Internationalizing the Social Sciences in China: The Disciplinary Development of Sociology at Tsinghua University

ISBN-13: 9789811901621 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022 / 248 str.

Meng Xie

Spis treści

Chapter 1

Internationalizing the Social Sciences in China: An Introduction

1.1 Statement of the Problem

The Evolution of Global Social Sciences

The Internationalization of Higher Education in China

The International Visibility and Influence of China’s Social Sciences

In the Spotlight: The Global Vision and Achievements of Tsinghua University

Opportunities and Challenges for Tsinghua’s Social Sciences 10

1.2 Research Questions

1.3 A Case-Based Methodological Approach

Rationales for Adopting the Case Study

Rationales for Adopting Tsinghua’s Sociology as the Case

1.4 The Significance of the Study

Theoretical Significance

Practical Significance

1.5 Structure of the Book

Chapter 2

The Evolution of the Social Sciences and Global Academic Relations: A Theoretical Reflection

2.1 Studies on the Internationalization of Higher Education

Understanding the Internationalization of Higher Education

Internationalization versus Globalization

2.2 Studies on Academic Disciplines and the Social Sciences

Comprehending Academic Disciplines

Classification of Academic Disciplines

Theories of the Academic Discipline

2.3 A Review of International Academic Relations in the Social Sciences

The Uneven Internationalization of the Social Sciences

Challenging Euro-American Domination

A Multi-Polarized Academic World

A Revolution in Global Social Sciences?

2.4 Summary

Chapter 3

The Internationalization of the Social Sciences in Chinese Universities: A Historical and Critical Perspective

3.1 The Social Sciences in Imperial China (1840-1912): The Emerging Disciplines

Western Hegemony and the Spread of Western Learning

Chinese Translations of Foreign Books

Overseas-trained Chinese intellectuals

The Development of Modern Universities and the Discipline System

3.2 Social Sciences in the ROC Period (1912-1949): Europeanization and Americanization

Socio-political, Cultural, and Educational Backgrounds of the Development of the Social Sciences

Developing the Social Sciences under Western Influences

Indigenizing the Social Sciences in China

Achievements and Dilemmas in the Social Sciences in the ROC Period

3.3 Social Sciences in the PRC during the Mao Period (1949-1976): The Soviet Model

The Soviet Model

Twenty Lost Years

3.4 Social Sciences in the PRC in the Post-Mao Period (After 1977): Internationalization and Indigenization

The Reconstruction of the Social Sciences in Chinese Universities

The Contemporary Internationalization of Social Sciences in Chinese Universities

The Indigenous Response to the Western Social Sciences

3.5 Summary

Chapter 4

Internationalizing The Disciplinary Organization of Sociology at Tsinghua

4.1 The Disciplinary Organization of Tsinghua’s Sociology: An Institutional Snapshot

4.2 World-Class University Policies and Internationalization Strategies 92

Phase I: Projects 211 and 985

Phase II: Double First-Class University Plan

4.3 Institutional Isomorphism

Mimetic Isomorphism

Normative Isomorphism

Coercive Isomorphism

4.4 Institutional Heterogeneity

Chinese Characteristics

The Tsinghua Style

Features of the Department

4.5 Summary

Chapter 5

Internationalization and Indigenization: Knowledge Production and Dissemination of Tsinghua’s Sociology

5.1 Examining Knowledge Production and Dissemination

The Sites of Knowledge Production and Circulation

Research Scopes and Territories

Theoretical Affiliations and Originality

Methodological Spaces

5.2 The Dialectical Relations in Intellectual Evolution

The Language Used: English and Chinese

Intellectual spaces: Internationalization and Indigenization

Asymmetric patterns: Centre and Periphery

5.3 Summary

Chapter 6

Internationalizing the Disciplinary Culture of Tsinghua’s Sociology

6.1 The Conceptual Framework of Disciplinary Culture

6.2 Theme 1: International Scholars?

6.3 Theme 2: International Academic Activities

6.4 Theme 3: Research

6.5 Theme 4: Teaching

6.6 Theme 6: Disciplinary development

6.7 Summary

Chapter 7

Discussions and Conclusion

7.1 Organizational Evolution: Three Circles with Inherent Opportunities and Complexities

7.2 Intellectual Evolution: Fragmentation and Integration in Sociological Knowledge

7.3 Cultural Evolution: The Coexistence of Ever-increasing Disquiets and Expectations

7.4 Concluding Remarks

7.5 Future Research

REFERENCES

Appendix A

Methodology and Method

Appendix B

Semi-structured Interview Guide

Appendix C

Curriculum Schedule

O autorze

Meng Xie is a lecturer and Distinguished Young Scholar in the School of Education at Renmin University of China (RUC) in Beijing. Her primary research focuses on higher education, international and comparative higher education, internationalization and international academic relations, and educational policy and management. She has published in peer-reviewed journals such as Higher Education, Frontiers of Education in China, and Tsinghua Journal of Education. She has taught courses for undergraduate, master and doctoral students, including History of Higher Education and Globalization and Higher Education Reforms. Prior to her appointment at the RUC, she obtained her PhD in Policy, Administration and Social Sciences Education from the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong and a master’s degree in Higher Education from the Institute of Education of Tsinghua University. She was also a visiting scholar in the Department of Sociology at Cambridge University. Her current research centers on the intellectual history and academic influence of the Chinese social sciences, Chinese intellectuals, and spaces of global knowledge in the social sciences.

Blurb

The current social reality and changing global forces and spaces are inspiring the rethinking, refining, and re-empowering of the world social sciences to broach the frontiers of human knowledge, enhance mutual understanding across cultures and civilizations, and shape a better world. Taking Tsinghua University’s sociology as a case, this book concentrates on how internationalization shapes disciplinary development in a global context of asymmetrical academic relations. This inquiry is set amidst China’s dramatic economic, social, political, and cultural transformations, as well as the institutional reforms in this Chinese flagship university. This book seeks to probe how Chinese and Western knowledge, institutions, and cultures are integrated in the ongoing process of internationalization and concentrates on the disciplinary evolution of Tsinghua’s sociology—intellectually, institutionally, and culturally—drawing on top-down higher education policy and bottom-up perceptions and experiences of Tsinghua’s social scientists. This book highlights that higher education internationalization is an evolving process whose advanced phase would require Chinese social scientists to bring China to the world. It is time for Tsinghua University to reassess the long-term impact of internationalization on its academic disciplines and provide sufficient support for the development of the social sciences.

This book will attract academics, practitioners, and postgraduate students interested in higher education internationalization, international academic relations, global constellation and distribution of academic power, academic knowledge production, and the development and intellectual influences of the Chinese social sciences.