth and fifth categories are related to
student enrolment, cultivation and graduate employment respectively. The sixth category
concerns scientific research activities conducted within the university. The seventh and eighth
categories represent Pioneering University‘s provision of social and campus services
separately. The data collected from these eight categories are mainly in forms of
introductions to organisations, projects and programmes, prospectuses for enrolment
programmes, and policy documents. Thus, Pioneering University‘s operational framework
can be approached through analysis of these eight categories.
237
By adopting a situated method of narration, this chapter examines how Pioneering
University is positioned, or positions itself, in the context of China‘s higher education reform
from 1992 to 2010 and a globalising economy. In specific terms, the purpose of the chapter is
to examine the kinds of educational subjects and spaces that are constituted in Pioneering
University‘s response to national higher education policies. This chapter begins by providing
an introduction to the university.
7.2 Pioneering University: An overview
Located in southeast China, Pioneering University was founded in 1921. It is one of China‘s
higher-level comprehensive universities designated for the state construction of the ―211
Project‖ and the ―985 Project‖. According to the ―Introduction to Pioneering University‖ on
its official website (Pioneering University, 2011e), in 2011, Pioneering University has one
graduate school, 22 schools and 10 research institutes. The university has an enrolment of
over 38 000 full-time students on campus, including 20 575 undergraduate students, 15 590
master‘s degree students, 2 567 doctoral degree students, and over 2 500 international
students—including students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. It has 2 383 full-time
teachers and academic researchers, including 1 322 professors and associate professors.
The catchphrase of the university as shown in the ―Introduction‖ (Pioneering
University, 2011e) and the ―Welcome Message‖ from the university president (Pioneering
University, 2008c) is to ―build Pioneering University into a world-renowned high-level
research university‖. This discursive branding is a response to the ―985 Project‖ which was
proposed in the 21st Century Programme (Ministry of Education, 1998b) policy document,
for one aim of the ―985 Project‖ was to build a number of world-class universities. The
discourses and practices of building world-class universities reflect the policy strategy of the
Chinese government to ―develop high-quality higher education in the context of globalisation
and the knowledge economy‖ (Ngok and Guo, 2008, p. 545). The political rationale
underlying this policy strategy is that high-quality education can produce information,
technology and human capital that are essential to China‘s social and economic development.
Hence, the Chinese government exercises its power by formulating the policy strategy of
constructing world-class universities to administer the operations of Pioneering University in
order to achieve national goals of development.
238
According to Alexander (2011), the effects of discourses and practices for seeking
world-class standards are embodied in two aspects at the institutional level: focusing on
increasing educational standards and holding academics and universities accountable for their
performances. These two aspects are all evident in Pioneering University‘s operational
activities. First, the university established an Office for Development and Planning to
benchmark international standards of teaching, scientific research and university management
in order to achieve the best practice for its development (Pioneering University, 2010a).
Second, Pioneering University uses an assessment system to evaluate academic staff‘s
performance in teaching and academic research (Pioneering University, 2010b). These two
aspects of Pioneering University‘s pursuit for world-class standards will be discussed in
detail in Section 7.3.2.1 and Section 7.3.2.2 respectively. By examining the discursive
practices of constructing world-class universities on the part of Pioneering University, this
study aims to argue that the university has entrepreneurial spirits for enhancing its
competitiveness and prestige in the international education market. The study also adopts
Alexander‘s (2011) argument that the obsession with world-class standards yields positive
outcomes such as the enhancement of research capacity, but at considerable cost such as the
―regulated autonomy‖ of academics within an accountability system (Yang et al., 2007).
Following this brief introduction to Pioneering University, the next section examines its
organisational structure.
7.3 Organisational structure
According to Stake (2000), a case needs to have two specific features in order to be a case for
study, namely, behaviour patterns and boundedness. The behaviours of the case are patterned
with coherence and sequence. For instance, Pioneering University arranges three semesters
each year—Spring-term, mid-term, and Autumn-term—for teaching activities. Moreover, the
case is a bounded and integrated system. That is, the case consists of functional parts that
work together to achieve certain purposes (Stake, 2000). For example, the organisational
structure of Pioneering University is composed of administrative and teaching units. This
section focuses on examining how educational subjects are constituted in these administrative
and teaching spaces. As the official website of Pioneering University indicates, its
organisational structure includes four parts. These are the Chinese Communist Party
Committee of Pioneering University, administrative departments, teaching and scientific
239
research units and organisations for the masses. The next section investigates the space of the
Party Committee of Pioneering University.
7.3.1 The CCP Committee
As noted in Chapter Five and Chapter Six, university management in contemporary China
adopts a system of university president taking responsibility under the leadership of the CCP
Committee (legalised in the Higher Education Law of the People’s Republic of China, 1998).
Within this system, the president is the legal representative of the university and is in charge
of the execution of administrative works such as teaching, research and the employment of
teachers (Chinese Communist Party, 1998). However, the administrative work of the
president is carried out under the leadership of the university-level CCP Committee. That is,
the CCP Committee leads or directs the operations of the university. Its power is reflected in
three ways: political, ideological and organisational (Chinese Communist Party, 1998).
Politically, the CCP Committee centrally controls university management by formulating and
implementing policies and plans. Ideologically, it develops CCP members from students,
teachers, presidents and other administrative staff as well as inculcates socialist values.
Organisationally, it decides the setup of internal organisations such as teaching, scientific
research and administrative units, as well as the selection of personnel. Hence, the university-
level CCP Committee tightly controls the operation of the university through its political,
ideological and organisational authority. Table 7.1 demonstrates the structure of the CCP
Committee of Pioneering University (Pioneering University, 2011c):
Table 7. 1
The Chinese Communist Party Committee of Pioneering University
The Chinese Communist Party Committee of Pioneering University
General Office Department of United Front Work
Commission for Discipline Inspection Department of Student Affairs
Organisation Department Department of Retirement Management
Department of Publicity Party School of the CCP Committee
The three aspects of the leadership of the CCP Committee can be identified from
Table 7.1. First, the General Office has the political leadership in planning, coordinating and
organising university affairs. Second, the Organisation Department cooperates with the Party
240
School of the CCP Committee to develop Party members and train Party cadres by providing
refresher courses on theories of socialism, communism, Marxism, Leninism, and Mao
Zedong Thoughts. The duties of the Department of Publicity lie not only in publicising the
profile of Pioneering University through media such as university newspaper, television
programmes and Internet news, but also in propagating political and ideological theories and
values. Third, the Organisation Department is in charge of the employment and dismissal of
university cadres. The Department of Retirement Management deals with retirees‘ affairs.
The Department of Student Affairs organises and manages the affairs centring on the
cultivation of specialised and talented human resources from students.
In addition to these three aspects of leadership, the CCP Committee of Pioneering
University has a specific task of maintaining the Party ethics across departments and the
university‘s various functions. This task can be considered as a response to the policy
strategy of the 2003-2007 Action Plan, which proposed that the university-level CCP
Committee should ―make great efforts to build a fine Party culture and keep its organisation
clean‖ (Ministry of Education, 2004, line 263). The Commission for Discipline Inspection of
Pioneering University is the space that is established to perform this task. The duty of the
commission is to investigate and inspect the behaviours of the CCP Committee, the purpose
of which is to make the CCP Committee discipline itself against corruption.
Therefore, the structure of the CCP Committee of Pioneering University is in line
with the prescriptions for the authority of the university-level CCP Committee in the Higher
Education Law (1998). The political, ideological and organisational leadership can be
identified in the duties of the departments of Pioneering University CCP Committee.
Moreover, the establishment of the Commission for Discipline Inspection in Pioneering
University is a response to the strategy of national higher education policy. Discourses of
building a ―clean‖ Party and disciplining itself against corruption are important strategies for
the CCP Committee to win public credibility. As argued by Sigley (2006), the conception of
the ―Party-state‖ is an administrative reasoning amongst political authorities in China, which
is considered the ―driving force behind national development‖ (p. 494). This political
reasoning—one party administers the nation-state—manifests an authoritarian form of rule in
China (Sigley, 2006). In this respect, the construction and configuration of these department
spaces in Pioneering University facilitate the power of the CCP Committee to centrally
control university operations and to consolidate its leadership. This demonstrates a distinctive
Chinese characteristic. That is, this works to constitute students and staff as loyal CCP
241
subjects within the university space. The next section examines administrative departments of
Pioneering University.
7.3.2 Administrative departments
Following an examination of the official website of Pioneering University, the administrative
departments of the university have been categorised into three groups in terms of their
corresponding duties. Table 7.2 shows these three categories (Pioneering University, 2011a):
Table 7. 2
Administrative departments of Pioneering University
Administrative departments of Pioneering University
Teaching and learning
affairs
Dean‘s Office
Graduate School
Enrolment Office
Examination Centre
Academic and scientific
research affairs
Department of Science and Technology
Department of Social Sciences
Administrative affairs
Office for Development and Planning
Personnel Department
Department of Finance
Department of Auditing
Department of Supervision
Department for Assets and Logistical Affairs
Office of Infrastructure Management
Office of Laboratory and Facility Management
Office of International Cooperation and Exchange
The first category of Pioneering University‘s administrative departments is in charge
of teaching and learning affairs. It consists of four parts. First, the Dean‘s Office is
responsible for the teaching and learning of undergraduate programmes as well as graduation
affairs (detailed discussion will be provided in Section 7.5.1 and Section 7.6). Second, the
Graduate School manages postgraduate education (detailed discussion will be provided in
Section 7.5.2). Third, the Enrolment Office deals with the enrolment of different programmes
such as doctoral degree programmes and programmes for international students (detailed
242
discussion will be provided in Section 7.4). The final department is the Examination Centre.
Because the university entrance examination is a unified national examination which is
arranged by the Ministry of Education and provincial governments, the Examination Centre
of Pioneering University does not organise this examination. Rather, it organises the entrance
examinations for master‘s and doctoral degree programmes.
The second category of Pioneering University‘s administrative departments is
concerned with the management of academic and scientific research affairs. The two spaces,
the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Social Sciences and
Humanities, engage in the research of natural sciences and social sciences respectively.
Details of these two departments will be discussed in Section 7.7.
While the above two categories are related to the management of the traditional
functions of the university—teaching and research—the third category of Pioneering
University‘s administrative departments manages administrative affairs. As displayed in
Table 7.2, this category consists of nine departments or offices. These nine administrative
spaces are examined in the following sections of the chapter.
7.3.2.1 Office for Development and Planning
The Office for Development and Planning was set up in 2001 as one of the important
administrative departments of Pioneering University (Pioneering University, 2010g). Its
principal duty is to provide medium and long-term development suggestions for the
university. The office‘s forecasting is based on its analysis of national and international
trends in university development. The suggestions are in forms of project designs, policy
suggestions and decision-making consultation. As well, given that Pioneering University is
both the ―Project 211‖ and ―Project 985‖ university, the Office for Development and
Planning is also responsible for planning, evaluating, inspecting and overseeing the
construction of these two projects.
Hence, the emergence of this space is significant for the reform and development of
Pioneering University. The Office for Development and Planning employs the technique of
benchmarking the development experience of other universities, both national and
international. According to Larner and Le Heron (2002), benchmarking is a conceptual and
technical tool used to compare and standardise individual or organisational performance. The
purpose is to ―maximise the entrepreneurial comportment of the individual and the
243
enterprise‖ (Larner and Le Heron, 2002, p. 763). In this regard, the Office for Development
and Planning collects data with respect to the development of National Laboratories from
other universities in China and provides corresponding consultation services for Pioneering
University‘s own practice of building National Laboratories. The significance of National
Laboratories will be discussed in further detail in Section 7.7. The construction of this office
space also manifests the entrepreneurial comportment of Pioneering University.
According to the literature review on the internationally emerging entity of the
enterprise university in Chapter Two and the analysis of China‘s higher education policy in
Chapters Five and Six, the entrepreneurship of contemporary Chinese universities can be
described in the following manner: due to a low level of public educational funding,
universities begin to seek other sources of funding such as tuition fees, campus services and
partnerships with industries and to adopt corporate styles of management in order to improve
the efficiency of university operations, with the intention to enhance their economic
competitiveness and academic prestige. In this regard, Pioneering University also operates
like an enterprise by establishing the Office for Development and Planning. The university
employs the technique of calculative practices such as benchmarking in its management. On
the basis of the benchmarked suggestions from this office, the university can achieve
effective practices for its own development.
7.3.2.2 Personnel Department
The Personnel Department of Pioneering University manages the selection, employment and
evaluation of teaching and academic staff (Pioneering University, 2010k). Here, the system
of contractual employment should be noted. As outlined in Chapter Five, since the 1993
Outline (Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China,
1993), a contractual employment system was proposed to replace the life-long tenure system
in contemporary Chinese universities. Ten years later in 2003, Pioneering University decided
to gradually implement the system of contractual employment. Therefore, it took a relatively
long time for local universities to transform the life-long tenure system to the contractual
employment system.
According to the information on Pioneering University‘s website of Personnel
Department (Pioneering University, 2010k), the underlying reason for this decision is to fit
the requirements of the socialist market economy. That is, the purpose of implementing the
244
contractual employment system is to adopt competition and incentive mechanisms in order to
improve the quality of teachers. This is in line with Marginson and Considine‘s (2000)
contention that universities are now employing corporate styles of management as strategic
options to enhance the performance of their staff. ―Increasingly, general staff labour, and
non-tenure track part-time academic labour, are replacing tenured faculty in developmental
areas‖ (Marginson and Considine, 2000, p. 67). In this regard, an employment commission
was established by Pioneering University to implement this system. The commission, headed
by the university president, is composed of leaders of the university-level CCP Committee
and different administrative departments. The commission‘s responsibility lies in the
employment and evaluation of teaching and academic staff.
Pioneering University‘s employment commission utilises calculative techniques
during the process of employing and evaluating. There are different sets of requirements for
different teaching and academic positions. Those who seek employment in Pioneering
University need to meet at least one set of requirements. In order to clarify the nature of this
calculative technique in the recruitment of teaching and academic staff, an example is
provided with reference to the position of associate professor. To obtain employment at
Pioneering University as an associate professor, the applicants must meet the following
criteria: a doctoral degree, two years qualified experience as a university lecturer, experience
of teaching one compulsory course and more than one optional course, excellent results of
teaching performance according to university assessment systems, at least one published
academic paper in a high ranking journal, and publication of monographs with high academic
level (Pioneering University, 2010k). It can be noted that most of these employment
requirements are in quantified forms, which are the result of calculative practices.
After the employment commission has decided to employ an individual, a contract of
employment—usually a term of three years in Pioneering University—is signed between the
employee and the university. This strategy holds the employee accountable for his or her
performance in the position. In this regard, Pioneering University also uses calculative
techniques to assess staff performance. For example, a formula is used to calculate the
comprehensive performance standard of the teaching staff (Pioneering University, 2010k):
Total workload = [(Teaching workload + Other workload)Quota of teaching workload +
Amount of scientific research fundsQuota of scientific research funds]100 +
Part-time workload
245
There are three types of employment according to the results of this formula. First, if the total
workload is equal to or greater than 100, the commission provides the staff with the offer of
full employment. Second, if the total workload is between 70 and 100, the commission offers
the staff a testing period of employment. Third, if the total workload is less than 70, the
commission postpones the employment. Thus, this technique demonstrates the significance of
calculative practices for managing university staff.
Apart from the assessment of workload, teaching performance is also assessed by
students and colleagues. As noted in Chapter Five, when I was a master‘s degree student in
Pioneering University, students were required to complete online assessment of lecturers‘
performance at the end of each semester. Hence, academics need to be not only good at
teaching, but also be adept in establishing and maintaining good relations with students,
colleagues and superiors. Therefore, within the contractual employment system, the academic
staff in Pioneering University are constituted, and constitute themselves, as enterprising
subjects who endeavour to be professionals with high performance and good operators of
interpersonal relationships. In this sense, the established identities of academics are
confronting an ever-changing social world and are being transformed into multiple subject
positions (Larner and Le Heron, 2002). Individual performativity is increasingly emphasised
by contemporary universities to enhance institutional competitiveness (Marginson, 2010).
The next section examines the third aspect of Pioneering University‘s administrative affairs
that deals with finance.
7.3.2.3 Department of Finance and Department of Auditing
According to Item 65 of the Higher Education Law (1998), universities are required to
establish a financial management system to appropriately use and strictly manage educational
funds as well as to enhance the efficiency of educational investment. In this respect, the
Department of Finance is the functional space installed by Pioneering University to address
Item 65. Specifically, this department has three duties (Pioneering University, 2010c). First, it
sets up a financial system to regulate the university‘s financial activities. Second, it prepares
the budget and summarises actual revenues and expenditures for the university. Third, it
manages the funds and properties of the university and enhances the efficiency of their usage.
As for the second duty, the Department of Finance cooperates with, and also receives
supervision from, the Department of Auditing. That is, the Department of Auditing is a space
246
that is constructed to examine and approve the budget plan as well as the final statement of
revenues and expenditures made by the Department of Finance (Pioneering University,
2010b).
Therefore, by installing the administrative spaces of the Department of Finance and
the Department of Auditing, Pioneering University operates in a business style. With the
assistance of these two spaces, the university first sets budget plans and a financial system for
its economic activities. Then it uses funds and assets in an efficient way to benefit itself.
Finally, it calculates the revenues, expenditures and outcomes of its economic activities.
Hence, the university can be considered as an economic entity that is able to be transformed
into a functioning enterprise. This entrepreneurial economic body uses its own rationalities
and technologies such as calculative practices to generate benefits.
7.3.2.4 Department of Supervision
While the Department of Auditing supervises Pioneering University‘s financial activities, the
Department of Supervision is responsible for monitoring its administrative affairs (Pioneering
University, 2010d). It is led by the Commission for Discipline Inspection, which is one of the
departments of the university‘s CCP Committee as outlined in Section 7.3.1, to supervise the
operation of the university. Thus, it is an internal supervision organ that is constructed to
discipline the university staff against ill management and corruption.
7.3.2.5 Department for Assets and Logistical Affairs
Established in 2002, the Department for Assets and Logistical Affairs is a functional space
that is used to plan, coordinate and regulate assets management and logistical services of
Pioneering University (Pioneering University, 2010a). The special purpose of this department
is to maintain the university‘s assets as well to preserve and augment their value.
Correspondingly, it manages a university enterprise: Pioneering University Assets
Management Co., Ltd. A detailed analysis of this company will be provided in Section 7.8.2
of this chapter. In addition, it aims to ensure the provision of quality logistical services for
students and teachers. Also, it establishes a contractual relationship with an outsourcing
service enterprise—Pioneering University Logistics Group—to manage the logistical affairs
of the university. Details of this group will be provided in Section 7.9.3.
247
Similar to the Office for Development and Planning, the Personnel Department, the
Department of Finance and the Department of Auditing, the entrepreneurship of Pioneering
University can also be identified from the emerging space of the Department for Assets and
Logistical Affairs. The university is a ―corporation in its own right‖ as it seeks to maximise
profits (Marginson and Considine, 2000, p. 59). With the assistance of this department,
Pioneering University manages a company to preserve the value of its assets and to earn
income from the operation of the company. Pioneering University also outsources its
logistical services such as food, catering, and transportation services in order to enhance the
efficiency of logistical management and make benefits from the contract with the outsourcing
enterprise. As noted in Section 6.2.2.1, due to a lack of public funding, universities in
contemporary China behave like enterprises to seek other sources of funding for self-
development. Pioneering University‘s conduct of setting up a university company and
outsourcing its logistical services can also be regarded as entrepreneurial behaviours to earn
funds for its development. The next two sections examine two offices that manage the
physical infrastructure of the university.
