Educated acquiescence: how academia sustains authoritarianism in China

As a presumed bastion of the Enlightenment values that support a critical intelligentsia, the university is often regarded as both the bedrock and beneficiary of liberal democracy. By contrast, authoritarian regimes are said to discourage higher education out of fear that the growth of a critical in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theory and society 2020, Vol.49 (1), p.1-22
Main Author: Perry, Elizabeth J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
20th century
Acquiescence
Authoritarianism
Civil society
Compliance
Cooperation
Democracy
Democratization
Education, Higher
Enlightenment
Higher education
Intelligentsia
Liberal democracy
Liberalism
Philosophy of the Social Sciences
Political history
Political parties
Political science
Political systems
Politics
Revolutions
Social Sciences
Sociology
Sponsorship
Teaching
Values
Wisdom
World history
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Summary:As a presumed bastion of the Enlightenment values that support a critical intelligentsia, the university is often regarded as both the bedrock and beneficiary of liberal democracy. By contrast, authoritarian regimes are said to discourage higher education out of fear that the growth of a critical intelligentsia could imperil their survival. The case of China, past and present, challenges this conventional wisdom. Imperial China, the most enduring authoritarian political system in world history, thrived in large part precisely because of its sponsorship of a form of higher education closely tied to state interests. Although twentieth-century revolutions brought fundamental change to Chinese politics and pedagogy, the contemporary party-state also actively promotes higher education, cultivating a mutually advantageous state-scholar nexus and thereby reducing the likelihood of intellectual-led opposition. As in the imperial past, authoritarian rule in China today is buttressed by a pattern of educated acquiescence , with academia acceding to political compliance in exchange for the many benefits conferred upon it by the state. The role of educated acquiescence in enabling Chinese authoritarianism highlights the contributions of a cooperative academy to authoritarian durability and raises questions with prevailing assumptions that associate the flourishing of higher education with liberal democracy.
ISSN:0304-2421
1573-7853
DOI:10.1007/s11186-019-09373-1