Quality and the Culture of Hierarchy, Governance and Socialization in Contemporary China

Over the past twenty years the concept of quality (suzhi) has emerged as a key rubric for legitimating social and political hierarchies in China. The concept informs areas of governance as diverse as cadre recruitment, birth control and household registration. This project undertakes a comprehensive analysis of how the concept is used and interpreted in processes of rural governance with particular reference to the quality education reforms. By analyzing the tensions that emerge in the interpretation of quality in local governance, this project will contribute to theorizations of Chinese society, governance and culture in several disciplines.