7.3.2.6 Office of Infrastructure Management
Teaching buildings, canteens, libraries and even hotels are all assets of the university. Their
construction and maintenance is operated by the Office of Infrastructure Management. In
particular, this office has three duties (Pioneering University, 2010h). First, it draws up
overall plans and implements campus construction. Second, it organises the bidding for the
construction and purchasing of equipment and materials, as well as signs contracts with
contractors. Third, it manages and supervises the progress, quality, investment, and security
issues of the construction. Accordingly, by establishing the space of the Office of
Infrastructure Management, Pioneering University also engages in economic activities such
as organising the bidding for campus construction projects in order to improve its campus
infrastructure.
7.3.2.7 Office of Laboratory and Facility Management
Scientific research is a traditional function of the university. It needs not only researchers,
knowledge and skills, but also equipments and laboratory. The Office of Laboratory and
Facility Management administers physical equipments for scientific research. Its specific
248
duties consist in formulating laboratory regulations, studying and evaluating the feasibility of
purchasing equipments for scientific research, as well as training skilled staff for laboratory
experiments (Pioneering University, 2010j). As Huxley (2006) argues, the construction and
organisation of a space are administrative technologies used to regulate and transform the
behaviours of social subjects. In this connection, the construction of the space of the Office of
Laboratory and Facility Management can be conceptualised as a strategy to improve
Pioneering University‘s scientific research capacity which, in turn, enhances institutional
competitiveness and prestige. Moreover, subjects of skilled staff for laboratory experiments
are produced and managed to help achieve this purpose.
7.3.2.8 Office of International Cooperation and Exchange
As the first eight departments and offices manage university‘s internal matters, the ninth
constituent of Pioneering University‘s administrative departments—the Office of
International Cooperation and Exchange—deals with foreign affairs (Pioneering University,
2010i). As outlined in the Introduction to Pioneering University, the university has
established cooperative relationships with about 170 overseas universities by the year 2011
(Pioneering University, 2011e). In specific terms, the office engages in academic exchanges
with international universities. For example, it helps Pioneering University to employ foreign
teachers for long-term teaching and invite foreign academic experts for short-term lecturing
in the university. The office also assists Pioneering University in cooperating with
international universities to develop joint programmes. For instance, the university works
with Cardiff University in the United Kingdom on the joint programme of cultivating urban
planning master‘s degree students (Pioneering University, 2011e).
Moreover, the office is responsible for building Confucius Institutes in overseas
universities. By the year 2011, it has cooperated with overseas universities and established 13
Confucius Institutes. According to Yang (2010), the establishing of Confucius Institutes in
foreign countries is a ―soft power policy‖ to expand China‘s international influence by
promoting Chinese language and culture. In contrast to the ―hard power‖ of military, ―soft
power‖ is the force or capacity used to influence and persuade other nation-states to adopt
same ideas, opinions and objectives through means such as education, culture and diplomacy
(Lukes, 1974; Nye, 1990). In this way, the practice of establishing Confucius Institutes can be
considered as a political programme that embodies a new form of Chinese governing
249
mentality to bring China to the world through international communication and exchange of
higher education.
Thus, the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange promotes the
internationalisation of Pioneering University‘s education services. Academic exchanges and
joint programmes with international universities as well as the Confucius Institutes are the
emerging spaces that facilitate Pioneering University‘s internationalisation process. Foreign
teachers, international academic experts, and students within international exchange
programmes are the subjects involved in Pioneering University‘s efforts of educational
internationalisation. By constructing these spaces and subjects, Pioneering University is able
to draw on international engagement with teaching and academic research, as well as to
enhance its international reputation. Given that Pioneering University strives to be a world-
renowned high-level research university, educational internationalisation is an important
strategy to approach this goal. As key functions of the university are conducting teaching and
research activities, the next section examines the spaces performing these two missions.
7.3.3 Teaching and scientific research units
As mentioned earlier, Pioneering University is a comprehensive university that has one
graduate school, 22 schools, 64 departments and 10 research institutes (Pioneering University,
2011e). Most of the schools and research institutes are traditional units of a comprehensive
university and have a long history of development. For example, the establishment of the
School of Humanities, the School of Economics and the School of Mathematical Sciences
can be traced back to the founding of Pioneering University in 1921. The emergence of one
school and two research institutes in the twenty-first century should be noted particularly: the
School of Energy Research, Pioneering City (a pseudonym) Academy of International Law
and Marxism Research Institute.
Pioneering University established the School of Energy Research in 2007 to serve the
key energy technology demands of the nation (Pioneering University, 2011j). The aim of this
school has been to become a first-class new energy technology base in China for education,
research and development, and technology transfer. To this end, the school constructs a range
of spaces that focus on developing new energy technologies: the Institute for Advanced
Nuclear Energy, the Institute for Chemical Energy, the Institute for Bio-energy, the Institute
for Solar Energy, and the Centre for Energy Economics Research. In these spaces, the school
250
produces subjects who are researchers and engineering experts in the fields of clean chemical
energy, nuclear energy, solar and wind energy, biological energy, energy economics, and
energy efficiency engineering. As new energy technologies play a significant role in the
global knowledge economy, the construction of these spaces and subjects embodies
Pioneering University‘s strategy of keeping pace with global trends in socio-economic
development (Marginson, 2010). In this vein, Pioneering University can also be considered
an entrepreneurial entity, as it keeps an eye on the surrounding environment and tries to be a
pioneer in these fields.
As the School of Energy Research demonstrates Pioneering University‘s efforts to
develop natural sciences, Pioneering City Academy of International Law manifests the
university‘s endeavours to advance its social sciences in the context of globalisation
(Pioneering University, 2011j). As stated in the Tenth 5-Year Plan (Ministry of Education,
2002), since China‘s entry into the World Trade Organisation in 2001, international law has
become an emerging discipline that is of great importance to international trade and
communication (lines 201-202). Embedded in this context, Pioneering University set up
Pioneering City Academy of International Law in 2005 to respond to international trends in
social sciences. The academy invites world-renowned professors to give lectures on various
topics of international law and courses are taught in English or French. These courses are
opened for those who are interested in the development and the use of international law such
as young lecturers in international law, diplomats, government officials in charge of foreign
affairs, and officials from international organisations. Therefore, as China‘s economy
engages more deeply with the global economy, Pioneering University is being positioned,
and is positioning itself, as an agency that produces human resources with knowledge of
international law that are essential to China‘s social and economic development.
In contrast to these two units that are constructed in response to global influences, the
Marxism Research Institute has been built to contribute to the development of China‘s
socialist theories (Pioneering University, 2011j). The institute was established in 2009 to
conduct research and teaching in Marxist theories. As China‘s modernisation is guided by
socialist theories, such research on Marxism can provide corresponding theoretical
knowledge. In this regard, the Marxism Research Institute at Pioneering University opens a
political and ideological course on Marxism. The purpose of this course is to develop Marxist
theories and produce Marxist rencai (specialised human resources). As for theoretical
development, the institute constructs itself as a think tank of the Chinese Communist Party
251
and the government, for its research on Marxism lends theoretical support to the socialist
form of governance in China. With regard to the cultivation of Marxist rencai, the institute
aims to constitute subjects who are inculcated with socialist ideologies. That is, Marxist
rencai are subjects who are loyal and obedient to the socialist cause and the CCP. Therefore,
the Marxism Research Institute constitutes itself as the think tank of the government, and also
assists the government in creating socialist subjects. This is a distinctive characteristic of
contemporary Chinese universities, which is not shared by universities in other non-
communist countries. As the CCP Committee, administrative departments, and teaching and
research units are internal organisations of Pioneering University, the next section introduces
two organisations for the masses inside the university space, whose members are from the
society.
7.3.4 Organisations for the masses
In China, organisations for the masses refer to those non-governmental collectives that
autonomously group together for the benefit of the general public such as the trade union and
the association of the elderly. Two mass organisations at Pioneering University should be
noted here, namely, Pioneering University Alumni Association of Overseas Chinese Students
and the College for Senior Citizens at Pioneering University.
Pioneering University Alumni Association of Overseas Chinese Students was
established in 1986 (Pioneering University, 2011f). The purpose of this association has been
to form a coalition among Pioneering University‘s overseas alumni and encourage them to
serve the development of the university and the community. Most of these alumni are high-
level rencai who have elevated social status. For example, 20% of these alumni are deputies
to the People‘s Congress and members of the National Committee of Chinese People‘s
Political Consultative Conference above municipal level. Pioneering University can obtain
assistance from these alumni through the association, given their strategic networks. In
addition, it should be noted that most of Pioneering University‘s buildings were donated by
its alumni. For example, the main building of Pioneering University—a 21-storey building
with a construction area of 21 000 square meters—was donated by the Thailand alumni. This
is in line with national higher education policy that encourages universities to seek private
donations for their own development, as shown in Section 6.2.2.1 of Chapter Six.
252
Set up in 1985, the College for Senior Citizens at Pioneering University can be
considered as a response to the national policy of life-long learning (Pioneering University,
2011f). Most of the elderly attending the college are retired teachers of Pioneering University.
As outlined in Section 5.3.1.4, the 2003-2007 Action Plan (2004) claims that a life-long
learning system was expected to be established for teachers. According to Simons and
Masschelein (2006), life-long learning can be conceptualised as a form of governance that
has rationalities and technologies for administering the subjectivities of teachers. As the
website of the College for Senior Citizens at Pioneering University (Pioneering University,
2011f) suggests, the elderly are mobilised to attend the college and continue their education.
In this sense, they are constituted, and constitute themselves, as life-long learners who have
the will to constantly develop themselves and better serve the community.
Based on the examination of Pioneering University‘s organisational structure,
tensions between different functional spaces and educational subjects can be identified. The
university has autonomy in managing a range of affairs, while the CCP retains its centralised
control of university operations. Pioneering University, as a legal entity, constructs itself as
an independent body with autonomy to manage its teaching and learning affairs, academic
and scientific research affairs, and administrative affairs. Moreover, the university constitutes
itself as an enterprise, intending to enhance its institutional competitiveness and reputation,
nationally and internationally. For example, with the assistance of the administrative space of
the Office for Development and Planning, Pioneering University is able to benchmark the
development experience of other universities, both domestic and overseas, in order to achieve
effective practices for its own development. Through the Department of Finance and the
Department of Auditing, the university shapes itself as a corporate body which operates its
funds and assets in an efficient way to earn income. In addition, Pioneering University
manages a company to preserve the value of its assets, as well as to generate benefits from
the operation of the company.
Nevertheless, these autonomous and enterprise activities of the university are
conducted under the leadership of the university-level CCP Committee. As noted, the power
of the CCP Committee consists in its political, ideological and organisational power in
controlling university management. For example, the Party School of the CCP Committee is
in charge of developing CCP members and training CCP cadres by providing refresher
courses on socialist theories. The Committee also decides the establishment of internal
organisations and the appointment of personnel. Furthermore, the Marxism Research Institute
253
is a functional space constructed to create Marxist subjects who are loyal and obedient to the
socialist cause and the CCP. In this way, the university has a type of ―regulated autonomy‖,
as contended by Yang, Vidovich and Currie (2007).
This regulated autonomy can be further discerned from the transformed subject
position of academics. Within the contractual employment system, academic staff in
Pioneering University are held accountable for their performance in teaching and research,
which is evaluated by calculative techniques employed by the university. In this way,
academics are constituted, and constitute themselves, as enterprising subjects who endeavour
to enhance their performance in order to secure their employment and attain promotion. As a
result, although Pioneering University and its staff have more autonomy to manage and
conduct teaching and research activities, their autonomy is regulated and restricted by the
tight control of the university-level CCP Committee and the accountability mechanism. This
can be concluded by Yang et al.‘s (2007) metaphorical argument that, ―even though their
shackles have been removed, they were still ‗dancing in a cage‘‖ (p. 590). The next section
investigates how Pioneering University administers its teaching and learning affairs, and
begins with the techniques for managing the enrolment and selection of students.
7.4 Enrolment of students
As discussed in Chapter Five, the principal function of higher education is to produce rencai
from students for the well-being of Chinese society. The development of student rencai in
universities is a process of selection (or enrolment), cultivation (or education) and
distribution (or graduate employment). As student enrolment paves the way for the following
two steps, it is scrutinised first. In this regard, this section examines what kinds of subjects
are constituted within the enrolment programmes in Pioneering University‘s efforts to select
ideal objects for human-capital generation. These enrolment programmes include bachelor‘s
degree programmes, postgraduate degree programmes, and programmes for international
students. The next section investigates the enrolment of bachelor‘s degree programmes.
7.4.1 Bachelor’s degree programmes
University entrance examination results are still the dominant measure for student enrolment
in Pioneering University (Pioneering University, 2011d). As noted in the historical review on
254
China‘s higher education system in Chapter Two and in the critical analysis of higher
education policy in Chapter Five, entrance examinations are technologies used by the
Chinese government to select qualified rencai, from which human capital can be generated
for social and economic development. Accordingly, there are five levels of examination
scores nation-wide.
Students who have the highest level of results can be admitted to the first-tier public
(national) universities that provide four-to-five-year undergraduate programmes. These
universities are considered more prestigious than other universities and, as such, are places
more competitively sought. Students who attain the second level of results can apply for the
second-tier public (provincial) universities. The undergraduate programme for provincial key
universities is four to five years, the same as for national key universities. The third level of
results applies to the third-tier non-public higher education institutions that also offer
undergraduate programs, but are not government-funded. The fourth and fifth levels relate to
colleges for professional training, not undergraduate courses. Pioneering University belongs
to the first-tier public university. Its requirement for enrolment scores is relatively high. In
this way, the university‘s practice of using entrance examinations to select rencai can be
perceived as part of China‘s national agenda to develop human capital for sustainable
development (Morgan and Wu, 2011).
By examining the prospectuses for bachelor‘s degree programmes, in addition to
those students with outstanding university entrance examination performance, another three
types of prospective students become the objects of Pioneering University‘s undergraduate
enrolment programmes (Pioneering University, 2007b, 2009c, 2010m). They are those
students with special skills in athletics, arts and foreign languages. If students with
outstanding examination performance are general rencai, students with special skills can be
considered specialised rencai. Such specialised rencai are promising and can be cultivated
through higher education. Therefore, the enrolment of students with special skills can be
perceived as a strategy of Pioneering University to lay the foundation for future rencai
cultivation. It should be noted that this strategy has been adopted by Pioneering University
for a considerable period of time. However, it is the Medium and Long-term Outline,
promulgated in 2010, that has the policy emphasis on individual characteristics and the
adoption of multiple ways of enrolling students. Hence, Pioneering University‘s strategy of
enrolling students with special skills cannot be simply deemed as the effect of national
policies, but as a local practice guided by its own rationales. However, both the national and
255
local objectives for adopting the strategy of enrolling students with special skills are the same;
that is, this strategy is used to generate human capital for local and national development.
However, the range of these forms of rencai selection—entrance examinations and
special-skill tests in terms of athletics, arts and foreign languages—is not broad enough to
enrol those students with the ability to think creatively, critically and independently. Yang
(2011) argues that examination results should not be the single criterion for enrolling
prospective students. The capacity to achieve excellent examination results does not represent
the potential ability of a student. Those creative rencai have the ability to thinking critically
and independently when encountering practical problems, and this cannot be reflected by the
examination system (Yang, 2011). As a result, not all students deemed as potentially talented
human resources have access to higher education, as they have not satisfied the examination
process. Hence, despite changes to enrolment procedures, the dominance of the traditional
emphasis on the entrance examination limits the development of human capital in the interest
of Pioneering University, local communities and the whole nation.
Another policy strategy the Chinese government uses to generate human capital is the
expansion of university enrolment. According to Marginson (2002), universities worldwide
are now adopting neoliberal discourses that emphasise consumer choice and personal
investment in their promotion of educational services. Contemporary Chinese universities,
including Pioneering University, cannot escape the influence of these discourses. Under the
national policy of expanding the higher education sector, Pioneering University began to
increase its enrolment numbers. In this way, Chinese society can generate more human
capital for its development; the university can earn income by selling its educational products;
students are constituted as buyers and investors of higher education, seeking for future returns
on their career development (Yang, 2007b).
Another feature of Pioneering University‘s undergraduate enrolment programmes is
that students need to pay tuition fees to attend the university. Pioneering University‘s practice
of charging tuition fees is a response to national higher education policy that higher education
is non-compulsory education and students should pay fees in order to receive higher
education (Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China,
1993). As noted earlier, due to the lack of public funds, tuition fees become an important
source of funding. The charging of tuition fees can be considered as a strategy to raise funds
for university development.
256
However, although the amount of tuition fees has remained constant from 2008-
2011—Pioneering University‘s websites only have the prospectuses for Bachelor‘s degree
programmes during this time period (Pioneering University, 2007b, 2009c, 2010m)—some
students cannot afford to pay these fees. Yang (2007b) argues that higher education tuition
fees in China are the most expensive in the world, relative to the average resident‘s income.
These students are mainly from economically disadvantaged families, as stated in Pioneering
University‘s prospectuses. Financial aid and scholarships are the means to resolve this
problem. For example, the ―green channel‖ is used by Pioneering University to ensure that
these disadvantaged students have the opportunity to participate in higher education
(Pioneering University, 2009c). The university takes precedence to manage the admission
procedures for those students who are from economically disadvantaged families, and then
uses different ways to fund these students. These students receive financial aid each semester,
and the university also provides part-time work for them to earn income for a living
allowance. Therefore, the green channel reflects the principle of educational equity. This
principle can not only bring about social justice and harmony, but also can cultivate the
disadvantaged students into human resources for social development (Rizvi and Lingard,
2010). The next section examines the enrolment of students into postgraduate degree
programmes.
7.4.2 Postgraduate degree programmes
The major means of selecting students for master‘s degree programmes remains with the
entrance examination (Pioneering University, 2010e). Pioneering University has autonomy to
organise the contents and forms of the examination. However, the entrance examination for
master‘s degree programmes is more systematic than that for bachelor‘s degree programmes.
It consists of a preliminary test and a re-examination. The preliminary test has one foreign
language test, usually English, one political theory test, and two tests on two subject courses.
The university sets the minimum passing scores for selecting students to participate in the re-
examination. The re-examination first tests students‘ ideological and political quality. The
political backgrounds of examinees‘ family members are also inspected. If the students are
qualified from the political and ideological inspection, they are invited to the university to
take further tests, which incorporate foreign language tests and interviews. The entrance
examination for doctoral degree programmes is in a similar vein. The only difference is that
its preliminary test does not contain the test of political theories.
257
Hence, this process of the entrance examination for postgraduate degree programmes
selects students in a systematic way. First, the admitted students are of qualified political and
ideological values. That is, they are loyal to China‘s socialist cause and the Chinese
Communist Party. Second, they have a relatively high proficiency in foreign languages. Third,
their personal character can be better known by the examiners through face-to-face interviews.
Thus, through this selection process, the students are constituted as subjects with qualified
political awareness, high foreign language proficiency and positive personality. Particularly,
the qualification of political and ideological awareness is a typical Chinese characteristic,
which cannot be found in the ―enterprise universities‖ emerging internationally in those
studies reviewed in Chapter Two.
