Spotlight on China


Book Description

Fuelled by forces of globalization, China has gradually shifted from a centrally planned economy to a socialist market economy. Under the market economy China has experienced a massive and protracted economic boom. It is not clear however whether recent economic changes have brought the same miracle to education in China. Spotlight on China brings together established and emerging scholars from China and internationally in a dialogue about the profound social and economic transformation that has resulted from the market economy and its concomitant impact on education in China. The book covers a wide range of topics, including: Market economy and curriculum reform Teaching under China's market economy Changes in higher education Transitions from education to work Market economy and social inequality With its broad scope and fresh critical perspectives, this collection offers a most contemporary and comprehensive analysis of possibly the largest education system in the world. Lessons learned from the China experiment will inform researchers and educators about social and educational reforms in other countries which are undergoing similar fundamental changes. "Spotlight on China provides a state of the art picture: dynamic, partial, full of contradictions and tensions, and, as we speak, in movement and local reconfiguration." - Allan Luke, Queensland University of Technology "The book moves social science research on China's education another step forward by refining the balance between the viability of mainstream western concepts and the analytical possibilities of creating a new scholarship based on a deeper understanding of the historically grounded realities of contemporary Chinese education." - Gerard A. Postiglione, The University of Hong Kong"




Spotlight on China


Book Description

Fuelled by forces of globalization, China has gradually shifted from a centrally planned economy to a socialist market economy. Under the market economy China has experienced a massive and protracted economic boom. It is not clear however whether recent economic changes have brought the same miracle to education in China. Spotlight on China brings together established and emerging scholars from China and internationally in a dialogue about the profound social and economic transformation that has resulted from the market economy and its concomitant impact on education in China. The book covers a wide range of topics, including: • Market economy and curriculum reform• Teaching under China’s market economy• Changes in higher education• Transitions from education to work • Market economy and social inequality With its broad scope and fresh critical perspectives, this collection offers a most contemporary and comprehensive analysis of possibly the largest education system in the world. Lessons learned from the China experiment will inform researchers and educators about social and educational reforms in other countries which are undergoing similar fundamental changes. Spotlight on China provides a state of the art picture: dynamic, partial, full of contradictions and tensions, and, as we speak, in movement and local reconfiguration.” – Allan Luke, Queensland University of Technology. “The book moves social science research on China’s education another step forward by refining the balance between the viability of mainstream western concepts and the analytical possibilities of creating a new scholarship based on a deeper understanding of the historically grounded realities of contemporary Chinese education.” – Gerard A. Postiglione, The University of Hong Kong"




Ting Ting, the Girl Who Saved China


Book Description

Li Li Wang is enjoying Chinese New Year with her family when her grandparents ask her to sit with them. Before giving Li Li her holiday gift, they tell her the story of Ting Ting Wang, Li Li's ancestor, and how she became a Chinese hero. Li Li carefully listens as her grandparents tell her about Ting Ting, the monster Nian, and the origin of the Chinese New Year celebration. Ting Ting, the Girl Who Saved China provides insight into China's biggest holiday, gives a sense of its culture, and shows that girls are just as strong and brave as boys.




Understanding China


Book Description

China's rise is undeniable, and its impact on the world is astonishing. But, what do people actually know about this incredibly diverse and unique country? Understanding China is the first of its kind textbook developed with leading Chinese universities that aims to introduce students interested in its history and future to key concepts of Chinese culture and thought. The book covers everything from the economy to medicine, from language to cuisine, to move readers beyond stereotypes and to provide them with a systematic and comprehensive overview of the country. This guide is the one-stop-shop primer to truly engaging with Chinese culture, and it is the first step to truly understanding China.




