Benjamin J. Green - Böcker

Green sheds light onto the mercurial and ill-defined boundaries of institutional governance within China’s unique system of higher education, a national system that remains misunderstood by scholars who continue to position it as little more than a research arm of the party/state. Through a synthesis of systems theory, complexity theory, and institutional logics, Green provides a relational accounting of "Higher Education with Chinese Characteristics" – a complex, adaptive social system whose paradoxical modernization ideology of pragmatic instrumentalism, in conjunction with a centralized-decentralized governance model, foments rational chaos at the institutional level. Specifically, his book highlights the concept of rational chaos – an observable phenomenon of evolutionary emergence experienced by subaltern actors engaged with the confusing and often paradoxical institutional logics of meso/micro-level governance. Moreover, developed through in-depth narrative interviews, Green’s conceptualization of collective-individualism provides a glimpse into the diverse patterns of identity that have developed within a single institutional governance context. These discrete identity formations, patterned through varying understandings of individual self-determinism, collective role fulfillment, norms and structures of governance, and subsequent changemaking efforts, call into question culturally deterministic research surrounding self-mastery, institutional autonomy, and academic freedom within the Chinese higher education context. His book highlights a subaltern institutional lifeworld accounting of higher education governance that will speak to anyone grappling with neoliberal commodification, managerialism, academic nationalism and the increasing onset of transnational academic (im)mobility. It is ideal for students and scholars of international comparative education, higher education governance, and Chinese studies.

Green sheds light onto the mercurial and ill-defined boundaries of institutional governance within China’s unique system of higher education, a national system that remains misunderstood by scholars who continue to position it as little more than a research arm of the party/state. Through a synthesis of systems theory, complexity theory, and institutional logics, Green provides a relational accounting of "Higher Education with Chinese Characteristics" – a complex, adaptive social system whose paradoxical modernization ideology of pragmatic instrumentalism, in conjunction with a centralized-decentralized governance model, foments rational chaos at the institutional level. Specifically, his book highlights the concept of rational chaos – an observable phenomenon of evolutionary emergence experienced by subaltern actors engaged with the confusing and often paradoxical institutional logics of meso/micro-level governance. Moreover, developed through in-depth narrative interviews, Green’s conceptualization of collective-individualism provides a glimpse into the diverse patterns of identity that have developed within a single institutional governance context. These discrete identity formations, patterned through varying understandings of individual self-determinism, collective role fulfillment, norms and structures of governance, and subsequent changemaking efforts, call into question culturally deterministic research surrounding self-mastery, institutional autonomy, and academic freedom within the Chinese higher education context. His book highlights a subaltern institutional lifeworld accounting of higher education governance that will speak to anyone grappling with neoliberal commodification, managerialism, academic nationalism and the increasing onset of transnational academic (im)mobility. It is ideal for students and scholars of international comparative education, higher education governance, and Chinese studies.

This edited volume unpacks the profound deterritorializing and reterritorializing shifts taking place across the globalized, networked educational landscape, interjecting into pervasive, predominant education development (EdDev) discourses.

This volume examines the evolving role of education in contemporary geopolitical landscapes, where technological innovation, global networks, and national interests redefine its purpose. Moving beyond territorial geopolitics, it explores education as a critical asset in postdigital societies, embedded in techno-nationalist agendas and global power structures. In AI, genomics, nanotechnology, and quantum technologies, education serves dual functions: shaping epistemic authority and underpinning knowledge economies. These developments challenge paradigms of truth, consciousness, and equitable knowledge access. The chapters engage with discourses on digital sovereignty, postdigital privilege, democracy, and resistance, illustrating how education restructures global power relations. Synthesizing perspectives from geopolitics, digital transformation, and postdigital educational development, it underscores understanding education as a contested terrain where global equity, inclusion, and ethical technological governance are negotiated. This book is particularly suited for researchers of postdigital education.The Geopolitics of Postdigital Educational Development is complemented by Postdigital Education for Development, also edited by Michael A. Peters, Olivera Kamenarac, Ben Green, Petar Jandrić, and Tina Besley.