Since 2008, students who are enrolled in the postgraduate degree programmes have to
pay tuition fees (Pioneering University, 2010e). In 2007, there were some state-funded
master‘s degree and doctoral degree students in Pioneering University (Pioneering University,
2006). They were admitted under the national plan of enrolment and were not required to pay
tuition fees. From 2008 on, all students were transformed into self-funded individuals.
Accompanying this fee paying strategy was the introduction of scholarships for postgraduate
students. That is, postgraduate students were able to apply for scholarships provided by the
university. For example, the highest scholarship provided students with three years of tuition
fees and a sum of living allowance. Accordingly, students were expected to compete with
each other to win a scholarship based on their academic performance. Therefore, the
introduction of scholarships embodies the use of a competition mechanism, the purpose of
which has been to enhance Pioneering University‘s academic research capacities. By
complying with this mechanism, postgraduate students become enterprising subjects who
desire to enhance their performance in academic research and be competitive in winning
scholarships. Pioneering University not only provides enrolment programmes for Chinese
students, but also for foreign students. The next section examines the enrolment programmes
for international students.
7.4.3 Programmes for international students
Pioneering University‘s entry requirements for international students are different from those
for Chinese students (Pioneering University, 2010f). International students who want to study
in Pioneering University do not need to take formal examinations. Instead, they are required
258
to provide documents substantiating their educational experience, corresponding transcripts,
letters of recommendation, HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, Chinese Language Proficiency
Test) certificate, and certificate of financial liability. For those applying for postgraduate
degree programmes, a research plan is additionally required. In this way, Pioneering
University gears its entry requirements toward international standards for enrolling foreign
students. The underpinning rationale for this move might be twofold. First, the use of
international criteria for entry requirements is convenient for the admission of international
students. Thus, more international students can be attracted to study in Pioneering University.
Second, tuition fees are also charged by international standards, which are about three times
those for Chinese students. Hence, the university can collect more funds from the tuition fees.
In this respect, Pioneering University can be conceptualised as an entrepreneurial entity that
benchmarks and uses international standards in order to attract international students and
raise funds from their high tuition fees.
In sum, different methods and strategies are used in Pioneering University‘s practice
of enrolling different categories of prospective students. For example, Pioneering University
uses the university entrance examination as a means, supplemented by the strategy of
enrolling students with special skills in athletics, arts and foreign languages, to select
prospective undergraduates. As for the selection of future postgraduate students, the
university employs a systematic procedure that consists of a preliminary test and a re-
examination. With regard to the enrolment of international students, Pioneering University
adopts international standards to attract students. The objective of both undergraduate and
postgraduate enrolment programmes is to select qualified rencai, from which human capital
can be generated. Nonetheless, there are problems in these enrolment programmes. For
example, it is not diversified enough to enrol all potentially suitable undergraduate students
because university entrance examinations and special-skill tests in terms of athletics, arts and
foreign languages dominate selection procedures. These measures of selection may exclude
those creative rencai who potentially have the ability of critical and independent thinking but
fail entrance examinations. Moreover, those prospective students whose political
backgrounds are not considered suitable may not have the chance of accessing postgraduate
education. As the stage after the enrolment concerns the nature of the education experiences
offered at this local site, this will be discussed in the next section.
259
7.5 Student cultivation
Universities belong to the public sector; that is, they are constructed by the government to
serve social and economic development. Hence, university education can be considered as a
governmental device used to realise public benefits (Marginson, 2002). In this respect,
students are not only beneficiaries of university education, but also are social subjects who
are constituted within the university education system for the public good. This section
examines what kinds of student rencai are produced by Pioneering University‘s education
system under the rationale of promoting China‘s modernisation. As Pioneering University
selects prospective students mainly through three enrolment programmes—bachelor‘s degree
programmes, postgraduate degree programmes and programmes for international students,
this section analyses these corresponding education programmes. The analysis begins by
examining Pioneering University‘s undergraduate education programmes.
7.5.1 Undergraduate education
Generally, Pioneering University undergraduates are cultivated in three ways, namely,
through political ideologies with an implicit moral purpose, subject knowledge and practical
ability, and physical training (Pioneering University, 2010n). First, undergraduate education
places most emphasis on students‘ political and ideological cultivation. Students are required
to be respectful and patriotic towards their socialist motherland and to support the Chinese
Communist Party. In addition, they are also expected to be masters of basic socialist theories
such as Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong Thoughts. As a result, Pioneering University
students are constituted as patriotic socialist citizens who devote themselves to building a
powerful and prosperous country under the leadership of the CCP.
Second, students‘ subject knowledge and practical capability are emphasised.
Students are expected not only to acquire basic knowledge and theories of their subjects, but
also to have the ability to pose, analyse and solve practical problems (Pioneering University,
2010n). To this end, Pioneering University‘s undergraduate programmes tend to reduce class
hours and leave room for self-study and independent thinking. In this way, students‘ potential
and special skills can be developed. Their spirit of innovation and practical ability can also be
improved. Therefore, within these undergraduate education programmes, Pioneering
University students are constructed as innovative and self-reliant learners who know their
subjects and have the ability to cope with practical problems.
260
Third, the university‘s undergraduate programmes attach value to students‘ physical
training. Students are expected to form an awareness of life-long physical exercise to build up
a good physique (Pioneering University, 2010n). In addition, they are also required to grasp
basic military knowledge and receive necessary military training. Freshmen receive military
training about two weeks before the autumn semester. In this respect, the aim of Pioneering
University‘s emphasis on physical and military education is to produce healthy and strong
citizens who are able to shoulder the responsibility of building and defending the country.
This is in line with China‘s national policy of cultivating students with all-around suzhi
(quality). As outlined in Section 5.3.1.5 of Chapter Five, the Eleventh 5-Year Plan (Ministry
of Education, 2007d) states that a good physique is one of the requirements for contemporary
Chinese students who, in turn, help to achieve the national goal of building a xiaokang
(moderately prosperous) society.
Of these three aspects of undergraduate cultivation, two juxtaposed features are
identified. First, students are characterised with entrepreneurial spirit and are constituted as
innovative and self-reliant learners. Through constituting this type of subjectivity, the
university can provide a range of support—knowledge, technology and human capital—for
national development (Peters, 2007). Second, through socialist moral education such as the
course on Marxism, they are also moulded as patriotic Chinese citizens who are loyal to the
Chinese Communist Party and socialism. These loyal and obedient subjects are elements of
Chinese art of government, based on which the one-party rule system can realise its central
control and implement national plans (Jeffreys and Sigley, 2009). These two types of
subjectivities—entrepreneurial and socialist subjects—can also be discovered in the
postgraduate education system, which will now be discussed.
7.5.2 Postgraduate education
Postgraduate education includes master‘s and doctoral degree programmes. In Pioneering
University, a master‘s degree programme aims to produce three types of students, namely,
academic master‘s degree students, applied master‘s degree students and professional
master‘s degree students (Pioneering University, 2011h). This section begins by examining
what kinds of academic master‘s degree students the postgraduate education system expects
to cultivate and continues by discussing the role of the doctoral degree programmes.
261
The education of academic master‘s degree students focuses on producing specialised
human resources who will engage in teaching and scientific research (Pioneering University,
2011h). Similar to the education of undergraduates, their cultivation is also embodied in four
aspects. First, Pioneering University master‘s degree students must know well basic socialist
theories by taking compulsory courses such as ―Theories and Practices of Scientific
Socialism‖ and ―Selected Readings in Marxism‖. Second, they need not only to
systematically master the knowledge of their research fields, but also to have broader
knowledge. Besides compulsory and optional subject courses, they are encouraged to take
interdisciplinary courses. The graduation thesis is considered to be an important factor that
testifies to their mastery of subject knowledge. In this regard, master‘s degree students are
required to write a thesis with innovative topics and of theoretical significance. Third, they
are required to have a good mastery of one foreign language, usually English, based on the
assumption that they can better acquire modern advanced knowledge through reading first-
hand international academic literature. Fourth, Pioneering University master‘s degree
students are required to participate in the practices of teaching and scientific research. Two
graduation conditions are that they must teach courses for undergraduate students and publish
one academic article. In addition, postgraduate students are expected to attend academic
lectures, conferences and forums to keep up-to-date with emerging knowledge and trends in
their research fields. As a result, Pioneering University academic master‘s degree students are
constituted as socialist learners who have systematic subject knowledge and a broad range of
interdisciplinary knowledge, who able to use foreign languages to acquire international
knowledge, and who are active practitioners of teaching and scientific research activities.
The education of applied master‘s degree students aims to produce applied human
resources that have expertise in practical knowledge and skills (Pioneering University,
2011h). The cultivation model of applied master‘s degree students is similar to that of
academic master‘s degree students. One main difference is that its curriculum emphasises the
development of students‘ practical capabilities, as opposed to theoretical knowledge. With
respect to graduation thesis, the selection of thesis topic must be practice-oriented. Theses
can focus on research into current issues or reports of field investigation. Hence, the purpose
of an applied master‘s thesis is to clarify and solve practical problems (Pioneering University,
2011h).
Professional master‘s degree students are also applied human resources, but they are
specifically cultivated to meet the practical demand from particular occupations or
262
professions in society (Pioneering University, 2011h). The example is a Master of Business
Administration degree. Most professional master‘s degree students have work experience in
their fields. Teaching is mainly in the style of discussion, case analysis and team work, and
students are expected to have professional knowledge of the operation of an enterprise.
Accordingly, the outcomes are enterprise managers. In this way, Pioneering University
directly engages with other social sectors in terms of providing education and training
services as well as producing professional human resources.
Pioneering University‘s doctoral education is designed to produce academic human
resources who will apply themselves in teaching and scientific research activities (Pioneering
University, 2011h). The cultivation of doctoral degree students shares a similar pattern with
that of academic master‘s degree students. That is, doctoral education expects students to
grasp socialist theories, to be masters of their subject knowledge, to use foreign languages,
and to take part in academic practices. However, the requirements for doctoral degree
students are more demanding, as is shown in the writing of doctoral theses. Before entering
the stage of thesis writing, Pioneering University doctoral candidates are required to take an
examination, usually at the third semester, to test whether they have a solid and deep
knowledge about their subjects. Only by passing the examination can they continue their
doctoral journey to write the graduation thesis. Thesis topics are expected to be at the leading
edge of research in the field and to be significant for China‘s social and economic
development. Accordingly, doctoral theses are required to be original and innovative works
with high academic and applied value. As a result, Pioneering University doctoral degree
students are constituted as high-level academic researchers, whose works are expected to be
cutting-edge and make a significant contribution to national development.
Hence, Pioneering University‘s postgraduate education is designed to construct the
university as a world-renowned high-level research university. Postgraduates are constituted,
and constitute themselves, as academic researchers, whose value lies in their contribution to
innovative knowledge and academic development. Pioneering University‘s research capacity
can thus be enhanced by shaping the subjects of academic researchers. In this sense,
Pioneering University‘s practice of emphasising the importance of academic research tallies
with one of the distinctive features of the enterprise university emerging internationally: the
emphasis on the value of academic research in enhancing the prestige of a university
(Marginson and Considine, 2000).
263
Furthermore, as with undergraduate education, there are two different sets of
discourses within postgraduate education programmes. The first set of discourses constitutes
Pioneering University postgraduate students as autonomous subjects who are able to think
critically to pose, study and solve problems during the process of thesis writing. Another set
of discourses creates socialist subjects through such compulsory courses as ―Theories and
Practices of Scientific Socialism‖ and ―Selected Readings in Marxism‖. These two sets of
discourses embody different governing rationalities: one neoliberal and the other socialist.
However, they co-exist in the operational framework of Pioneering University and co-work
to influence and reshape the subject positions of postgraduate students. This manifests a
―hybrid socialist-neoliberal form of political rationality‖, as argued by Jeffreys and Sigley
(2009, p. 2). The next section examines the education of overseas students at Pioneering
University.
7.5.3 Overseas student education
The Overseas Education College at Pioneering University is in charge of the education of
international students. In addition to arranging international students to study in different
schools and departments of the university, the college is responsible for their Chinese
language training (Pioneering University, 2008a). For example, it offers undergraduate
Chinese language programmes in business Chinese and Chinese culture, as well as
postgraduate courses in linguistics and applied linguistics such as teaching Chinese as a
foreign language. It also organises national HSK tests for international students. Therefore,
international students are constituted as learners of the Chinese language and culture in
Pioneering University‘s overseas education programmes. Similar to the construction of
Confucius Institutes, there are two reasons for constituting this kind of subject. First, overseas
student education is a ―soft power policy‖ used by the government and the university to
promote international influences of the Chinese language and culture (Yang, 2010, p. 235).
The other reason is to enhance Pioneering University‘s international reputation. Accordingly,
Pioneering University can be conceptualised as an active promoter of the Chinese language
and culture as well as an enterprise that makes efforts to enhance its prestige.
In sum, a range of subjects are constructed within Pioneering University‘s education
system, as outlined in Section 7.5. For example, Chinese students are constituted as patriotic
socialist citizens dedicated to building a powerful and prosperous country under the
264
leadership of the CCP. In addition to becoming masters of subject knowledge, they are also
expected to be active and creative practitioners of teaching and scientific research activities.
Moreover, they are educated to use foreign languages, mainly English, to acquire advanced
international knowledge. The next stage of rencai development from students is the
distribution or graduate employment, which will be investigated in the following section.
7.6 Graduate employment
Pioneering University‘s graduate employment policy is a response to national higher
education policy. That is, it adopts the strategy of ―bidirectional selection‖ (Ministry of
Education, 2004; Pioneering University, 2011i). In the one direction, graduates have their
own choice of employers. In the other direction, employers can select graduates according to
their needs. The intermediary between the graduates and the employers is the market such as
job markets particularly for graduates, and labour markets for the supply and demand of all
kinds of human resources in society. In this regard, graduates are constituted as goods in the
marketplace. The university and students supply the goods and the employers demand the
goods. In order to obtain a good job, graduates tend to ―package‖ themselves to promote the
goods. For example, they refine their resumes by providing a list of their certificates of
computer and foreign language proficiency. As for the employers, they use competition
mechanisms to select ideal employees. The competition for employment is intense and often
hundreds of graduates compete for one position.
Under the strategy of bidirectional selection, Pioneering University can be
conceptualised as a broker between the graduates and the employers. This broker functions
through the space of the Student Career Centre (Pioneering University, 2011i). The centre
posts the information of job fairs and demands of the employing units for students to consult.
It also recommends graduates to employers following the intention of students and the
demand of employers. Moreover, the centre encourages graduates to start their own
enterprises. For those who run a successful enterprise, Pioneering University provides
commendation and reward. The underpinning rationalities for Pioneering University‘s role of
a broker might be threefold. First, it assists students to find jobs and employers to recruit
ideal work forces. Second, it contributes to the harmony and development of the community
by satisfying marketplace needs. Third, Pioneering University‘s reputation could be enhanced
by having a high employment rate. For example, the employment rate is 95.4%, 93.2% and
265
93.6% in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively, which places it among the top Chinese
universities. Therefore, Pioneering University, with the assistance of the Student Career
Centre, is not only an employment broker, but also an enterprising unit that is keen on
enhancing its reputation in the community. Having examined one traditional function of the
university—education, the next section investigates another function—research.
7.7 Scientific research
Scientific research in China consists of research in natural sciences and social sciences. In
Pioneering University, these two categories of research are undertaken by the Department of
Science and Technology (Pioneering University, 2009a) and the Department of Social
Sciences and Humanities (Pioneering University, 2009b). Both departments construct a range
of spaces for the conduct of scientific research, which are summarised in Table 7.3. Such
spaces provide opportunities for staff to participate in research in cutting-edge scientific
fields. The present study does not examine in detail the nature of these spaces. Instead, it
argues that Pioneering University‘s competitiveness and prestige in scientific research can be
enhanced through constructing such spaces. Moreover, the achievements produced as
outcomes from these research spaces also help the university contribute to the economic
construction and social development of China. As outlined in Chapter Two, the emphasis on
scientific research is a worldwide practice by contemporary universities. According to
Marginson and Considine (2002), in addition to seeking economic competitiveness through
entrepreneurial activities such as selling higher education services, another important
indicator for the emergence of the enterprise university is the stress on the value of academic
research. The next section examines how Pioneering University provides social services by
applying and industrialising scientific research achievements.
266
Table 7. 3
Key spaces of scientific research in Pioneering University
State Key Laboratories and
Research Centres (3 in all)
State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid surfaces
State Key Laboratory for Marine Environmental Science
State Research Centre for Contagion Diagnosis Reagent and Bacteria
Engineering Technology
Key Laboratories and
Research Centres at
Provincial and Ministerial
Levels (6 in all)
Education Ministry Key Laboratory for Cell Biology & Tumour Cell
Engineering
Education Ministry Key Laboratory for Modern Analytical Science
Education Ministry Key Laboratory for Trans-water Communication
and Marine Information Technology
Fujian Province Key Laboratory for Chemical Biology
Fujian Province IC R&D Centre
Fujian Province Research Centre for Medical Molecular Virology
State Key Research Bases
in Humanities and Social
Sciences (5 in all)
Centre for Accounting Development Studies
Centre for Southeast Asian Studies
Centre for Higher Education Development Studies
Centre for Taiwan Studies
Centre for Macro-economic Studies
7.8 Social services
As noted earlier, in the context of a knowledge economy, universities have expanded their
roles from teaching and research to promoting economic and social development by
producing intellectual, technological and human capital (Peters, 2007; Rizvi and Lingard,
2010). While Sections 7.4, 7.5, 7.6 and 7.7 have examined Pioneering University‘s traditional
functions of teaching and research, this section inquiries into the ways in which the university
contributes to the provision of social services. Two cases are studied. One investigates how
Pioneering University provides services for the economic zone on the west side of Taiwan
Strait. The other case is concerned with the examination of a company invested and managed
by Pioneering University—Pioneering University Assets Management Co., Ltd.
7.8.1 Services for the economic zone on the west side of Taiwan Strait
In 2007, Pioneering University formulated the Pioneering University’s Action Plan for
Serving the Economic Zone on the West Side of Taiwan Strait (Pioneering University, 2007a)
(hereafter Pioneering University Action Plan). This action plan is related to Pioneering
267
University‘s geographical location in Mainland China. Pioneering City is a coastal city which
faces Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait. Pioneering City is on the west side of the Taiwan
Strait, while Taiwan is on the east side. For the purpose of promoting communication
between and development of Taiwan and the mainland of China, the Chinese government
established an economic zone on the west side of the Taiwan Strait in 2004 (Pioneering
University, 2007a). Then in 2007, the Seventeenth National Congress of the CCP put forward
the policy towards Taiwan, which aimed to adhere to the theme of a peaceful inter-
development of Taiwan and Mainland China (Zhu, 2008). In this vein, the economic zone on
the west side of the Taiwan Strait plays an important role in accomplishing China‘s national
goal of peaceful reunification between Taiwan and Mainland China (Zhu, 2008). Embedded
in this geographical and strategic position, Pioneering University is required to serve the
regional development of the west side of the Taiwan Strait. The following three aspects of
university operations reflect how Pioneering University provides technological, intellectual
and human capital for regional development.
First, Pioneering University plays a central part in the scientific and technological
innovation of the economic zone on the west side of the Taiwan Strait (Pioneering University,
2007a). Directed by the local governments and cooperating with enterprises and scientific
research institutes, Pioneering University established a scientific and technological
innovation platform. This platform centres on the innovation of modern technologies needed
by the regional economic development such as biology, new materials, new energies, and
oceanography. Key spaces of scientific research in Pioneering University, which are
enumerated in Table 7.3, are the main forces that participate in technological innovation.
