Gregory Fairbrother - Böcker

There is a flourishing literature on citizenship education in China that is mostly unknown in the West. Liberal political theorists often assume that only in democracy should citizens be prepared for their future responsibilities, yet citizenship education in China has undergone a number of transformations as the political system has sought to cope with market reforms, globalization and pressures both externally and within the country for broader political reforms. Over the past decade, Chinese scholars have been struggling for official recognition of citizenship education as a key component of the school curriculum in these changing contexts. This book analyzes the citizenship education issues under discussion within China, and aims to provide a voice for its scholars at a time when China’s international role is becoming increasingly important.

There is a flourishing literature on citizenship education in China that is mostly unknown in the West. Liberal political theorists often assume that only in democracy should citizens be prepared for their future responsibilities, yet citizenship education in China has undergone a number of transformations as the political system has sought to cope with market reforms, globalization and pressures both externally and within the country for broader political reforms. Over the past decade, Chinese scholars have been struggling for official recognition of citizenship education as a key component of the school curriculum in these changing contexts. This book analyzes the citizenship education issues under discussion within China, and aims to provide a voice for its scholars at a time when China’s international role is becoming increasingly important.

This book considers, in the context of political education in China and colonial Hong Kong, the effects of critical thinking on university students' attitudes toward the nation. Its objective is to understand how students' attitudes toward patriotism diverge from those held by the majority. The author uses a combination of documentary sources, interviews, ethnographic fieldwork and observation at secondary schools to address the central question of the effects of a depoliticized civic education curriculum versus a system which promotes patriotism through education. He then is able to examine the relative successes of each system in legitimizing their respective governments.