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Navigating the Aspirational City
Urban Educational Culture and the Revolutionary Path to Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
Series: - Spotlight on China, Volume: 6
Author:
The re-emergence of China as a world power promises to be the signal economic, political, cultural, and social development of the 21st century. In the face of its rise, fine grained accounts of the shape and texture of this new China are both timely and necessary.
Navigating the Aspirational City forwards a theory of contemporary Chinese urban educational culture that focusses on the influence of dominant conceptions of âthe good citizenâ and the material environment upon parents as they pursue their childrearing projects. The book provides a description of the beliefs and practices of urban Chinese parents as they âeducateâ their children. These beliefs and practices are placed in relation to a historical chain of ideas about how to best educate children, as well as within the urban context in which they are produced and reproduced, renovated, and transformed.
Beginning with a history of revolutionary âorders of worthâ culminating in the âaspirational cité,â the book details the shifting standards that define the âhuman capitalâ conditions of possibility of a developed modern economy. It goes on to describe a set of policies and practices known as san nian da bianyang by which the whole of one particular city, Shijiazhuang, has been demolished, re-built, and re-ordered. Contemporary China is, the author contends, no less revolutionary than Maoâs, noting that parentsâ beliefs and practices articulate with the present ideational and material context to produce what appears, at times, to be radical transformation and, at others, remarkable stability.
Navigating the Aspirational City forwards a theory of contemporary Chinese urban educational culture that focusses on the influence of dominant conceptions of âthe good citizenâ and the material environment upon parents as they pursue their childrearing projects. The book provides a description of the beliefs and practices of urban Chinese parents as they âeducateâ their children. These beliefs and practices are placed in relation to a historical chain of ideas about how to best educate children, as well as within the urban context in which they are produced and reproduced, renovated, and transformed.
Beginning with a history of revolutionary âorders of worthâ culminating in the âaspirational cité,â the book details the shifting standards that define the âhuman capitalâ conditions of possibility of a developed modern economy. It goes on to describe a set of policies and practices known as san nian da bianyang by which the whole of one particular city, Shijiazhuang, has been demolished, re-built, and re-ordered. Contemporary China is, the author contends, no less revolutionary than Maoâs, noting that parentsâ beliefs and practices articulate with the present ideational and material context to produce what appears, at times, to be radical transformation and, at others, remarkable stability.
Lorin G. Yochim, Ph.D. (2014), University of Alberta, is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education, Concordia University of Edmonton, Canada. He has published a number of articles focussed on the educational culture of contemporary China.
âThis book makes an important contribution to discussions of educational, social, cultural and economic developments in China. Dr. Yochim is a superb writer and extraordinary scholar who brings advanced understandings grounded in his own intimate engagements with China, his prowess with Chinese culture and language, ethnographic research skills and his ability to apply various lenses (especially Bourdieu, Archer & Harvey) to developments in China over the last 50 years.â â Robert Tierney, University of British Columbia / Beijing Normal University / The University of Sydney
âThis book is a fascinating read, and illuminates many aspects of my life in China that I was only partially aware of. Dr. Yochim has a unique insight into cultural matters of parenting in China, and he can help outsiders to have a balanced view of what are often contentious issues.â â David Turner, Beijing Normal University
âThis book is a fascinating read, and illuminates many aspects of my life in China that I was only partially aware of. Dr. Yochim has a unique insight into cultural matters of parenting in China, and he can help outsiders to have a balanced view of what are often contentious issues.â â David Turner, Beijing Normal University
Preface
List of Figures and Tables
Chapter 1: Scoping Chinese Educational Culture
âResearch Problem & Questions
âThird-Tier City, First World Problems
âAn Urban Educational Culture of Familial Aspiration
âEducation, Family, City, Culture
âConceptualizing Educational Culture
âOrganization of the Book
Chapter 2: The Heavy Burden of Revolution
âJianfu: Lightening the Heavy Burden
âJianfu in the Early Revolutionary Period
âJianfu in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
Chapter 3: The âReformâ Era & the Emergence of the Aspirational Cité
âThe Emergence of the Aspirational Cité
âJianfu: A Flexible Policy
âChapter 4: Building an Aspirational City
âTangible Effects of Renovation
âEducational Institutions for the Aspirational City
Chapter 5: Educating Children in the Aspirational City
âThe Parents
âBeliefs and Activities of Middle-Class Urban Parents
Chapter 6: Making Oneâs Way through the Field of Urban Educational Culture
âNegotiating & Navigating: The Logic of Chinaâs Urban Educational Culture
âJianfu Reconsidered
âNegotiating & Navigating Educational Culture
âThe Aspirational Family?
Chapter 7: Urban Educational Culture Revisited
âRenovation and Desire in 2017
Appendix A: Methodological Preliminaries and Specifications
Appendix B: Documents Used in Corpus Analysis
References
Index
List of Figures and Tables
Chapter 1: Scoping Chinese Educational Culture
âResearch Problem & Questions
âThird-Tier City, First World Problems
âAn Urban Educational Culture of Familial Aspiration
âEducation, Family, City, Culture
âConceptualizing Educational Culture
âOrganization of the Book
Chapter 2: The Heavy Burden of Revolution
âJianfu: Lightening the Heavy Burden
âJianfu in the Early Revolutionary Period
âJianfu in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
Chapter 3: The âReformâ Era & the Emergence of the Aspirational Cité
âThe Emergence of the Aspirational Cité
âJianfu: A Flexible Policy
âChapter 4: Building an Aspirational City
âTangible Effects of Renovation
âEducational Institutions for the Aspirational City
Chapter 5: Educating Children in the Aspirational City
âThe Parents
âBeliefs and Activities of Middle-Class Urban Parents
Chapter 6: Making Oneâs Way through the Field of Urban Educational Culture
âNegotiating & Navigating: The Logic of Chinaâs Urban Educational Culture
âJianfu Reconsidered
âNegotiating & Navigating Educational Culture
âThe Aspirational Family?
Chapter 7: Urban Educational Culture Revisited
âRenovation and Desire in 2017
Appendix A: Methodological Preliminaries and Specifications
Appendix B: Documents Used in Corpus Analysis
References
Index