Hence, Pioneering University cooperates with governments, enterprises and scientific
research institutes to provide technological innovation support for regional development. The
partnership between the university, enterprise and government is not only a local practice of
Pioneering University, but also a distinctive feature of the emerging entity in the international
context—the enterprise university (Etzkowitz, 2008; Marginson and Considine, 2000).
Second, Pioneering University provides technology and policy consultation services
for the development of the economic zone on the west side of the Taiwan Strait (Pioneering
University, 2007a). For example, based on its technological innovation platform, Pioneering
University offers technology consultation services for local enterprises. As well, based on its
research capacities in social sciences, this university provides policy and decision-making
consultation for local governments and enterprises during the process of developing the west
268
side of the Taiwan Strait. In this respect, Pioneering University constitutes itself as the think
tank for regional development. Its conduct of providing technology and policy consultation
services is also a key characteristic of the enterprise university, as outlined in Chapter Two
(Etzkowitz, 2002; Larner and Le Heron, 2005; Marginson and Considine, 2000).
Third, Pioneering University reforms its rencai cultivation model to adapt to local
economic development (Pioneering University, 2007a). For example, seven disciplines—
computer science, oceanography, international economic law, software engineering, business
management, mathematics, and social sciences—have been set as experimental fields for the
reform of rencai cultivation model. These seven disciplines are closely linked to local
economic development. Accordingly, human resources produced from these disciplines can
better serve the local economy. In this vein, Pioneering University constitutes itself as the
―storehouse of rencai‖ for regional development (Ministry of Education, 1998b).
In general, Pioneering University actively engages with local governments,
enterprises and scientific research institutes to provide technological, intellectual and human
capital necessary for regional development of the economic zone on the west side of the
Taiwan Strait. The underlying rationales for its behaviours might be twofold. First, it could
earn income from the industrialisation and commercialisation of its scientific research
achievements. Second, it could increase its competitiveness in scientific research and enhance
its prestige by contributing to social and economic development. Therefore, Pioneering
University has the characteristics of an enterprise university emerging internationally, which
is keen on collecting funds for its own development as well as enhancing its competitiveness
and prestige. This enterprise spirit can be further identified by examining the case of a
company invested and managed by Pioneering University, which will now be discussed.
7.8.2 Pioneering University Assets Management Co. Ltd
Established in 2002, Pioneering University Assets Management Co. Ltd is an enterprise that
is invested by Pioneering University (Pioneering University, 2008b). It has two main
purposes. The first is to commercialise Pioneering University‘s scientific research
achievements. The second purpose is to manage the university‘s operational assets and
investment interests. Accordingly, a range of enterprising spaces are constructed for business
purposes, which are summarised in Table 7.4 (Pioneering University, 2008b):
269
Table 7. 4
Pioneering University Assets Management Co., Ltd
Pioneering University Assets Management Co., Ltd
Pioneering University
exclusively-invested
enterprises
Pioneering University Press
Pioneering University Printing House
Pioneering University Chemical Factory
Pioneering University Arts Company
Pioneering University International Travel Agency
Pioneering University Construction Engineering Company
Pioneering University Research Institute of Architectural Design
Pioneering University Construction Supervision Co. Ltd
Pioneering University International Conference Management Co. Ltd
Pioneering University Jiannan Concrete Co. Ltd
Jiannan Environmental Art Co. Ltd
Jiageng Educational Development Co. Ltd
Pioneering University
holding enterprises
Pioneering University Taigu Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd
Pioneering University Kecheng Genetic Engineering Co. Ltd
Pioneering University National University Science Park Co. Ltd
Pioneering University Jiannan Applied Technology Co. Ltd
Delai Yate Cultural Creativity (Pioneering City) Co. Ltd
Among them, 12 are exclusively invested by Pioneering University, and 5 are
university holding enterprises. It can be noted that most of these enterprises are established
for the purpose of marketising Pioneering University‘s scientific research achievements. For
example, as Pioneering University has a strong discipline of chemical science, Pioneering
University Chemical Factory is constructed to industrialise the achievements from chemical
research. In 2007, through the agency of the Chemical Factory, the ―NVP (N-
Vinylpyrrolidone) and PVP (Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone) production technology‖ was transferred
to an Indian company for a USD 0.2 million deal (Pioneering University, 2008b).
Another enterprise space, Pioneering University National University Science Park Co.,
Ltd (hereafter University Science Park), is significant in terms of the university operations.
University Science Park was approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the
Ministry of Education as a national university science park in 2005 (Pioneering University,
2008b). Pioneering University Assets Management Co., Ltd is the major investor. Pioneering
University Science Park plays the role of an incubator of innovative technologies, as well as
270
the cultivation base of creative and enterprise rencai (Pioneering University, 2008b). This
science park has a number of incubating centres such as bio-medical science, nanotechnology,
new energies, and agricultural technologies. Correspondingly, research teams are formed to
incubate innovative technologies. Moreover, there are personnel who are responsible for
marketising technologies together with staff who start their own enterprises based on the
incubated achievements.
Therefore, a range of spaces such as incubating centres and subjects such as
researchers and entrepreneurial rencai emerged in Pioneering University Science Park. By
constructing these spaces and subjects, Pioneering University directly engages in market and
marketlike behaviours, which conforms to Slaughter and Leslie‘s (1997) concept of an
entrepreneurial university and Marginson and Considine‘s (2000) idea of an enterprise
university, as introduced in Chapter Two. The rationale for the constitution of these spaces
and subjects might be analysed as follows. First, such spaces contribute to local and national
economic development. Especially in the context of the knowledge economy, they contribute
to innovative technologies that can improve the productive force of a nation. Second, these
spaces bring well-being for the society. For example, the application of sewage processing
and recycling technology can build a green environment for the community. Third, the
contribution of such spaces can enhance Pioneering University‘s competitiveness in scientific
research and promote its construction of a high-level research university. Finally, they could
provide support for raising funds through the commercial application of their technologies
and use the funds for the university‘s own development. Pioneering University not only
participates in social services, but also in campus services, which will be discussed in the
next section.
7.9 Campus services
Students, teachers, academic and administrative personnel can be considered the residents
within the university space. Pioneering University is responsible for the public good of its
residents. In this respect, it provides campus services which fall into two categories. The first
category refers to the services based on modern information technologies. Within this
category, two sites are examined, namely, the digital library and a campus electronic card (E-
card) system. The second category relates to the logistical services which are outsourced to a
professional service enterprise—Pioneering University Logistics Group.
271
7.9.1 Digital library
The application of information and communications technologies transforms the library space
into a digital one. In Pioneering University, the digital library is mainly manifested in the
construction of an Internet space, ―Pioneering University Knowledge Resources Network‖
(Pioneering University, 2011g). This network offers a series of digital services for Pioneering
University residents. For example, students and academics could consult books and other
literature online. Students are also able to receive online consultation services from the
network about how to retrieve information and resources from the digital database. Moreover,
there is a multimedia centre through which Pioneering University residents could gain access
to online courseware, lectures and television programmes. As a result, the emergence of a
digital library has brought about a more convenient campus life to Pioneering University
residents. In order to gain access to this convenient campus life, students and academics
constitute themselves as the ones who are equipped with IT knowledge and skills. This is also
a global trend in university reform, for as noted in Chapter Two, contemporary universities
are constructed as virtual universities with the development of information and
communications technologies (Robins and Webster, 2002b). Hence, the installation of a
digital library in Pioneering University is the result of technological development, which
reflects another element of the enterprise university. This technological dimension is also
identified in the campus E-card system of Pioneering University.
7.9.2 Campus E-card
In addition to the digital library, another site that also applies information technologies is the
campus E-card, which is an intelligent card distributed and managed by Pioneering
University (Pioneering University, 2011b). This E-card has a set of functions; that is, it can
serve as student identity card, staff card, library card, bus card, campus refectory card.
Moreover, it can function as a debit card for inside-campus consumption in places such as
campus supermarkets. In this regard, the campus E-card system constitutes its users with dual
identities. University students and staff use the card to verify their identity in order to gain
access to campus buildings and borrow books from the library. As well, students and staff
become consumers by using the card as an electronic wallet to buy public transportation
service, to dine in campus refectories, and to purchase goods in campus supermarkets.
272
Therefore, within the campus E-card system, university residents extend their traditional
subject position of students and staff to include the new subject position of consumers. The
services that they consume are mostly logistical services or those services that were not
traditionally provided by universities. The next section examines some aspects of Pioneering
University Logistics Group, which provides these logistical or rear services.
7.9.3 Pioneering University Logistics Group
The emergence of Pioneering University Logistics Group is the effect of national policy that
focuses on socialising or marketising logistical services in higher education institutions, as
outlined in Section 6.2.2.1. Pioneering University, with the assistance of the Department for
Assets and Logistical Affairs, outsources its logistical services to an enterprise, namely,
Pioneering University Logistics Group (Pioneering University, 2010l). There is a contractual
relationship between the university and the logistical group. The university is the owner of its
logistical assets, while the logistical group is the contractor that provides rear services for the
university and operates in a corporate style. For example, the company has a general manager
who is in charge of the group and takes user-pay and cost-effect as its main principles of
operation.
Pioneering University Logistics Group provides logistical services through seven
operational spaces (Pioneering University, 2010l). First, the catering service centre provides
food services for Pioneering University residents through thirteen refectories inside the
campus. Second, the reception service centre provides room services and conference facilities
within four hotels on the campus that contain 400 guest rooms. Third, the student apartment
and environment service centre manages student accommodation and is also in charge of
maintaining campus environment. Fourth, the transport service centre organises school buses
and driver training. Fifth, the property management company provides property management
services for staff residences. A water and electricity service centre comprises the sixth
operational space and is responsible for the maintenance of water and electricity as well as
administering corresponding costs and bills. The final operational space of Pioneering
University Logistics Group is a mineral water company, which supplies drinking water.
These spaces are characterised by a focus on corporate practices. For example, most
of the spaces advertise themselves by using business slogans such as ―customer first‖ and
―warm and thoughtful service‖, as seen when a mineral water company tries to win a
273
competitive advantage in the market by brand-making activities. Therefore, with the
installation of these spaces, the logistical sector of Pioneering University is corporatised and
marketised. Correspondingly, Pioneering University residents—students, teaching, academic
and administrative staff—are constituted as customers who are required to pay for these
services.
7.10 Chapter summary
This chapter conducted a case study of Pioneering University, a public university in southeast
China. The aim was to examine how the university reacted to national higher education
policies and global forces of university reforms. In particular, this chapter adopted a situated
method of narration. That is, it investigated what kinds of subjects and spaces emerged in
Pioneering University‘s response to national policy. Based on the operational framework of
Pioneering University in Table 4.2, these subjects and spaces are summarised in Table 7.5:
274
Table 7. 5
Subjects and spaces constituted in Pioneering University’s response to national higher education policies and international influences
Spaces Subjects
1. Teaching and
learning
School of Energy Research Researchers and engineering experts in the fields of new energies such as clean
chemical energy, nuclear energy, solar and wind energy, biological energy, energy
economics, and energy efficiency engineering
Pioneering City Academy of International
Law
Rencai with the knowledge of international law
Marxism Research Institute The institute:
The think-tank of the Chinese Communist Party and the government
Students:
Marxist rencai who are obedient to the socialist cause and the CCP
Bachelor‘s degree programmes Prospective undergraduates:
Students with the capacity to achieve excellent examination results;
Students with special skills in athletics, arts and foreign languages;
Students who need to pay tuition fees to attend the university;
Students from economically disadvantaged families who receives financial aid from the
government and Pioneering University
Undergraduates:
Patriotic socialist citizens who devote themselves to building a powerful and
prosperous country under the leadership of the CCP;
Innovative and self-reliant learners who know well their subjects and have the ability to
cope with practical problems;
Healthy and strong citizens who are able to shoulder the responsibility of building and
defending the country
275
Postgraduate programmes Prospective postgraduates:
Students with qualified political awareness, solid subject knowledge, high foreign
language proficiency, and positive personality;
Self-funded and enterprising subjects who desire to win scholarships by enhancing
their performance in academic research
Postgraduates:
Academic master‘s degree students who are socialist learners, who have systematic
subject knowledge and a broad range of interdisciplinary knowledge, who can use
foreign languages to acquire advanced international knowledge, and who are active
practitioners of teaching and scientific research activities;
Applied master‘s degree student who have practical knowledge and skills;
Professional master‘s degree students who are specifically cultivated to meet the
practical demand from particular occupations or professions in society;
Doctoral degree students who are high-level academic researchers, whose works are
expected to be cutting-edge and make significant contribution to national development
International programmes Pioneering University:
An enterprise that benchmarks and uses international standards in order to attract
international students and raise funds from their high tuition fees;
An active promoter of the Chinese language and culture as well as an enterprise that
makes every effort to enhance its international prestige
International students:
Learners of the Chinese language and culture
Student Career Centre Pioneering University:
A broker between the graduates and the employers, and an enterprise that is keen on
enhancing its reputation by achieving a high employment rate
Graduates:
Goods on the job markets;
276
Enterprising subjects who ―package‖ themselves to be competitive in finding a job
2. Research State Key Laboratories and Research Centres Pioneering University:
An enterprise that endeavours to enhance its competitiveness and prestige of scientific
research
Key Laboratories and Research Centres at
Provincial and Ministerial Levels
State Key Research Bases in Humanities and
Social Sciences
3. Administration Pioneering
University
CCP
Committee
General Office Pioneering University president:
The legal representative who operates the university under the leadership of Pioneering
University CCP Committee
Commission for Discipline
Inspection
Organisation Department
Department of Publicity
Department of United Front
Work
Department of Student Affairs
Department of Retirement
Management
Party School of the CCP
Committee
Office for Development and Planning
Pioneering University:
A well-planned enterprise that uses techniques such as benchmarking to achieve
effective practices for its own development
Personnel Department
Teaching and academic staff:
Enterprising subjects who endeavour to be professionals with high performance and
operators of interpersonal relationships within the contractual employment system
Department of Finance Pioneering University:
An entrepreneurial economic entity that uses its own rationalities and technologies such Department of Auditing
277
as calculative practices to earn income
Department of Supervision Pioneering University staff:
Self-disciplined subjects against corruption
Department for Assets and Logistical Affairs
Pioneering University:
An enterprise that establishes a company invested by the university and outsources its
logistical services to raise funds for self-development
Office of Infrastructure Management
Pioneering University:
An enterprise that engages in economic activities such as organising the bidding for
campus construction projects in order to improve its campus infrastructure.
Office of Laboratory and Facility
Management
Skilled staff for laboratory experiments
Office of
International
Cooperation and
Exchange
Academic exchanges and
joint programmes
Foreign teachers, international academic experts and students within international
exchange programmes
Confucius Institutes
Pioneering University Alumni Association of
Overseas Chinese Students
Pioneering University:
An enterprise that seeks private donations from its alumni
College for Senior Citizens at Pioneering
University
The elderly as life-long learners who have the will to constantly develop themselves
and serve the community
4. Social and
campus services
Social services for the economic zone in the
west wide of Taiwan Strait
Pioneering University:
A promoter of the regional development by engaging with local governments,
enterprises and scientific research institutes through providing technological,
intellectual and human capital;
An enterprise that is keen on earning income from the commercialisation of its
technologies, increasing its competitiveness in scientific research, and enhancing its
prestige by contributing to social and economic development
278
Pioneering
University Assets
Management Co.,
Ltd
Pioneering University
exclusively-invested
enterprises (such as
Pioneering University
Chemical Factory)
Pioneering University:
An enterprise that desires to collect funds from the commercialisation of its scientific
research achievements
Pioneering University
holding enterprises
(such as Pioneering
University National
University Science
Park Co., Ltd)
Pioneering University Science Park:
Incubator of innovative technologies
Innovative and enterprise rencai in Pioneering University Science Park:
Research teams that are formed to incubate innovative technologies;
Personnel who are responsible for commercialising technologies, and staff and students
who are encouraged to start their own enterprises based on the incubated results
Digital library—―Pioneering University
Knowledge Resources Network‖
Pioneering University residents (students, teaching, academic and administrative staff)
who are equipped with IT knowledge and skills
Campus E-card system University residents extend their traditional subject position—students and staff—to
include the new subject position of consumers.
Pioneering
University
Logistics
Group
Catering service centre
(refectories)
Pioneering University:
An enterprise that outsources its logistical services to earn income
Pioneering University residents:
Customers who need to pay for logistical services
Reception service centre
(hotels)
Student accommodation and
environment service centre
Transport service centre
Property management company
Water and electricity service
centre
Mineral water company
279
According to Stake (2000), boundedness is one of the systemic features of a case for
examination. That is, some spaces and subjects are included within the system and others
excluded. For example, traditionally, teaching and research units are included in the
university, while companies and enterprises are excluded. However, it can be noted from
Table 7.5 that educational spaces and subjects that are traditionally excluded from the
university are now incorporated in Pioneering University campus. For example, a university-
invested asset company, a university science park, a property company, and hotels exist
within the campus. Such spaces embody features that are corporate in nature and are not
traditionally characteristic of universities in China. Another example that gives expression to
the enterprise features of Pioneering University is its administrative departments. With the
installation of the Office for Development and Planning, Pioneering University constitutes
itself as a well-planned enterprise that uses techniques such as international benchmarking to
achieve effective practices for its own development. Moreover, with the assistance of the
Department of Finance and the Department of Auditing, Pioneering University constructs
itself as an entrepreneurial economic entity which conducts calculative practices to generate
profits.
Even within teaching and research units, there emerge spaces and subjects that do not
belong to the traditional concept of a Chinese university. For example, in contrast to
graduates of previous years, students in Pioneering University are now constituted as Marxist
rencai loyal to the socialist cause and the Chinese Communist Party. This constitution of
subjects involves lectures and tutorials in moral education, and the expectation that on
graduation students will serve the nation‘s political purposes as loyal Chinese citizens. The
emergence of such subjects reflects the political context of governmentality in China, as
noted in Chapter Two. Furthermore, graduates shape themselves as enterprising subjects who
package themselves in order to be competitive in the marketplace. As well, within a
contractual employment system, academics are constituted, and constitute themselves, as
enterprising subjects who endeavour to enhance their performance in order to secure their
employment and attain promotion. Such subject positioning by graduates and academics of
Pioneering University is reflective of the university‘s calculative practices and also evinces
the impact of neoliberal technologies and market mechanisms on university administration
(Olssen, 2002; Olssen and Peters, 2005; Peters, 2009).
As a result, these enterprise spaces, socialist subjects, as well as entrepreneurial
Pioneering University residents constituted in Pioneering University are envisaged as features
280
that were not encompassed within the traditional notion of a university in China. Based on the
case study, these spaces and subjects are constructed and included within the university
campus. In effect, they become the working parts of the university. In this sense, the mixture
of spaces and subjects can be considered outcomes of the hybrid form of governance, which
has been identified in the analysis of higher education policy in Chapter Five and Chapter Six.
Enterprising spaces and subjects are the effects of the neoliberal mode of governance
introduced by the Chinese government under the influence of external forces such as market
discourses and mechanisms. Socialist subjects are the outcomes of the socialist mode of
governance employed by the government since the founding of the People‘s Republic of
China in 1949. This mode of governance utilises authoritarian means such as national plans
to constitute educational subjects who are loyal to the socialist cause and the Chinese
Communist Party. Chapter Eight, the last chapter in this study, summaries these findings and
discusses their significance and implications.
