Synopses & Reviews
Inequalities in Chinas multi-ethnic society and related issues of political stability have become more acute as economic globalization has intensified competition for scarce resources, and the dynamics of the market and society at large increasingly take precedence over those of the state. These developments, including Chinas market reforms begun in the early 1980s, have heightened state concerns over the closely intertwined issues of equity for minorities and political stability for the state. This is the first volume to comprehensively examine recent changes in Chinas affirmative action policies for the education of minorities, historically an important state tool for addressing ethnic inequality.
Review
“Of great moment to China and the U.S., this dialogue on social inequality and ‘affirmative action in education offers stimulating insights into critical matters, including the imperatives of state-formation and nation-building, majority-minority relations, and the consequences of transnationalism.”--Gary Y. Okihiro, Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Author of Island World: A History of Hawaii and the United States and Pineapple Culture: A History of the Tropical and Temperate Zones
“A welcome contribution to an underdeveloped field in Chinese studies. It will be attractive to several audiences: those interested in Chinas national minorities; in Chinese educational policies with respect to minorities; and in cross national comparison of affirmative action in China and the United States. The authors come both from the US and from China. Chapters on specific cases contain rich and vivid detail of the dilemmas involved in providing equal educational opportunities to Chinese minorities.”--Thomas P. Bernstein, Professor emeritus, Columbia University; Author of Up to the Mountains and Down to the Villages: The Transfer of Youth from Urban to Rural China
Synopsis
This volume is the first to comprehensively examine Chineses affirmative action policies in the critical area of minority education, the most important conduit to employment and economic success in the People's Republic of China after the economic reforms began in the late 1970s.
Synopsis
Inequalities in Chinas multi-ethnic society and related issues of political stability have become more acute as economic globalization has intensified competition for scarce resources, and the dynamics of the market and society at large increasingly take precedence over those of the state. These developments, including Chinas market reforms begun in the early 1980s, have heightened state concerns over the closely intertwined issues of equity for minorities and political stability for the state. This is the first volume to comprehensively examine recent changes in Chinas affirmative action policies for the education of minorities, historically an important state tool for addressing ethnic inequality.
About the Author
Minglang Zhou is Associate Professor and Chair of East Asian Studies at Dickinson College. His research focuses on the sociology of language and ethnic relations in China. His seminal publications include Multilingualism in China: The Politics of Writing Reforms for Minority Languages 1949-2002 (2003), Language olicy in the Peoples Republic of China: Theory and Practice since 1949 (2004), and Journal of Asian Pacific Communication: Special Issue on Language Planning and Varieties of Modern Standard Chinese (2006).
Ann Maxwell Hill is Professor of Anthropology at Dickinson College. Her earlier fieldwork was conducted in Northern Thailand (Merchants and Migrants: Ethnicity and Trade Among Yunnanese Chinese in Southeast Asia, 1998). For the past decade, she had done fieldwork in Nuosu communities in southwest China.
Table of Contents
Introduction--Ann Maxwell Hill and Minglang Zhou * PART I: DEBATING CHINA'S POSITIVE POLICIES: HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS AND CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE * Mandarins, Marxists, and Minorities--Walker Connor * Tracking the Historical Development of Chinas Positive Policies or Preferential Policies for Minority Education: Continuities and Discontinuities--Minglang Zhou * Minority Policies and Equality in College Admission Examinations in China--Tiezhi Wang * Preferential Policies for Ethnic Minorities and Equality in Higher Education in China--Xing Teng and Xiaoyi Ma * Yunnans Preferential Policies in Minority Education Since the 1980s: Retrospect and Prospects - Yanchun Dai and Changjiang Xu * PART II: BETWEEN STATE EDUCATION AND LOCAL CULTURES * Compulsory Education in the Eastern Tibetan Areas: A Field Survey in Kangding and Machu Counties--Gelek * Tibetan Students Perspectives on/ Neidi/ Schools--Gerard Postiglione, Ben Jiao, and Ngawang Tsering * School Consolidation in Rural Sichuan: Quality Vs. Equality--Christina Y. Chan and Stevan Harrell * PART III: BETWEEN MARKET COMPETITIVENESS AND CULTURAL/LINGUISTIC IDENTITIES * The Trade Culture of a Hui Community and Local Education: An Anthropological Case Study--Ma Xiaoyi * Issues of Minority Education in Xinjiang China--Rong Ma * Using Yugur in Local Schools: Reflections on Chinas Policy for Minority Language and Education--Zhanlong Ba * PART IV: GLOBALIZING THE DISCOURSE ON INEQUALITY AND EDUCATION * Natives and Nation: Assimilation and Indigenous Peoples in China and the U.S.--Ann Maxwell Hill * Affirmative Action, Civil Rights and Racial Preferences in the United States: Some General Observations--Evelyn Hu-DeHart * Learning about Equality: Affirmative Action, College Admissions, and the Law of the United States--Doug Edlin