Full Description
By concentrating on the topic of school enrolment policy for rural-to-urban migrant children in China, this book analyses the unequal power relations and structural inequalities that can appear in the context of education.
The author complements current knowledge by applying theoretical resources of policy sociology, in particular the thinking of Pierre Bourdieu, into analysis of educational policymaking in the Chinese context. He takes a policy trajectory approach to trace the (unequal) power relations and structural inequalities invested and realised in the school enrolment policy. Rooted in rich qualitative data from five metropolises, he examines both external influences of politics, economy and public policy on educational policy agenda setting and discursive practices within the educational policy cycle, inherent in the post-2013 restrictive school enrolment policy. Structural constraints and agency in the local context are also explored, indicating that the intersectional effects of political, economic, and civic logic can result in differentiated modes of policy enactment.
The study will be of interest to scholars, students, policymakers and practitioners in helping address policymaking and social justice in education for migrants and other marginalised groups.
Contents
1 Migrant children's school enrolment in urban China 2 Fluctuating development of school enrolment policy 3 Tracing educational policy trajectory with policy sociological and Bourdieusian resources 4 Intersection of multiple fields and social spaces framing policymaking 5 Cross-field effects: external influences on policy agenda 6 Discursive practices: inside the 'black box' of policy cycle 7 Intersectional logics: local diversities in policy enactment 8 Nature of policymaking and concerns for social justice 9 Being reflexive: policy sociology, Bourdieu and 'toolbox' approach