281
CHAPTER EIGHT
CONCLUSION
8.1 Introduction
This study was inspired by the present researcher‘s personal experience with higher education
and the theoretical knowledge I acquired in Australia as a higher degree researcher student.
As indicated in Section 1.6, Researcher Identity, my experience of higher education from
2001 to 2008 occurred at the same time that deep reforms took place in China following the
introduction of a socialist market economy. Expansion of China‘s higher education sector
was accompanied by increasing pressure on graduating students for employment because job
markets did not expand at the same rate. The theory and methodology adopted in the study—
governmentality and genealogy—helped me to understand that I too am an object and a
subject of China‘s higher education policy. I am a student who sought knowledge and a
graduate who had to compete with other graduates to find a job. Most significantly, I am a
product of China‘s higher education system. That is, the author is imbued with traditional
Confucian values but also with the enterprising spirit of investing in higher education for
future returns in terms of a better career. As a result, my experience prompted this inquiry
into the contexts and outcomes of recent higher education reform in China.
From this, the study addressed the following research question: How have discourses
of globalisation manifested and constituted new forms of social and educational governance
in China‘s higher education sector during the period 1992 to 2010? This final chapter
provides a synopsis of the study, centring on this research question. It first revisits the study‘s
background and theoretical framework. It then summarises the main findings, which include
those from an examination of discourses on the enterprise university in the international
context, an analysis of higher education policy in China, and a case study of Pioneering
University. Based on these findings, the significance and implications of the study are
outlined, together with its limitations and some suggestions for further research. This chapter
closes with some self-reflective comments on the journey undertaken for this doctoral
programme of study.
282
8.2 The practice of critique
This study has examined China‘s higher education policies from the years 1992 to 2010 at a
national level. It has also conducted a case study of a single university, here called Pioneering
University, in order to investigate the influence of national higher education policy on its
local forms of operation. The purpose has not been to argue for or against higher education
reform in contemporary China, nor has it been to form a standpoint for or against the
restructuring of Pioneering University. Rather, the study has aimed to reveal the ways of
thinking and acting that have underpinned these reforms of China‘s higher education sector.
Moreover, consistent with the aims of the study, it has sought to expose what kinds of
subjects and spaces have been constituted in Pioneering University‘s efforts to reconfigure
itself within the contexts of globalisation and national higher education reform.
Therefore, the purpose of the study is consistent with the values of a genealogical
analysis—critique. By engaging in a genealogical study, it denaturalises conventional
explanations for existing social phenomena (Foucault, 1977; Olssen et al., 2004). That is, it
discloses the complexities of discourses and practices in the historical process of higher
education reform in China. It further unmasks how these discourses and practices work to
shape subjectivities and spatialities within particular Chinese arts of governance. In this way,
the study has uncovered the nature of power relations that are embedded in the reform
process. Power relations pervade every aspect of higher education reform in China. These
power relations flow between a range of social entities—the Chinese Communist Party,
different levels of governments, universities, university presidents, students, parents, teachers,
as well as academic and administrative staff.
The conceptual framework of governmentality has made it possible to expose these
power relations. Reform of China‘s higher education system can be conceptualised as a
governing practice consisting of governmental rationalities and technologies. Based on the
work of Miller and Rose (2008), rationalities are ways of thinking about a particular social
phenomenon, which is perceived as a problematic site for remedy. Rationalities also refer to
the reflection of how duties are distributed amongst different political authorities and of what
kinds of guiding principles are adopted while working on the problem. These forms of
political thinking and reflection are rendered visible by using language, as a discursive
apparatus, to represent the problematised social phenomenon. In this way, rationalities, which
are comprised of political deliberations and discursive representations, prepare the knowledge
necessary for technological intervention. Technologies of government are ways of operating
283
on the conduct of individuals by employing certain techniques, mechanisms and strategies in
order to transform that conduct for the purpose of governing (Miller and Rose, 2008).
Correspondingly, people, who are the objects of governmental practices, are placed into
subject positions. That is, governing activities are the exercise of power over personal
conduct, the effect of which is the constitution of subjectivities. There is another particular
technology which is exercised by individuals over their ―selves‖. By adopting this technology
of the self, people become the objects and subjects of their self-governing activities.
In this study, the reform of China‘s higher education system has been the problematic
site for analysis. This reform has its own unique context, that is, China‘s historical, political,
economic, and cultural background. It also has a broader context of increasing integration and
interdependence between nation-states. Accordingly, China‘s higher education reform is
located within complex and constantly changing national and global contexts. In other words,
different forces, both national and international, conflict or converge with each other to shape
this complex and contested process of reform. For this reason, a governmentality framework
was adopted as a lens through which these forces are uncoupled and the value of critique is
realised.
The study includes three levels of analysis which help to achieve three specific
research aims. Global trends for restructuring of higher education have been examined at the
international level. This contributes to the emergence of the enterprise university and serves
as a guide for analysis of China‘s higher education reform at national and local levels. At the
national level, China‘s higher education policy from 1992 to 2010 has been analysed in order
to identify the government‘s response to national needs and global pressures on the higher
education sector. At the local level, a case study of Pioneering University has been conducted
in order to investigate its response to government policies.
8.3 Global imaginary of the enterprise university
According to Held and McGrew (2005), globalisation is the dominant theme of the
contemporary age. The global space of increased interdependence and interconnectedness is
constituted by flows of capital, commodities, services, finance, trade, people, images, ideas,
and cultural values (Held et al., 1999; Rizvi and Lingard, 2010). Examined from the
theoretical perspective of the study, the significance of this global space consists in the
collective experience of people. The phenomenon of globalisation has been conceptualised as
284
a social imaginary that is shared by social groups who think and act as collective agents.
According to Castoriadis (1987) and Taylor (2002), the social imaginary is a way of
constructing reality and rationality. In this regard, globalisation should not be considered as
an objective process that is happening in the real world. Rather, it is through people‘s
thoughts and practices that this phenomenon acquires the significance of existence.
Moreover, the theoretical framework adopted by the study has viewed globalisation as
an art of global governance. The claimed rationale of the project of globalisation is to bring
social and economic well-being to countries, especially those with lower levels of economic
development (World Bank, 2007, cover page). For example, economic activities centring on
free markets can enhance economic development. Information technologies can facilitate
people‘s daily lives by constructing a more convenient and rapid communication
environment. In addition to funding, providing policy advice to member countries is the
major strategy for promoting globalisation (OECD, 2008a; World Bank, 1999). Policy advice
is reflected in the reduction of public expenditure and the privatisation of public services such
as the higher education and pension sectors.
It is within the context of globalisation that a particular type of university, the
enterprise university, has emerged. There are two main dimensions to the emergence of the
enterprise university: economic competitiveness and academic prestige (Clark, 2007;
Marginson, 2010; Marginson and Considine, 2000). In the first place, the emergence of the
enterprise university is located within the context of cutbacks to state funding. Influenced by
neoliberal values and principles, national governments tend to adopt the policy strategy of
reducing public expenditure on higher education. This strategy drives universities to reshape
themselves in an economic way. Higher education institutions operate like private
corporations to improve the efficiency of administration and to win a competitive advantage.
For example, universities seek to raise funds from campus services, student fees, and
partnerships with industries for their own development (Clark, 1998). As well, they engage in
calculative practices such as auditing and evaluation in order to enhance the performance and
productivity of their staff (Larner and Le Heron, 2005).
In addition to the economic aspect, there is an academic dimension to the emergence
of the enterprise university worldwide. Seeking the prestige of strong academic cultures is
also a distinctive feature of the enterprise university. Academic values not only provide the
research knowledge necessary for economic development, but they also contribute to a more
enhanced institutional identity and prestige (Marginson and Considine, 2000). However,
285
although research and scholarship survive, they are subjected to the mechanisms of
competition and demonstrable performance (Marginson and Considine, 2000). University
staff who participate in academic research activities are now held accountable for their
performance, the result of which is vitally related to their career development. Accordingly,
enterprise universities attempt to enhance their academic prestige by utilising competition
and accountability mechanisms.
Therefore, this study has identified the emergence of the enterprise university in the
broader context of globalisation on the basis of the literature review in Chapter Two.
Economic competitiveness and academic prestige are key aims of this newly emerging type
of university at a global level. From a theoretic perspective, the enterprise university has
become an imaginary that is shared by social groups (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010). However,
this imaginary is culture-specific. Different social, historical and cultural contexts have
different understandings of the enterprise university. In this respect, my study has contributed
to the literature by examining the imaginary of the enterprise university in the context of
contemporary China.
8.4 Critical analysis of China’s higher education policy at a national level
Embedded in the context of globalisation, China‘s higher education sector has undergone
profound changes and reforms. Particularly since 1992 when the Chinese government
introduced the socialist market economy system, the reform process entered a more
complicated phase. This phase is characterised by the blending of two distinct sets of
discourses (Sigley, 2006). The first set consists of political, economic and cultural systems
with typical Chinese characteristics such as the state-planning policy. The second set is
composed of those discourses that play a significant role in the process of globalisation such
as neoliberal policies. These two sets of discourses co-exist in contemporary China and exert
influence on the reform of China‘s higher education system. They blend with each other and
form the mode of governance that the Chinese government uses to manage the process of
higher education reform. In order to uncouple these two sets of discourses, and particularly to
disassemble the forms of knowledge and practices that shape the Chinese art of governance,
Chapter Five and Chapter Six have employed the analytical framework of governmentality to
undertake a critical analysis of higher education policy at the national level in China from
286
1992 to 2010. Summaries of the findings from the analysis in Chapter Five and Chapter Six
are provided in Figure 5.5 and Figure 6.2.
Chapter Five identified five dominant themes of political rationality that underpin
China‘s higher education policies. These themes are summarised in the following paragraphs.
The first theme is concerned with the international context. International competition
of national power—a contemporary political concept in China which is used to measure the
general power of a nation-state, including military, political, economic, and cultural factors—
became more intense with the deepening of globalisation. Six of the seven higher education
policy documents analysed in Section 5.3.1 state the problem that China is at an uncertain
position in the volatile global context. In order to gain a secure position, China‘s higher
education sector needed to reform in order to produce information, technologies and human
capital considered necessary for socio-economic development.
The second theme relates to China‘s national context. The problem of a large
population is one of the more important social conditions of China. This situation explains
the policy strategy of developing human capital to transform the burden of the population into
the advantage of high quality human resources. In this regard, the means of this
transformation was the reform of the higher education system, which was responsible for
producing specialised and talented human resources from students. For example, the policy
strategy in the 2003-2007 Action Plan for Invigorating Education (Ministry of Education,
2004) aimed to constitute the subjectivity of undergraduates with comprehensive English
language proficiency. This kind of educational subject was expected to be able to read
original English research literature in order to enhance their capacity for learning.
Third, China‘s higher education reform is also situated in the context of the
knowledge economy. The Programme of Educational Revitalization for the Twenty-first
Century (Ministry of Education, 1998b) is the first milestone policy document that introduced
the theme of a knowledge economy. This document notes that the lack of creative human
resources and innovative technologies was a major problem that China was facing. Reform of
the higher education sector is the countermeasure for addressing this problem. Such reforms
can develop creative human resources and thereby generate innovative technologies that are
crucial to China‘s modernisation process.
The fourth theme is linked to the introduction of the socialist market economy, which
is the Chinese government‘s response to national needs and international pressures. Since the
287
Outline of China’s Education Reform and Development (Chinese Communist Party and State
Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993), China‘s higher education policy has
perceived the problem that the planned economy has limited China‘s economic development.
In this regard, a socialist market economy was introduced to liberate and promote economic
development. Accordingly, China‘s higher education sector is required to reform in order to
align with social and economic development.
The final theme is related to a particular Chinese value, namely, a xiaokang society.
As noted in Chapter Five, the concept of a xiaokang society is a feature of Chinese culture,
which refers to a moderately prosperous society. It is also a social idea embodying the pursuit
for a happy and relatively prosperous life (Li, 2003). However, China is still in its early stage
of socialist modernisation, the main feature of which is the underdeveloped economy. In view
of this situation, reform of the higher education system can bring about economic prosperity,
balanced and sustainable development, as well as a harmonious society that is required for
the xiaokang society.
These ideas inform political authorities of the possible utilisation of technologies to
govern the reform process. These governing technologies, as examined in Section 6.2, are
constructed into two categories according to two different levels of Chinese authorities. The
first category is the technology of governing at a distance, which is employed by the Chinese
government. The second category is the centralised leadership of the Chinese Communist
Party in university management.
The use of the technology of governing at a distance is a neoliberal form of
governance, requiring a limited role of government in administering social matters that is
focused on constructing autonomous, self-governing and enterprising subjects (Miller and
Rose, 2008). At this point in time, the Chinese government has adopted indirect macro-
regulatory means to manage China‘s higher education reform. Macro-administration, macro-
control or macro-regulation is a measure the Chinese government employs to regulate the
operation of the market economy by indirect means such as policies, laws and taxation. The
purpose is to keep commodity prices steady, curtail inflation, and maintain a steady
development of economy. One of the major means of macro-regulation is the appropriation of
funds, as discussed in Section 5.3.2. Although the government has attempted to increase
public expenditure on higher education, the level is still too low in view of the large
population that needs to be educated. The proportion of fiscal educational expenditure to
GDP did not exceed 3% prior to 2006 (Liang and Zhang, 2010; Zen and Zen, 2009). The lack
288
of public funding has become the driving force for Chinese universities to seek other sources
for self-development. This constitutes the first aspect of the policy strategy of enhancing
university autonomy. In Section 6.2.2, the researcher showed that charging tuition fees,
engaging teaching and research activities with industries, attracting private donations, and
using bank loans are four major measures that universities use to obtain funds.
In addition to raising funds independently, as shown in Section 6.2.2, there are four
other noteworthy aspects with regard to the enhancement of university autonomy. First,
universities in contemporary China have a desire to enhance their competitiveness and
prestige. For example, they endeavour to reach international standards of teaching quality,
scientific research and management. They strive to become known as ―Project 211‖ and
―Project 985‖ universities, which are the most prestigious universities in China. Second,
Chinese universities become autonomous entities that adopt market mechanisms to enhance
the quality of services for students. For example, enrolled students and graduates are
constituted as autonomous and enterprising subjects who are expected to meet the demands
of job markets. Third, Chinese universities apply information technologies to improve their
campus infrastructure. Fourth, the university uses moral education to govern the behaviours
of teachers and students. Students are cultivated as self-governing and self-reliant individuals,
while teachers are expected to be devoted subjects, whose morality is evaluated by the
university assessment system as an important indicator of their contractual employment.
Chapter Six has argued that these five aspects related to the strategy of enhancing university
autonomy are constituents of the Chinese government‘s technologies of governing at a
distance. Under this strategy, universities in contemporary China are constituted as
enterprises that have a strong desire to develop themselves independently of the state.
Although the Chinese government has adopted the policy strategy of devolution and
universities have more autonomy, the Chinese Communist Party still controls university
management. As noted in Section 5.3.2, the central leadership of the CCP is reflected in the
discourse of ―responsibility taken by a university president under the leadership of the CCP
Committee‖. Within this discourse, the president is in charge of administrative works such as
teaching, research and the employment of teachers. As for the setup of internal organisations
such as teaching, scientific research and administrative organisations, the president‘s role is
to draft plans and recommend personnel such as the vice president. It is the university-level
CCP Committee that can decide the establishment of internal organisations and the selection
of administrative personnel. Therefore, the university-level CCP Committee centrally
289
controls the operation of a university. Another aspect that demonstrates centralised leadership
of the CCP is moral education. As outlined in Section 6.2.2.5, moral education is used by
political authorities as a discursive and technological apparatus to govern the behaviours of
university teachers and students. In contrast to moral education that aims to constitute free,
self-governing and entrepreneurial subjects, the moral education here is a socialist one. That
is, it consists in the ideological inscription of socialist values on the minds of university
students, teachers and administrative staff. As a result, these subjects of socialist moral
education are constituted as obedient and loyal to the socialist educational cause and the
Chinese Communist Party.
This subsection has summarised the findings from Chapter Five and Chapter Six,
which provided a critical analysis of China‘s higher education policy through the analytical
lens of governmentality. In specific terms, it has revealed the elements that constitute the
forms of governance underlying China‘s higher education reform in the political, economic
and cultural context of China and in the broader context of globalisation. That is, it has
investigated the discourses and practices used by political authorities in China to manage the
reform process. Particular social and educational subjects and spaces have also been
examined as effects of governing practices. Chapter Seven provided a further analysis of the
response of a particular university to national higher education policy.
8.5 Local practices: The case of Pioneering University
Policy analysis requires examination not only of the production of texts but also the process
of implementation which has certain outcomes in local sites (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010; Taylor
et al., 1997). Hence, a critical policy analysis needs to examine local sites to see how policies
are implemented. To this end, a case study was conducted as reported on in Chapter Seven in
order to facilitate the understanding of higher education reform in contemporary China. A
situated method of narration has been used to bring to light what kinds of educational
subjects and spaces were constructed through the response of Pioneering University to
national higher education policies and other international influences. Chapter Seven has
argued that, by constituting particular subjects and spaces, Pioneering University is
positioning itself, and is being positioned, in changing national and international contexts. In
this respect, the operational framework of Pioneering University, as outlined in Table 4.2 of
Chapter Four, has been scrutinised so as to analyse Pioneering University‘s discursive and
290
material practices. Based on Table 7.5 in Chapter Seven, the main findings are recapitulated
in the following paragraphs.
Chapter Seven has argued that Pioneering University has extended its traditional
functions of teaching and research to that which included enterprise behaviours. For example,
spaces and subjects that were traditionally excluded from the university are now present on
Pioneering University‘s campus. These spaces and subjects are characterised by the value of
enterprise. For instance, Pioneering University Assets Management Co. Ltd, as noted in
Section 7.8.2, is an enterprise that is owned solely by Pioneering University. Its purpose is to
help the university to earn income from the commercialisation of its scientific research
achievements. With the application of information technologies, Pioneering University
students and faculty extend their traditional subject position of students and staff to include
the new subject position of consumers. As shown in Section 7.9.2, Pioneering University
students and staff use a campus E-card not only to show their identity, gain access to campus
buildings, and borrow books from the library, but also use it as an electronic wallet to buy
public transportation services, dine in campus refectories, and purchase goods in campus
supermarkets. Moreover, with the installation of the Department of Finance and the
Department of Auditing, as noted in Section 7.3.2, Pioneering University has constructed
itself as an enterprise that engages in calculative practices to make profit. These spaces are
new features because they did not belong to traditional Chinese universities.
Similarly, as observed in Sections 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, and 7.7, the forces of enterprise
permeate the university‘s teaching and research units. Before 2008, there were state-funded
postgraduates in Pioneering University, but they all are now self-funded students who pay
tuition fees to receive educational services. Such postgraduate students are constituted as
enterprising subjects who have a strong desire to win scholarships by improving their
performance in academic research. Before 2003, Pioneering University teaching and
academic staff were able to hold tenured employment positions, but this is now replaced by a
contractual employment system. Accordingly, teachers and academic staff become
enterprising subjects who endeavour to be professionals with high teaching and academic
performances in order to retain their positions in the contractual employment system.
Consequently, the activities conducted by subjects and spaces in traditional teaching and
research units have been transformed into more enterprising practices.
In contrast to those subjects who become entrepreneurial for their own benefit, other
ethical subjects were identified in Chapter Seven. They are constituted by Pioneering
291
University‘s education programmes for the benefit of Chinese society. These ethical subjects
are expected to be patriotic citizens who devote themselves to building a powerful and
prosperous country. They are also expected to be healthy and strong citizens who are able to
shoulder the responsibility of building and defending the nation.