The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinese


Book Description

Focusing specifically on the stories of the Han Chinese (the largest ethnic group in China, numbering over a billion people), this collection presents more than 50 tales, both well known and obscure—from Monkeys Fishing the Moon and The Butterfly Lovers to Painted Skin and Dragon Princess. These are stories that will enchant listeners of all ages, while providing a glimpse into Chinese traditions and ways of thought. To further enhance cultural understanding, the tales are supplemented with historical and cultural background, notes on storytelling, crafts and games, recipes, proverbs, color photos, a map, a glossary, and more. In the past decades, the doors between China and the West have been flung open. Explosive economic growth and massive increases in travel and immigration have engendered curiosity and interest in this burgeoning nation. Yet modernization has a dark side too, threatening traditional Chinese culture, including stories and storytelling. This new gathering of stories from a variety of sources, captures the fading storytelling traditions of a vast and diverse country. Focusing specifically on the stories of the Han Chinese (the largest ethnic group in China, numbering over a billion people), the collection presents more than 50 tales, both well known and obscure—from Monkeys Fishing the Moon and The Butterfly Lovers to Dragon Princess and Painted Skin. These are stories that will enchant listeners of all ages, while providing a glimpse into Chinese traditions and ways of thought. Tales are organized into seven sections: Animal Tales; Tales of Magic, Love and Romance; Myths, Legends and Immortals; Moral Stories; How Things Came to Be; and Proverbial Tales. To further enhance cultural understanding, the stories are supplemented with historical and cultural background, notes on storytelling and other folk traditions, recipes, proverbs, color photos, a map, a glossary, and more. All grade levels.




The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership


Book Description

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership among eleven key nations of the Pacific Rim has already expanded trade and economic cooperation among the Parties. It also serves to encourage political cooperation among them and has served as a model for future 'wide and deep' free trade agreements. The chapters of this book will provide readers with a detailed understanding of the CPTPP's coverage, including provisions relating to tariff elimination, customs rules of origin, agriculture, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, telecommunications, intellectual property, investment and investor–state arbitration, financial and other services, government procurement, state-owned enterprises, electronic commerce and digital trade, small and medium-sized enterprises, competition law, labor and environmental protection, dispute settlement, and many others. No international lawyer, economist, trade negotiator, or enterprise can afford not to take advantage of the opportunities for business that the CPTPP offers. This book has been written by CPTPP negotiators, experts, and practitioners.




China Reconstructs


Book Description




China’s Globalizing Internet


Book Description

This book considers the Chinese internet as an ensemble of ideas, ownership, policies, laws, and interests that intersect with pre-existing global elements and, increasingly, with deepening globalizing imperatives. It extends traditional inquiry about digital China and globalization and encourages closer attention to contestation, shifting international order, transformation of states, and new requirements of global digital capitalism. Across the three foci of history, power, and governance, this book considers the ways the Chinese internet is entangled with transnational capitals, ideas, and institutions, while at the same time manifests a strong globalizing drive. It begins with a historical political economy approach that emphasizes the dialectics between structural imperatives and historical contingency. As for governance, the Chinese state has set out to re-regulate the internet as the network becomes ubiquitous during the nation’s web-oriented digital transformation. Such a state-centric governance model, however, is likely to affect China’s global expansion, apart from the fact that the state is taking an active interest in global internet governance. This book will be of interest to researchers and advanced students of Communication Studies, Politics, Sociology, Economics, Cultural Studies, and Science and Technology Studies. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Chinese Journal of Communication.







Rivers of Iron


Book Description

What China’s infamous railway initiative can teach us about global dominance. In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled what would come to be known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—a global development strategy involving infrastructure projects and associated financing throughout the world, including Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. While the Chinese government has framed the plan as one promoting transnational connectivity, critics and security experts see it as part of a larger strategy to achieve global dominance. Rivers of Iron examines one aspect of President Xi Jinping’s “New Era”: China’s effort to create an intercountry railway system connecting China and its seven Southeast Asian neighbors (Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). This book illuminates the political strengths and weaknesses of the plan, as well as the capacity of the impacted countries to resist, shape, and even take advantage of China’s wide-reaching actions. Using frameworks from the fields of international relations and comparative politics, the authors of Rivers of Iron seek to explain how domestic politics in these eight Asian nations shaped their varying external responses and behaviors. How does China wield power using infrastructure? Do smaller states have agency? How should we understand the role of infrastructure in broader development? Does industrial policy work? And crucially, how should competing global powers respond?