A Biased Baton: ‘Time-Space-Agency’ in Chinese Academic Life under the ‘China Discipline Evaluation with Chinese Characteristics’

This thesis explores the experiences of the China Discipline Evaluation (CDE) on Chinese academics’ life through the lens of time, space and new sets of social relations. Positioning the CDE – the primary university assessment system in China – as a historiography of a distinct “compressed modernisation” in China, it theoretically and empirically investigates the double roles of the CDE: first, how it is shaped by a process of compressed modernity that serves as a political apparatus with “Chinese characteristics”; and second, how it drives sets of dynamics forcibly “compressing” the time and space of academic life. The primary methodological tools are qualitative interviews and thematic analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 47 Chinese academics and senior non-academic staff to generate rich first-hand data about the academics’ everyday life. Theme analysis was employed as the analytical tool to explore (drawing on Foucault) the mobilising of power, the disciplining of minds and bodies, and a distinctive governmentality. This research is also complimented by international comparisons to distil the distinctiveness of the CDE. Together these enable an understanding of the complexities that structure and texture the different ways that Chinese academics experience the CDE. This contrasts with a the top-down view dominating much CDE research in China. This analysis reveals a triad of “time-space-agency” dynamics shaping academic life in China. It shows how the CDE can be understood as a competition mechanism to set in motion “time acceleration”, “time fragmentation”, “time b/locking”, and “time commodification”, on the one hand, and the horizontal and vertical comparison of outputs, fundings, policy favours, and “Guanxi” (connections), on the other hand. This “compressing” process and set of social relations places serious pressures on Chinese academics, yet at the same time leads to their resistance through “stretching” practices to strategically reclaim aspects of their agency. The significance of this research is twofold. Theoretically, it refines and develops the theory of compressed modernity, suggesting the versatility of this concept. Practically, it provides evidence that the CDE is a biased baton, fuelling a hyper-competitive ethos whilst risking constraining intellectual autonomy. It is these outcomes that act as hinderances on China’s pursuit of becoming a global powerhouse of higher education. In a time of China-U.S. decoupling, this issue is particularly crucial and calls for more efforts to embed trust and reciprocity into the CDE.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Zhou, Yiran

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Robertson, Susan

• agency
• China Discipline Evaluation
• Chinese characteristics
• compressed modernity
• higher education
• spatiality
• temporality

Licence

• https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/8cdae32e-bd0e-4489-acb3-053c03b0a41f/download
• http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.123958

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/393777