Another major finding from Chapter Seven was the constitution of obedient subjects
in the university‘s operational activities. For example, in both the undergraduate and
postgraduate programmes, as outlined in Section 7.4.1 and Section 7.4.2 respectively,
socialist courses such as Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong Thoughts are now specifically
designed to cultivate political and ideological awareness of students. In this way, Pioneering
University students are constituted as obedient subjects who are loyal to the socialist cause
and the Chinese Communist Party. Another example is concerned with the position of the
university president. As indicated in Section 7.3.1, within the administrative discursive space
of Pioneering University, the president manages and administers the institution under the
leadership of Pioneering University CCP Committee. In other words, Pioneering University
CCP Committee employs an authoritarian style of governance to tightly control university
management. As a result, the university president is constituted as the subject who conforms
to the central leadership of the CCP.
Problems of Pioneering University‘s operational framework have also been identified.
For example, although the university and its staff have more autonomy to manage and
conduct teaching and research activities, their autonomy is regulated and restricted by the
tight control of the university-level CCP Committee and the accountability mechanism.
Moreover, the forms of student enrolment—entrance examinations and special-skill tests in
terms of athletics, arts and foreign languages—are not diversified enough to enrol those with
the ability to think creatively, critically and independently. Examination results should not be
the single criterion for enrolling prospective students, as the capacity for achieving excellent
examination results does not represent the potential ability of a student (Yang, 2011). Hence,
despite changes to enrolment procedures, the dominance of the traditional emphasis on
examinations limits the development of human capital in the interest of Pioneering University,
local communities and the whole nation. In addition, although prospective postgraduate
students are able to pass preliminary examinations for entrance into graduate schools, they
may not have the chance of accessing postgraduate education if they fail the re-examination,
in which the political backgrounds of examinees‘ family members are inspected.
292
This section has recapitulated Chapter Seven‘s findings with reference to the forms of
subjects and spaces that were constructed through implementation of educational policy at
Pioneering University. As with global trends in university reforms, enterprise spaces and
entrepreneurial subjects have emerged in Pioneering University. The case study showed how
Pioneering University has positioned itself as an enterprise that uses reasoning and strategies
to enhance its institutional competitiveness and prestige. Moreover, Chapter Seven identified
authoritarian forms of management, the operation of which is aimed at the constitution of
obedient subjects. According to the findings of Chapter Five, Chapter Six and Chapter Seven,
the next section discusses the significance and implications of this study.
8.6 Significance and implications
The study makes a contribution to the research literature by explicating the emergence of the
enterprise university in the context of modern China based on the findings outlined earlier.
The concept of the enterprise university in China has features common with those enterprise
universities that have emerged internationally. These features are the need to be economically
competitive and to seek academic prestige (Marginson and Considine, 2000). According to
the analysis of China‘s higher education policy in Chapter Five and Chapter Six, universities
there are eager to raise funds independently in order to enhance their capacity for self-
development. Charging tuition fees, engaging teaching and research activities with industries,
attracting private donations, and using bank loans are the four major means used to achieve
this end. Meanwhile, China‘s higher education policies require students to be competitive and
enterprising in an economic sense. For example, students are encouraged to start their own
enterprises which rely on the commercialisation of the innovative technologies developed by
university science parks (Ministry of Education, 1998b).
Under higher education policy at the national level, which have been analysed in
Chapter Five and Chapter Six, Chinese universities are urged to strive for academic prestige.
They actively engage in academic research activities. Physical spaces such as national
libraries and science parks are constructed to facilitate these activities. Within the systems of
assessment and contractual employment, academic staff are held accountable for their
performances in teaching and research. As a result, although Chinese universities are keen on
enhancing their prestige with strong academic cultures, they are subjected to the distracting
mechanisms of competition and accountability.
293
The case-study university examined in Chapter Seven also has features that are typical
of an enterprise university. Pioneering University has established an office for future
development and planning, which constitutes itself as an enterprise using techniques such as
benchmarking to achieve effective practices. Other enterprising spaces include a university-
invested asset company, a university science park, a property company, and hotels. The
Department of Finance and the Department of Auditing also assist the university in
functioning like a private corporation that strives for non-public financial resources.
Pioneering University has national libraries for natural science and national research bases in
humanities and social sciences, which are used to enhance its competitiveness and
international profile in academic research.
Hence, with the reforms of China‘s higher education sector that have taken place
since 1992, Chinese universities at national and local levels have been positioned, and are
positioning themselves, as enterprise universities. However, the emergence of the enterprise
university in China is embedded within a particular Chinese political, economic and cultural
context. This is reflected educationally in two ways as explained below.
One significant way that Chinese characteristics are reflected in higher education is
that China‘s socialist modernisation or rejuvenation is still in its early stage. Given that the
most distinctive national reality of China is its large population, the aim of building a
xiaokang, or moderately prosperous society, for the whole population of China is challenging.
Although China‘s GDP became the second largest in the world in 2010, per capita GDP is
still low, namely, ninety-fifth in global ranking. The proportion of China‘s fiscal expenditure
on education to GDP was at a lower level compared with developed countries. For example,
it did not exceed 3% before the year 2006 (Liang and Zhang, 2010; Zen and Zen, 2009). Thus,
in China, the pressure on universities to seek sources other than public funding is prompted
by the low level of state investment on education. This contrasts with the situation of
universities in other nations where cutbacks in state funding drive universities to become
more enterprising. Therefore, the emergence of the enterprise university in China is
characterised by limitations from the low level of public education expenditure due to the
relatively underdeveloped national economy.
Another characteristic in the emergence of the enterprise university specific to the
Chinese context is the role played by authoritarian modes of governance. First, although
political authorities in China employ market mechanisms to reform the higher education
sector, central planning is still an important discourse and technique in this process. Of the
294
seven milestone higher education policies, four use the word of jihua—direct socialist
planning since the 1950s—in the titles. The discourse of jihua indicates an authoritarian style
of governance (Sigley, 2006). Second, the tight control of the Chinese Communist Party also
reveals the authoritarian form of governance. The university-level CCP Committee plays an
overarching role in university management. It makes overall plans and policies, and controls
the establishment of internal university organisations as well as the appointment and
dismissal of administrative personnel. Language such as ―be under the leadership of‖,
―direct‖, and ―master‖ demonstrates the authoritarian leadership of the CCP. Furthermore,
socialist moral education is an authoritarian discourse and technique. It focuses on
inculcating the students with the socialist ideas and values of Marxism, Leninism and the
central leadership of the CCP. Accordingly, the efficacy of socialist moral education is
evident in the constitution of socialist subjects who are obedient and loyal to the CCP and the
socialist cause.
In addition to identifying characteristics specific to the enterprise university in China,
another reason that it makes a contribution is because of its application of the
governmentality framework to a social issue in China. As noted in Chapter Three,
governmentality is a research approach that is used to examine the historical present in
Western society. There are some studies that apply the analytical framework of
governmentality to non-Western contexts, but the number is limited. This study has applied
this theoretical framework in a Chinese context, through which political discourses and
practices have been revealed in the reform of China‘s higher education. This suggests that
governmentality can successfully be applied to examine Chinese issues and problems, even
though it is a non-Western and non-liberal political context.
The main difference between the Chinese arts of educational government and Western
ones is that political authorities in China use both neoliberal and authoritarian techniques and
tactics. A hybrid mode of governance has been identified from this analysis of the emergence
of the enterprise university in China. Neoliberal styles of governance, as an external factor,
have been introduced by the Chinese government to reform the higher education sector.
Under the influence of neoliberal discourses and mechanisms, universities in contemporary
China are constructed as enterprises that are managed in a corporate style in order to enhance
their economic competitiveness and academic prestige. Nevertheless, the whole reform
process of China‘s higher education sector remains under the central leadership of the
Chinese Communist Party. The CCP adopts authoritarian means such as planning, direct
295
leadership and socialist moral education—typical elements of a socialist governing
mentality—to control the reforms. The significance of this authoritarian style of governance
consists in the constitution of docile and obedient subjects, which is different from that of
free, autonomous and enterprising subjects in neoliberal governing mentalities. Therefore,
this study has shown that a tension emerges in this new university system because Chinese
students are required discursively to be obedient socialist subjects adhering to the political
mandates of a communist regime. Yet, they are also expected to think and conduct
themselves within neoliberal forms of governance as creative and enterprising subjects who
are able to navigate change and generate innovation.
8.7 Limitations of the study
The study parameters and outcomes are limited in two ways. The first limitation concerns the
nature of the data collected. As noted previously, the data are primarily official documents
issued by China‘s Central Government, the Ministry of Education, and Pioneering University
which is directly affiliated with the Ministry of Education. These documents represent
government interests through discourses for the purpose of control and administration.
According to Gilles (2008), government authorities add political spin in official reports in
order to impose their political views and to solicit public support. In this way, the reports
reflect favourably on the reforms controlled by the government while providing little negative
information. This hinders a critical reading and examination of the policy documents.
Because of this, the study adopts Foucault‘s idea of critique and his methodology of
genealogy to conduct a critical analysis in order to reveal how these policy discourses work
to transform the conduct of individuals in order to reform China‘s higher education.
The second limitation is the method adopted for the study. Data for the case study
were collected from the official websites of Pioneering University. They are in the form of
descriptions of university organisations, projects and programmes, prospectuses for
enrolment programmes, and policy documents. No questionnaire surveys, interviews, or field
observations were conducted. In this respect, the methodology of genealogy and the approach
of critical policy analysis within the conceptual framework of governmentality were
employed by the study, which aligns with the analysis of policy documents. This limitation
also prompts suggestions for further studies, as will be discussed in the next section.
296
8.8 Suggestions for further research
The type of case adopted by the present study is instrumental because it sought to gain an in-
depth understanding of national higher education policies. One case-study site was chosen.
However, a single case investigates only one enterprise university in one particular historical
and geographical location. Different locations may have different manifestations of enterprise
universities. Accordingly, it is suggested that collective case studies (Stake, 2000) be
developed by other researchers to gain a better understanding of the enterprise university in
China. The joint efforts of collective case studies can help to uncouple the conditions for the
emergence of the enterprise university in a more detailed manner.
Furthermore, I would like to suggest that investigation of the private higher education
sector would be an important source for other case studies. As noted in the historical review
of China‘s higher education in Chapter Two, non-government higher education institutions
have lower status than government funded ones. The main disadvantage of non-government
institutions is the lack of public funding (Zha, 2006). Consequently, they are eager to seek
other sources of funding in order to maintain and promote their development. More distinct
features of enterprise might be identified from within the private sector. Accordingly, case
studies need to include the private sector of China‘s higher education. Comparisons could
also be made between the public and private sectors so as to acquire a better knowledge about
the enterprise university in China.
This study has investigated the emergence of the enterprise university at three levels,
namely, global, national and local. Review of the global level set a broad context of
international trends in university restructuring for the analysis at national and local levels.
The national level examined the Chinese government‘s policy response to global pressures
and national needs in the higher education sector. Analysis at the local level comprises a
situated case study of Pioneering University‘s response to government policies. As indicated
in the limitations of this study, no questionnaire surveys, interviews or field observations
have been conducted. Nonetheless, surveys, interviews or field observations would help to
provide a more deeply embedded study. That is, they would help to conduct a deeper
investigation of the practices of individuals. For example, through face-to-face interviews,
people‘s thinking, desire and practices of governing their selves would be better understood.
Hence, a more deeply embedded study is suggested to examine the practices of the self.
297
8.9 Concluding remarks
Thought does exist, both beyond and underneath systems and edifices of
discourse. It is something that is often hidden but always drives everyday
behaviours. There is always a little thought occurring even in the most stupid
institutions; there is always thought even in silent habits.
Criticism consists in uncovering that thought and trying to change it: showing
that things are not as obvious as people believe, making it so that what is taken
for granted is no longer taken for granted. To practise criticism is to make harder
those acts which are now too easy... [A]s soon as people begin to no longer be
able to think things the way they have been thinking them, transformation
becomes at the same time very urgent, very difficult and entirely possible.
(Foucault, 2000b, p. 456)
As shown at the beginning of this chapter, before commencement of my doctoral
study in Australia, I thought of myself as a traditional student in China‘s higher education
system. I received and sought knowledge through study in universities. I thought that I
needed to study hard to climb the ladder of success (Hayhoe, 1996). This is consistent with
the traditional Chinese value that the higher level of education qualification you have, the
more promising is your future career. I also thought of myself as a patriotic Chinese citizen
who was willing to be educated in order to better devote myself to development of the
country. These thoughts were taken for granted in my belief system, and drove my everyday
behaviour and conduct.
After I chose governmentality studies as a conceptual framework and genealogy as
the methodology for inquiry, I began to interrogate my own thoughts and behaviours. I have
learned that these thoughts and conduct are the result of practices of the self and practices of
government. I realise that I am a self-governing individual who rationalises my actions to
achieve certain aims. Correspondingly, I have placed myself in multiple and changing subject
positions such as learner, entrepreneur and responsible citizen. Furthermore, I am aware that I
am an object of practices emerging from the arts of governing China‘s higher education
reform. These governmental practices have acted on my desire to acquire knowledge and to
strive for a promising future, as well as on my will to be an ethical citizen. As a result, I have
taken on the dispositions of a life-long learner, an entrepreneurial person, and an ethical
citizen devoted to China‘s socialist modernisation.
Interrogation of the self is also a self-governing practice that has shaped my subject
position as a researcher. Enlightened from the theoretical and methodological framework that
provided another way of interpreting the world and my place in it, I shifted my research focus
298
from the interrogation of my self to the significant phenomenon of higher education reform in
contemporary China. Therefore, I have undertaken a critical analysis of China‘s higher
education policies during the period 1992 to 2010. The purpose was to uncover the discursive
and material practices that underpinned these reforms. In specific terms, the study aimed to
examine what kinds of subjects and spaces were constituted by these discourses and practices.
In this way, conventional thoughts about the particular phenomenon—China‘s higher
education reform—have been denaturalised. That is, this phenomenon is not as obvious as
people might believe. Thus, it creates the conditions of possibility for people to think
critically about higher education reform in China. This is the purpose of research (Griffiths,
1998). With the deepening of China‘s higher education reform, I will continue to conduct the
practices of critique, both as a researcher and an ethical citizen of China.
299
REFERENCES
Alexander, R. (2011). Evidence, rhetoric and collateral damage: The problematic pursuit of
―world class‖ standards. Cambridge Journal of Education, 41(3), 265-286.
Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.
Appadurai, A. (2001). Grassroots globalisation and the research imagination. In A. Appadurai
(Ed.), Globalization. Durham: Duke University Press.
Appadurai, A. (2002). Deep democracy: Urban governmentality and the horizon of politics.
Public Culture, 14(1), 21-47.
Ball, S. (1994). Education reform: A critical and post-structural approach. Buckingham:
Open University Press.
Barry, A., Osborne, T., and Rose, N. (1996). Foucault and political reason: Liberalism,
neoliberalism and rationalities of government. London: UCL Press.
Becker, G. S. (1964). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis, with special
reference to education. New York: Columbia University Press.
Bevir, M. (2008). What is genealogy? Journal of the Philosophy of History, 2(3), 263-275.
Bevir, M. (2010). Rethinking governmentality: Towards genealogies of governance.
European Journal of Social Theory, 13(4), 423-441.
Bhattacharya, U. (2011). The ―West‖ in literacy. Berkeley Review of Education, 2(2), 179-
198.
Brandenburg, U., and Zhu, J. (2007). Higher education in China in the light of massification
and demographic change: Lessons to be learned for Germany [Electronic Version],
from http://www.che.de/downloads/Higher_Education_in_China_AP97.pdf
Bührmann, A. D. (2005). The emerging of the entrepreneurial self and its current hegemony:
Some basic reflections on how to analyze the formation and transformation of modern
forms of subjectivity. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 6(1), 1-21.
Burchell, G., Gordon, C., and Miller, P. (1991). The Foucault effect: Studies in
governmentality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Castells, M. (1996). The rise of the network society. Oxford: Blackwell.
Castoriadis, C. (1987). The imaginary institution of society (K. Blamey, Trans.). Cambridge:
MIT Press.
Chan, D., and Lo, W. (2008). University restructuring in East Asia: Trends, challenges and
prospects. Policy Futures in Education, 6(5), 641-652.
300
Chen, C. M. (2011). Exploring a further promotion of the socialisation of university logistical
services. Studies in University Logistics, (1), 15-17.
Chen, D. Y. (2002). The amalgamation of Chinese higher education institutions [Electronic
Version]. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 10, from
http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n20.html
Chen, H. Y., and Boore, J. R. P. (2009). Translation and back-translation in qualitative
nursing research: Methodological review. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 19(1/2), 234-
239.
Cheng, L., and Xu, N. (2011). The complexity of Chinese pedagogic discourse. Journal of
Curriculum Studies, 43(5), 606-614.
Cheng, S. H. (2006). A historical review of the reforms of China‘s educational system. In H.
L. Gu (Ed.), Tackling key problems in the reforms of educational system (pp. 1-32).
Beijing: China's Water Conservancy and Hydropower Press.
Chinese Communist Party. (1985). Decision on the Reform of China’s Educational Structure.
Retrieved November 24, 2008, from
http://www.moe.gov.cn/edoas/website18/18/info3318.htm
Chinese Communist Party. (1998). Higher Education Law of the People’s Republic of China.
Retrieved May 12, 2009, from http://www.moe.gov.cn/
Chinese Communist Party. (2002). Law of the Promotion of Non-government Funded
Education. Retrieved May 12, 2009, from http://www.moe.gov.cn/
Chinese Communist Party, and State Council of the People‘s Republic of China. (1993).
Outline of China’s Education Reform and Development. Retrieved November 24,
2008, from http://www.moe.gov.cn/edoas/website18/34/info3334.htm
Ciccarelli, R. (2008). Reframing political freedom in the analytics of governmentality. Law
Critique, 19, 307-327.
Clark, B. (1998). Creating entrepreneurial universities: Organisational pathways of
transformation. Oxford: Pergamon.
Clark, P. (2007). The commercialisation of university research and economic productivity.
Higher Education Management and Policy, 19(1), 1-12.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., and Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education. London:
Routledge.
Deacon, B. (2007). Global social policy and governance. London: Sage.
Dean, M. (1999). Governmentality: Power and rule in modern society. London: Sage.
Dean, M. (2002). Liberal government and authoritarianism. Economy and Society, 31(1), 37-
61.
301
Dean, M. (2007). Governing societies: Political perspectives on domestic and international
rule. Berkshire: Open University Press.
Deng, X. P. (1993). Selected works of Deng Xiaoping (Vol. 3). Beijing: People‘s Publishing
House.
Development of the national university science parks in 2006. (2007, September 3). China’s
High-Tech Guide. Retrieved April 12, 2009, from
http://www.tt91.com/overseas/wenzhang_detail.asp?ID=127986&sPage=1
Du, W. J. (2008, December 11). The employment rate of China‘s university graduates is less
than 70% in 2008. Xinmin Net. Retrieved April 13, 2009, from
http://edu.hinews.cn/page.php?xuh=9172
Eco, U. (2004). Mouse or rat? Translation as negotiation. London: Phoenix.
Edelman, M. (1985). The symbolic uses of politics. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Edelman, M. (1988). Constructing the political spectacle. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
Elliott, J. (2005). Using narrative in social research: Qualitative and quantitative approaches.
London: Sage.
Ernst, D., and Hart, D. M. (2008). Governing the global knowledge economy: Mind the gap!
East-West Center Working Papers, Economics Series, (93), 1-41.
Etzkowitz, H. (2002). MIT and the rise of entrepreneurial science. London: Routledge.
Etzkowitz, H. (2003). Innovation in innovation: The Triple Helix of university-industry-
government relations. Social Science Information, 42(3), 293-337.
Etzkowitz, H. (2008). The Triple Helix: University-industry-government innovation in action.
New York: Routledge.
Etzkowitz, H., and Zhou, C. (2007). Regional innovation initiator: The entrepreneurial
university in various triple helix models. Paper presented at the Singapore Triple
Helix Ⅵ Conference.
Fairclough, N. (2000). New labour, new language? London: Routledge.
Feng, X. D. (2005). The structure of higher education: Construction in the process of gaming.
Journal of Higher Education, 26(5), 1-5.
Fimyar, O. (2008). Using governmentality as a conceptual tool in education policy research.
Educate, March, 3-18.
Foucault, M. (1977). Nietzsche, genealogy, history. In D. F. Bouchard (Ed.), Language,
counter-memory, practice: Selected essays and interviews (pp. 139-164). Ithaca:
Cornell University Press.
Foucault, M. (1982). The subject and power. Critical Inquiry, 8(4), 777-795.
302
Foucault, M. (1988). Practicing criticism (A. Sheridan, Trans.). In L. D. Kritzman (Ed.),
Politics, philosophy, culture: Interviews and other writings, 1977-1984 (pp. 152-158).
New York: Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1997a). On the genealogy of ethics: An overview of work in progress (R.
Hurley, Trans.). In P. Rabinow (Ed.), Ethics: Subjectivity and truth (pp. 253-280).
New York: The New Press.
Foucault, M. (1997b). Subjectivity and truth (R. Hurley, Trans.). In P. Rabinow (Ed.), Ethics:
Subjectivity and truth (pp. 87-92). New York: The New Press.
Foucault, M. (1997c). Technologies of the self (R. Hurley, Trans.). In P. Rabinow (Ed.),
Ethics: Subjectivity and truth (pp. 223-251). New York: The New Press.
Foucault, M. (2000a). Governmentality (R. Hurley, Trans.). In J. D. Faubion (Ed.), Power (pp.
201-222). New York: The New Press.
Foucault, M. (2000b). So is it important to think? (R. Hurley, Trans.). In J. D. Faubion (Ed.),
Power (pp. 454-458). New York: The New Press.
Foucault, M. (2000c). Space, knowledge, and power (R. Hurley, Trans.). In J. D. Faubion
(Ed.), Power (pp. 349-364). New York: The New Press.
Foucault, M. (2008). The birth of biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de France 1978-1979.
Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Frankenberg, R. (2000). White women, race matters: The social construction of whiteness. In
J. S. L. Back (Ed.), Theories of race and racism (pp. 447-461). London: Routledge.
Gao, Y. B. (2004, March 15). The brain drain of central and western higher education
institutions: A problem cannot be neglected. China’s Education. Retrieved April 12,
2009, from http://news.china-b.com/jyxw/20090219/203945_1.html
Gaonkar, D. P. (2002). Toward new imaginaries: An introduction. Public Culture, 14(1), 1-
19.
Gewirtz, S., Dickson, M., and Power, S. (2004). Unravelling a ―spun‖ policy: A case study of
the constitutive role of ―spin‖ in the education policy process. Journal of Education
Policy, 22(6), 695-708.
Giddens, A. (1990). The consequences of modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Gillies, D. (2008). Developing governmentality: Conduct3 and education policy. Journal of
Education Policy, 23(4), 415-427.
Gordon, D. (1988). The global economy: New edifice or crumbling foundations? New Left
Review, 168, 24-64.
Griffiths, M. (1998). Educational research for social justice: Getting off the fence.
Buckingham: Open University Press.
303
Gu, Q. (2008, December 11). Reflections on the acceleration of the new path of
industrialisation in China. China Electronic Governance. Retrieved April 15, 2011,
from
http://www.chinaegov.org/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/ChinaEgovForum/pjysd/200
812/4555.htm
Guo, B. W. (2007). The history of the development of China’s educational system. Fuzhou:
Fujian Education Press.
Guo, C. J. (2009, September 1). Three factors fettering China‘s education. China Youth.
Retrieved April 25, 2011, from http://zqb.cyol.com/node/2009-09/01/zgqnb.htm
Guo, Q. (2007, January 16). Survey: Hike in university tuition fees. China Daily. Retrieved
October 28, 2009, from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-
01/16/content_784859.htm
Harvey, D. (1989). The condition of post-modernity. Oxford: Blackwell.
Harvey, D. (2006). Neo-liberalism as creative destruction. Swedish Society for Anthropology
and Geography, 88 B(2), 145-158.
Hawkins, J. N. (2008). Higher education transformation: Some trends in California and Asia.
Policy Futures in Education, 6(5), 532-544.
Hay, S., and Kapitzke, C. (2009). ―Smart state‖ for a knowledge economy: Reconstituting
creativity through student subjectivity. British Journal of Sociology of Education,
30(2), 151-164.
Hayhoe, R. (1996). China’s universities, 1985-1995: A century of cultural conflict. New
York: Garland Publishing.
He, J. H. (2008, January 20). Analysis of the current situation of private higher education
institutions in China. China’s Finance. Retrieved April 11, 2009, from
http://www.cce21.com/news/edu/2008/01/20/111506.htm
He, J. K., and Mi, J. K. (2007). Exploration on the viability of the structure of China‘s higher
education. Journal of Inner Mongolia Normal University (Educational Science
Edition), 20(12), 1-3.
Held, D., and McGrew, A. (2005). The great globalization debate: An introduction. In D.
Held and A. McGrew (Eds.), The global transformations reader: An introduction to
the globalization debate (pp. 1-50). Cambridge: Polity.
Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldblatt, D., and Perraton, J. (1999). Introduction. In D. Held, A.
McGrew, D. Goldblatt and J. Perraton (Eds.), Global transformations: Politics,
economics and culture. Oxford: Polity.
Henry, M. (2008). Working with/against globalization in education. Journal of Education
Policy, 14(1), 85-97.
Henry, M., Lingard, B., Rizvi, F., and Taylor, S. (2001). The OECD, globalisation and
education policy. Oxford: IAU Press.
304
Hindess, B. (2001). The liberal government of unfreedom. Alternatives: Global, Local,
Political, 26(2), 93-111.
Hirst, P. (1997). The global economy: Myths and realities. International Affairs, 73(7), 409-
425.
Ho, C.-Y. (2006). China’s higher education excellence in the context of globalization: The
world-class university. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, University of Texas at Austin.
Hoffman, L. (2006). Autonomous choices and patriotic professionalism: On governmentality
in late-socialist China. Economy and Society, 35(4), 550-570.
Hoogvelt, A. (1997). Globalisation and the postcolonial world: The new political economy of
development. London: Macmillan.
Hu, Q. L. (2008). Before and after the issue of Decision on the Reform of China‘s
Educational Structure. Yanhuang Chunqiu. Retrieved May 18, 2010, from
http://www.yhcqw.com/html/tg/2008/126/KH14.html
Huxley, M. (2006). Spatial rationalities: Order, environment, evolution and government.
Social and Cultural Geography, 7(5), 771-787.
Jeffreys, E., and Sigley, G. (2009). Governmentality, governance and China. In E. Jeffreys
(Ed.), China's governmentalities: Governing change, changing government (pp. 1-23).
Abingdon: Routledge.
Ji, Y., and Zhu, L. M. (2006). A comparison of Chinese ancient academies and European
medieval universities. Journal of Liaoning Educational Administration Institute, 26(9),
43-45.
Jiang, Z. M. (2002, November 9). Building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round
way and starting a new phase of the socialist cause with Chinese characteristics. The
People’s Daily. Retrieved June 6, 2011, from
http://www.people.com.cn/GB/paper39/7683/733922.html
Jin, C. B. (2010). Nature of a socialist harmonious society. Theory Research, 36, 78-79.
Karlsen, G. (2000). Decentralised centralism: Framework for a better understanding of
governance in the field of education. Journal of Education Policy, 15(5), 525-538.
Kipnis, A. B. (2008). Audit cultures: Neoliberal governmentality, socialist legacy, or
technologies of governing? American Ethnologist, 35(2), 275-289.
Lao, K. S. (Ed.). (2009). The reform of China’s education during the last 30 years: Policy
and law volume. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Publishing Group.
Larner, W. (2000). Neo-liberalism: Policy, ideology, governmentality. Studies in Political
Economy, 63, 5-25.
Larner, W., and Le Heron, R. (2002). The spaces and subjects of a globalising economy: A
situated exploration of method. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 20,
753-774.
305
Larner, W., and Le Heron, R. (2005). Neo-liberalizing spaces and subjectivities: Reinventing
New Zealand universities. Organization, 12(6), 843-862.
Larner, W., and Walters, W. (2004a). Global governmentality: Governing international
spaces (Introduction). In W. Larner and W. Walters (Eds.), Global governmentality:
Governing international spaces (pp. 1-20). London: Routledge.
Larner, W., and Walters, W. (2004b). Globalization as governmentality. Alternatives, 29,
495-514.
Latour, B. (1987). Science in action. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Lei, R. J. (2005). The construction of a moderately prosperous society is a new development
of the socialist theory with Chinese characteristics. Academic Forum, (3), 48-51.
Li, F. L., and Morgan, W. J. (2011). Private higher education in China: Problems and
possibilities. In W. J. Morgan and B. Wu (Eds.), Higher education reform in China:
Beyond the expansion (pp. 66-78). New York: Routledge.
Li, H. (2008). Research on the education of moral self-discipline in school. Unpublished PhD
Dissertation, Hebei Normal University.
Li, L. Q. (2000). Working report on implementing the strategy of rejuvenating the nation
through science and education. Paper presented at the Seventeenth Session of
Standing Committee of the Ninth National People‘s Congress.
Li, L. X. (2004). China‘s higher education reform 1998-2003: A summary. Asia Pacific
Education Review, 5(1), 14-22.
Li, S. M. (2003). On a deep understanding of the basic connotation of building a moderately
prosperous society in an all-round way. Journal of Qinghai Normal University
(Philosophy and Social Sciences), (6), 6-10.
Liang, Q. S., and Zhang, Y. (2010). Analysis of and countermeasures for the current situation
of China's educational expenditure within fiscal budget. Heilongjiang Education, (2),
14-16.
Lippert, R., and Stenson, K. (2010). Advancing governmentality studies: Lessons from social
constructionism. Theoretical Criminology, 14(4), 473-494.
Liu, D. H. (2008a). China‘s education in the Qing dynasty: Before the Opium War. In B. Z.
Wang, Q. J. Guo, D. H. Liu, X. X. He, Q. Gao and K. C. Shi (Eds.), An introduction
to the history of China’s education (pp. 221-244). Beijing: Beijing Normal University
Publishing Group.
Liu, D. H. (2008b). China‘s education in the Song and Yuan dynasty. In B. Z. Wang, Q. J.
Guo, D. H. Liu, X. X. He, Q. Gao and K. C. Shi (Eds.), An introduction to the history
of China’s education (pp. 170-202). Beijing: Beijing Normal University Publishing
Group.
306
Liu, D. Y. (2008). Analysing the habitual thinking style of the development of China‘s higher
education [Electronic Version], from
http://www.wangf.net/vbb2/showthread.php?threadid=24800
Liu, J. (2008). China English and its linguistic features. The International Journal of
Language, Society and Culture, 1(25), 27-36.
Liu, Y. (2008). Private higher education institutions: Product of the reform of China‘s higher
education. China Education Innovation Herald, (8), 17-18.
Liu, Y. B. (2011). Pedagogic discourse and transformation: A selective tradition. Journal of
Curriculum Studies, 43(5), 599-606.
Lou, Y. C., Jiang, L., and Liu, X. H. (2006). New Options for the development of China‘s
higher education. In H. L. Gu (Ed.), Tackling key problems in the reforms of
educational system (pp. 77-117). Beijing: China's Water Conservancy and
Hydropower Press.
Lubot, E. (1970). Ts’ai Yuan-p’ei: From Confucian scholar to chancellor of Peking
University. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Ohio State University.
Lukes, S. (1974). Power: A radical view. New York: Macmillan.
Luo, D. H. (April 17, 2009). Higher education tuition fees increased 18 times in a decade.
Beijing Morning. Retrieved March 27, 2012, from
http://news.sohu.com/20090417/n263438968.shtml
Ma, J. (2007). On the structural optimisation of China‘s higher education. Journal of Hubei
University of Economics (Humanities and Social Sciences), 4(4), 164-165.
Marginson, S. (1999, 29 November - 2 December). The enterprise university comes to
Australia. Paper presented at the Annual Conference for the Australian Association
for Research in Education, Melbourne.
Marginson, S. (2002). Nation-building universities in a global environment: The case of
Australia. Higher Education, 43(3), 409-428.
Marginson, S. (2010). Higher education in the global knowledge economy. Procedia Social
and Behavioral Sciences, 2, 6962-6980.
Marginson, S., and Considine, M. (2000). The enterprise university: Power, governance, and
reinvention in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Marshall, J. D. (2001). Varieties of neo-liberalism: A Foucaultian perspective. Education
Philosophy and Theory, 33(3&4), 293-304.
Mbembe, A. (2002). African modes of self-writing. Public Culture, 14(1), 239-273.
Miller, P., and Rose, N. (1997). Mobilising the consumer: Assembling the subject of
consumption. Territory, Culture and Society, 14(1), 1-36.
307
Miller, P., and Rose, N. (2008). Governing the present: Administering economic, social and
personal Life. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Ministry of Education. (1984). Achievements of education in China (1949-1983). Beijing:
People's Education Press.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Ninth 5-Year Plan for the Nation-wide Education Cause and
Development Programme for the year of 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2008, from
http://www.moe.gov.cn/edoas/website18/35/info3335.htm
Ministry of Education. (1998a). Outline of learning Deng Xiaoping educational theories.
Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press.
Ministry of Education. (1998b). Programme of Educational Revitalization for the Twenty-
first Century. Retrieved November 24, 2008, from
http://www.moe.gov.cn/edoas/website18/37/info3337.htm
Ministry of Education. (2002). Tenth 5-Year Plan for the Nation-wide Educational Cause.
Retrieved November 24, 2008, from
http://www.moe.gov.cn/edoas/website18/36/info3336.htm
Ministry of Education. (2004). 2003-2007 Action Plan for Invigorating Education. Retrieved
November 24, 2008, from http://www.moe.gov.cn/edoas/website18/38/info3338.htm
Ministry of Education. (2007a). China’s higher education institutions had got into a debt of
200 billion RMB. Retrieved April 13, 2009, from
http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/level3.jsp?tablename=2208&infoid=32711
Ministry of Education. (2007b). Data on the number of non-state/private schools of all levels.
Retrieved April 11, 2009, from
http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/46/info33446.htm
Ministry of Education. (2007c). Gross enrolment rate of schools by level. Retrieved April 11,
2009, from
http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/level3.jsp?tablename=2233&infoid=33487
Ministry of Education. (2007d). Outline of the Eleventh 5-Year Plan for the Development of
Nation-wide Education Cause. Retrieved November 24, 2008, from
http://edu.people.com.cn/GB/5808540.html
Ministry of Education. (2008a). The development of distance education and continuing
education. Retrieved April 11, 2009, from
http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/level3.jsp?tablename=1224750030738336&
infoid=1224814553513406
Ministry of Education. (2008b). Functions of the Ministry of Education. Retrieved November
6, 2008, from http://www.moe.edu.cn/
Ministry of Education. (2008c). On the construction of the “Project 985”. Retrieved April 11,
2009, from
http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/level3.jsp?tablename=1476&infoid=122353
4999341199
308
Ministry of Education. (2008d). Project 211. Retrieved April 11, 2009, from
http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/level3.jsp?tablename=1223529877303137&
infoid=1225265755818176
Ministry of Education. (2009). The opening-up of China’s education and the development of
Chinese students studying abroad and foreign students coming to study in China.
Retrieved April 12, 2009, from
http://www.moe.gov.cn/edoas/website18/21/info1237951752825121.htm
Ministry of Science and Technology, and Ministry of Education. (2006). Outline of Eleventh
5-Year Plan for the Development of National University Science Parks. Retrieved
April 12, 2009, from
http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18/level3.jsp?tablename=1225766841919187&
infoid=1225961465490616
Ministry of Science and Technology, and Ministry of Education. (2008). A list of 7 new
national university science parks announced by the Ministry of Science and
Technology. Retrieved April 12, 2009, from
http://www.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2009/2/216553.html
Mok, K. H. (2008). University restructuring experiences in Asia: Myth and reality. Policy
Futures in Education, 6(5), 528-531.
Mok, K. H. (Ed.). (2006). Education reform and education policy in East Asia. New York:
Routledge.
Morgan, W. J., and Wu, B. (2011). Introduction. In W. J. Morgan and B. WU (Eds.), Higher
education reform in China: Beyond the expansion (pp. 1-10). New York: Routledge.
Ngok, K. (2008). Massification, bureaucratisation and questing for ―world-class‖ status:
Higher education in China since the mid-1990s. International Journal of Educational
Management, 22(6), 547-564.
Ngok, K., and Guo, W. (2008). The quest for world class universities in China: Critical
reflections. Policy Futures in Education, 6(5), 545-557.
Nye, J. (1990). Bound to lead: The changing nature of American power. New York: Basic
Books.
Nye, J. (2004). Soft power: The means to success in world politics. New York: Public Affairs.
O‘Farrell, C. (2005). Michel Foucault. London: Sage.
OECD. (1996). The knowledge-based economy. Paris: Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
OECD. (2006). China and the OECD (OECD Forum 2006). Paris: Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development.
OECD. (2007). OECD thematic review of tertiary education: Background report for the P.R.
of China. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
309
OECD. (2008a). The OECD. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development.
OECD. (2008b). OECD Annual Report 2008. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development.
Office of the Working Group of the Outline of State Plans for Medium and Long-term
Reform and Development of Education. (2010). Outline of State Plans for Medium
and Long-term Reform and Development of Education (2010-2020) (A Draft for
Public Opinions). Retrieved August 28, 2010, from
http://www.moe.edu.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/moe/moe_177/201008/93785.ht
ml
Ohmae, K. (1995). The end of the nation state. New York: Free Press.
Olssen, M. (1999). Michel Foucault. Materialism and education. Bergin & Gravey: Westport.
Olssen, M. (2002). The restructuring of tertiary education in New Zealand: Governmentality,
neo-liberalism, democracy [Electronic Version]. McGill Journal of Education.
Retrieved 6 January, 2009, from http://firgoa.usc.es/drupal/node/27198
Olssen, M. (2003). Structuralism, post-structuralism, neo-liberalism: Assessing Foucault's
legacy. Journal of Education Policy, 18(2), 189-202.
Olssen, M. (2006). Understanding the mechanisms of neoliberal control: Lifelong learning,
flexibility and knowledge capitalism. International Journal of Lifelong Education,
25(3), 213-230.
Olssen, M., Codd, J., and O‘Neil, A.-M. (2004). Education policy: Globalization, citizenship
and democracy. London: Sage.
Olssen, M., and Peters, M. A. (2005). Neoliberalism, higher education and the knowledge
economy: From the free market to knowledge capitalism. Journal of Education Policy,
20(3), 313-345.
Ouyang, S. (2011, March 7). On the practice of the university president responsibility system
under the CCP leadership. China Daily. Retrieved May 5, 2011, from
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/micro-reading/dzh/2011-03-
07/content_1951216_2.html
Ozga, J. (2000). Policy research in educational settings: Contested terrain. Buckingham:
Open University Press.
Pan, M. Y. (2007). Scale, speed, quality and feature: Issues in the modern Chinese higher
education. Journal of Hebei Normal University (Educational Science Edition), 9(1),
5-12.
Pan, M. Y., and Xiao, H. T. (2008a). 30 years of the development of higher educational
thoughts in China. Educational Research, (10), 3-10.
Pan, M. Y., and Xiao, H. T. (2008b). Transition of Chinese higher education thoughts during
30 years of reform and opening-up. Journal of Higher Education, 29(10), 1-5.
310
Peters, M. (2001). Education, enterprise culture and the entrepreneurial self: A Foucauldian
perspective. Journal of Education Enquiry, 2(2), 58-71.
Peters, M. A. (2007). Knowledge economy, development and the future of higher education.
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Peters, M. A. (2009). Introduction: Governmentality, education and the end of neoliberalism.
In M. A. Peters, A. C. Besley, M. Olssen, S. Maurer and S. Weber (Eds.),
Governmentality studies in Education (pp. xxvii-xlviii). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Peters, M. A., Besley, A. C., Olssen, M., Maurer, S., and Weber, S. (Eds.). (2009).
Governmentality studies in Education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Pioneering University. (2006). Prospectus for the Enrolment of Doctoral Degree
Programmes 2007. Retrieved 28 November, 2008, from
http://zsb.xmu.edu.cn/m_news.aspx?id=56&tablename=m_02_01
Pioneering University. (2007a). Pioneering University’s Action Plan for Serving the
Economic Zone on the West Side of Taiwan Strait. Retrieved 25 August, 2010, from
http://www.xmu.edu.cn/fwhx.asp
Pioneering University. (2007b). Prospectus for the Enrolment of Bachelor’s Degree
Programmes 2008. Retrieved 22 August, 2010, from
http://zsb.xmu.edu.cn/m_news.aspx?id=200&tablename=m_02_03
Pioneering University. (2008a). Overseas Student Education. Retrieved 15 September, 2010,
from http://oec.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2008b). Pioneering University Assets Management Co. Ltd.
Retrieved 30 September, 2010, from http://zcjy.xmu.edu.cn/html/list.asp?classid=8
Pioneering University. (2008c). Welcome Message from the President of Pioneering
University. Retrieved May 3, 2009, from http://www.xmu.edu.cn/english/Message.asp
Pioneering University. (2009a). Department of Science and Technology. Retrieved 22
September, 2010, from http://stinfo.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2009b). Department of Social Sciences and Humanities. Retrieved 22
September, 2010, from http://skc.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2009c). Prospectus for the Enrolment of Bachelor's Degree
Programmes 2010. Retrieved 22 August, 2010, from
http://zsb.xmu.edu.cn/m_news.aspx?id=254&tablename=m_02_03
Pioneering University. (2010a). Department for Assets and Logistical Affairs. Retrieved May
12, 2010, from http://zchqc.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2010b). Department of Auditing. Retrieved May 12, 2010, from
http://xmujw.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2010c). Department of Finance. Retrieved May 12, 2010, from
http://cwc.xmu.edu.cn
311
Pioneering University. (2010d). Department of Supervision. Retrieved May 12, 2010, from
http://xmujw.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2010e). Enrolment of Postgraduate Programmes. Retrieved 3
September, 2010, from http://zsb.xmu.edu.cn/shuobo.aspx
Pioneering University. (2010f). Enrolment Programmes for International Students. Retrieved
5 September, 2010, from http://admissions.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2010g). Office for Development and Planning. Retrieved May 12,
2010, from http://dnp.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2010h). Office of Infrastructure Management. Retrieved May 12,
2010, from http://jjc.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2010i). Office of International Cooperation and Exchange. Retrieved
May 12, 2010, from http://ice.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2010j). Office of Laboratory and Facility Management. Retrieved
May 12, 2010, from http://syb.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2010k). Personnel Department. Retrieved May 12, 2010, from
http://rsc.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2010l). Pioneering University Logistics Group. Retrieved 1 October,
2010, from http://hqjt.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2010m). Prospectus for the Enrolment of Bachelor’s Degree
Programmes 2011. Retrieved 22 August, 2010, from
http://zsb.xmu.edu.cn/m_news.aspx?id=283&tablename=m_02_03
Pioneering University. (2010n). Undergraduate Education. Retrieved 10 September, 2010,
from http://jwc.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2011a). Administrative Departments of Pioneering University.
Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://www.xmu.edu.cn/dzbm.asp
Pioneering University. (2011b). Campus E-card. Retrieved 1 October, 2010, from
http://ecard.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2011c). The Chinese Communist Party Committee of Pioneering
University. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://www.xmu.edu.cn/dzbm.asp
Pioneering University. (2011d). Enrolment Office. Retrieved September 13, 2010, from
http://zsb.xmu.edu.cn/pugao.aspx
Pioneering University. (2011e). Introduction to Pioneering University. Retrieved September
23, 2010, from http://www.xmu.edu.cn/xdjj.asp
Pioneering University. (2011f). Mass Organisations. Retrieved March 3, 2011, from
http://www.xmu.edu.cn/qztt.asp
312
Pioneering University. (2011g). Pioneering University Digital Library. Retrieved 1 October,
2010, from http://library.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2011h). Postgraduate Education. Retrieved 12 September, 2010,
from http://yjsy.xmu.edu.cn
Pioneering University. (2011i). Student Career Centre. Retrieved 20 September, 2010, from
http://xsc.xmu.edu.cn/jyzd/default.asp
Pioneering University. (2011j). Teaching and Scientific Research Units. Retrieved March 2,
2011, from http://www.xmu.edu.cn/jxky.asp#c22
Pu, R. (2006). Welcome the advent of a learning society. In H. Gu (Ed.), Tackling key
problems in the reforms of educational system (pp. 241-266). Beijing: China's Water
Conservancy and Hydropower Press.
Rizvi, F. (2002). Imagination and the globalisation of educational policy research.
Globalisation, Societies and Education, 4(2), 193-205.
Rizvi, F., and Lingard, B. (2010). Globalizing education policy. London: Routledge.
Robins, k., and Webster, F. (2002a). The virtual university. In k. Robins and F. Webster
(Eds.), The virtual university? Knowledge, markets, and management (pp. 3-19).
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Robins, K., and Webster, F. (Eds.). (2002b). The virtual university? Knowledge, markets, and
management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rose, N. (1999). Governing the soul: The shaping of the private self. London: Free
Association Books.
Rose, N., and Miller, P. (2010). Political power beyond the state: Problematics of government.
The British Journal of Sociology, 61(Supplement s1), 271-303.
Rose, N., O‘Malley, P., and Valverde, M. (2006). Governmentality. Annual Review of Law
and Social Science, 2, 83-104.
Said, E. W. (2003). Orientalism. London: Penguin Books.
Saussure, F. D. (1966). Course in general linguistics (W. Baskin, Trans.). In C. Bally and A.
Sechehaye (Eds.). New York: McGrwa-Hill.
Sidhu, R. (2004). Governing international education in Australia. Globalisation, Societies
and Education, 2(1), 47-66.
Sigley, G. (2006). Chinese governmentalities: Government, governance and the socialist
market economy. Economy and Society, 35(4), 487-508.
Simons, M., and Masschelein, J. (2006). The learning society and governmentality: An
introduction. Education Philosophy and Theory, 38(4), 417-430.
313
Slaughter, S., and Leslie, L. L. (1997). Academic capitalism: Politics, policies and the
entrepreneurial university. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Stake, R. E. (2000). Case studies. In N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of
qualitative research (pp. 435-454). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
State Council of the People‘s Republic of China. (1994). State Council’s View on the
Implementation of “Decision on the Reform of China’s Educational Structure”.
Retrieved November 24, 2008, from
http://www.moe.gov.cn/edoas/website18/19/info3319.htm
Steger, M. B. (2009). Globalisation and social imaginaries: The changing ideological
landscape of the twenty-first century. Journal of Crtical Globalisation Studies(1), 9-
30.
Sun, B. H. (2008). China‘s education during the ―May 4th
Movement‖ and the ―Great
Cultural Revolution‖ period. In B. Z. Wang, Q. J. Guo, D. H. Liu, X. X. He, Q. Gao
and K. C. Shi (Eds.), An introduction to the history of China’s education (pp. 335-
388). Beijing: Beijing Normal University Publishing Group.
Sun, L. Z. (November 10, 2002). Live report of the Sixteenth National Congress of the CCP:
China‘s socialist market economy system has taken shape initially. Xinhua Net.
Retrieved February 15, 2011, from
http://www.jiaodong.net/news/system/2002/11/10/000538221.shtml
Sun, X. M., and Huang, Q. B. (2007). Fracture and continuity: The prosperity and wane of
modern Chinese academies. Journal of Nantong University (Education Sciences
Edition), 23(4), 57-60.
Sun, X. S., and Yang, X. L. (2008, October 31). The average annual increasing rate of
China‘s GDP reaching 9.8% since the reform and opening up. Xinhua Net. Retrieved
March 21, 2009, from http://finance.people.com.cn/GB/8266320.html
Tan, S. H. (2011). Why study Chinese classics and how to go about it: Response to Zongjie
Wu‘s ―Interpretation, autonomy, and transformation: Chinese pedagogic discourse in
cross-cultural perspective‖. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 43(5), 623-630.
Tan, X. L. (2006). Rural education: The top priority. In H. L. Gu (Ed.), Tackling key
problems in the reforms of educational system. Beijing: China‘s Water Conservancy
and Hydropower Press.
Tang, J. L. (2007, June 7). The number of enrolment in the national university entrance
examination rose from 2.7 million in 1977 to 56.7 million in 2007. China’s Education.
Retrieved April 8, 2009, from
http://www.jyb.cn/zs/gxzs/ptgxzs/zszx/t20070607_89340.htm
Taylor, C. (2002). Modern social imaginaries. Public Culture, 14(1), 91-124.
Taylor, C. (2004). Modern social imaginaries. Durham: Duke University Press.
314
Taylor, S., Rizvi, F., Lingard, B., and Henry, M. (1997). Educational policy and the politics
of change. London: Routledge.
Thompson, J. B. (2005). The globalisation of communication. In D. Held and A. McGrew
(Eds.), The global transformations reader: An introduction to the globalization
debate (pp. 246-259). Cambridge: Polity.
Tikly, L. (2003). Governmentality and the study of education policy in South Africa. Journal
of Education Policy, 39(2), 161-174.
Trow, M. (2005). Reflections on the transition from elite to mass to universal access: Forms
and phases of higher education in modern societies since WWII. [Electronic Version].
Institute of Governmental Studies, Paper WP2005-4, from
http://repositories.cdlib.org/igs/WP2005-4
Tsang, M. C. (2000). Education and national development in China since 1949: Oscillating
policies and enduring dilemmas. In C. M. Lau and J. F. Shen (Eds.), China Review
2000 (pp. 579-618). Beijing: The Chinese University Press.
Vidovich, L., Yang, R., and Currie, J. (2007). Changing accountabilities in higher education
as China ―opens up‖ to globalisation. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 5(1),
89-107.
Wang, B. Y. (2007). Confusions and countermeasures of the radical development of China's
higher education. Assessment of China’s Higher Education, (1), 62-65.
Wang, B. Z. (2008a). China‘s education in revolutionary bases. In B. Z. Wang, Q. J. Guo, D.
H. Liu, X. X. He, Q. Gao and K. C. Shi (Eds.), An introduction to the history of
China’s education (pp. 439-455). Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press.
Wang, B. Z. (2008b). To construct a socialist educational system with Chinese characteristics.
In B. Z. Wang, Q. J. Guo, D. H. Liu, X. X. He, Q. Gao and K. C. Shi (Eds.), An
introduction to the history of China’s education (pp. 490-514). Beijing: Beijing
Normal University Press.
Wang, G. P. (2004). Transformation of government functions and economic development.
Journal of China National Institute of Administration, (5), 59-62.
Wang, H. X. (2011). Access to higher education in China: Differences in opportunity.
Frontiers of Education in China, 6(2), 227-247.
Wang, J. X. (1996). On a correct understanding of the university president responsibility
system under the CCP leadership. China Higher education, (1), 45-46.
Wang, L. (2007, April 9). Jilin University is in a debt of 3 billion RMB. Nanfang Dushi.
Retrieved April 13, 2009, from http://news.sohu.com/20070409/n249299085.shtml
Wang, L. (2010). Higher education governance and university autonomy in China.
Globalisation, Societies and Education, 8(4), 477-495.
Wang, X. (1994). China‘s higher education structure reform in the systematic perspective.
Higher Education Research, 2, 35-39.
315
Wang, X. (2001). A policy analysis of the financing of higher education in China: Two
decades reviewed. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 23(2), 205-
217.
Wang, Y. H. (1985). The reform of China‘s ancient educational system. Journal of Guangxi
Normal University(Educational Issue), 49-57.
Wang, Y. J., and Liu, B. C. (Eds.). (2009). The reform of China’s education during the last
30 years: Higher education volume. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Publishing
Group.
Webster, F. (1995). Theories of the Information Society. London: Routledge.
Wei, X. L. (2008). On problems and countermeasures in the harmonious development of
China's higher education. Journal of Higher Education, 29(4), 8-13.
World Bank. (1997). A World Bank country study: China’s higher education reform.
Washington, D C: World Bank.
World Bank. (1998). World development report 1998: Knowledge for development. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
World Bank. (1999). Education sector strategy paper. Washington, D C: World Bank.
World Bank. (2007). World Bank Group: Working for a world free of poverty. Washington,
D C: World Bank.
Xin, Z. (1993). Reform of Chinese higher education in 1992. International Journal of
Education Reform, 4(2), 370-376.
Xu, Y., and Sheng, X. F. (2005). Southern tour and the initiation of the socialist market
economy. China Financial and Economic Information. Retrieved January 5, 2011,
from http://www.crifs.org.cn/crifs/html/default/caijingshilun/_history/169.html
Yang, D. G. (2011). On the ten issues that China‘s higher education has been confronted
since its entry into the phase of mass higher education. Journal of Shanghai Normal
University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 40(3), 44-58.
Yang, H. L., Yuan, S. J., and Chen, M. (2010). Evolution, characteristics and developing
countermeasures of China‘s higher education fiscal system since the reform and
opening up. Journal of Hebei University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition),
35(3), 76-82.
Yang, R. (2003). Globalisation and higher education development: A critical analysis.
International Review of Education, 49(3-4), 269-291.
Yang, R. (2007a). Building a learning society: The Chinese experience. European
Educational Research Journal, 6(3), 312-320.
Yang, R. (2007b). Incorporation and university governance: The Chinese experience, using
university enrolment expansion policy as an example. Asia Pacific Journal of
Education, 27(3), 255-269.
316
Yang, R. (2010). Soft power and higher education: An examination of China‘s Confucius
Institutes. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 8(2), 235-245.
Yang, R., Vidovich, L., and Currie, J. (2007). ―Dancing in a cage‖: Changing autonomy in
Chinese higher education. Higher Education, 54(4), 575-592.
Yu, J. W. (1999). On the transformation of government functions in the market economy.
Tianjing Social Sciences, (3), 60-62.
Yu, K., and Ertl, H. (2010). Equity in access to higher education in China. Chinese Education
and Society, 43(6), 36-58.
Zen, X. D., and Zen, Y. Q. (Eds.). (2009). The reform of China’s education during the last 30
years: Important data and international comparison. Beijing: Beijing Normal
University Publishing Group.
Zha, Q. (2006). The resurgence and growth of private higher education in China. Higher
Education Perspectives, Special Issue (March 2006), 54-68.
Zhang, C. S. (2006). The ancient academy tradition and its references for modern university.
Journal of Educational Science of Hunan Normal University, 5(1), 79-83.
Zhang, G. (2008, September 24). MoE official: Insufficient investment from the government
constrains the quality of higher education. China Youth. Retrieved April 13, 2009,
from http://www.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2008/9/211318.html
Zhang, G. Q. (2001). Thinking about the reform of logistical socialisation in colleges and
universities. Journal of Sichuan Teachers College (Philosophy and Social Sciences),
5(5), 94-96.
Zhang, X. S. (2008, June 22). The course and achievement of 30-year of overseas study.
Divine Land Scholar. Retrieved April 8, 2009, from
http://www.jyb.cn/lx/lxsx/t20080622_172636.htm
Zhang, Y. Y. (2006). On the structure and reform of higher education under the situation of
massification. Journal of Ningxia Communist Party Institute, 8(2), 95-97.
Zhao, F. (1998). Changing patterns in the governance and funding of higher education in
China: Issues and options. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, University of Western
Sydney.
Zhao, J. S., and Guo, J. Y. (2002). The restructuring of China‘s higher education: An
experience for market economy and knowledge economy. Education Philosophy and
Theory, 34(2), 207-221.
Zhejiang University. An Introduction to Zhejiang University. Retrieved April 12, 2009, from
http://www.zju.edu.cn/xqzl/xygk/xygk.htm
Zhou, T., and Zhao, A. L. (2004). On Deng Xiaoping‘s thoughts of a moderately prosperous
society. Journal of Xiangtan Normal University (Social Science Edition), 26(2), 23-26.
317
Zhu, B. L. (2001). A moderately prosperous society and Chinese ways of modernisation: On
learning Deng Xiaoping‘s theory of ―Chinese ways of modernisation‖. Xue Hai, (1),
21-27.
Zhu, L. J. (2008). An analysis of the influence of new policies towards Taiwan on the
economic development of the west side of Taiwan Strait. Journal of the Party School
of the CCP Xiamen Municipal Committee, (2), 77-80.
318
APPENDIX ONE
LANGUAGE TRANSLATION PROCESS AND SAMPLE
The literature on the use of translated text in the research process emphasises the
importance of establishing protocols to manage the translation of data from one language to
another (Chen and Boore, 2009; Eco, 2004; J. Liu, 2008). As this study relies on the analysis
of documentary sources written in Chinese (Mandarin), the researcher employed the
following principles and methods of translation to ensure that a high quality English
transcription was secured, thus ensuring the validity of the text subject to the analysis that
followed. Following the researcher‘s translation of the documents from Mandarin to the
English language, a professional English-Chinese translator with National Accreditation
Authority for Translators and Interpreters evaluated a number of sample passages with
reference to the appropriacy of concepts, terminology and punctuation employed. After this
process of checking for accuracy, the translator then undertook back-translation of these
passages from English to Chinese in order to ascertain equivalence between English and
Mandarin. A sample of English-Chinese translation is provided as follows:
中央直接管理一部分关系国家经济、社会发展全局并在高等教育中起示范作用
的骨干学校和少数行业性强、地方不便管理的学校。在中央大政方针和宏观规划指导
下，对地方举办的高等教育的领导和管理，责任和权力都交给省(自治区、直辖市)。
(中共中央; 国务院, 1993, lines 139-141)
The Central Government directly administers some key universities that are essential
to national economic and social development and play an exemplary role in higher education
sector, as well as a few highly specialised universities beyond the administrative scope of
local governments. Under the general guidelines, policies and macro-plans of the Central
Government, the responsibility and authority of administering the local higher education
sector are all devolved to the provincial governments. (Chinese Communist Party and State
Council of the People‘s Republic of China, 1993, lines 139-141)