This book offers a rich ethnographic account that meticulously portrays teachers' life and work, hopes and despairs, and daily struggles within and beyond a Chinese rural school. Through a vivid narrative, the book elucidates little by little the structural, systemic causes for the local predicaments and reveals the profound moral crisis in the Chinese society after decades of the capitalist economic reform.
Contents
List of Figures and Tables; Acknowledgments; 1 Introduction; 2 Chaoyang Township and Its School; 3 Struggles over the Work Routine; 4 The Clash of Cultures in Rural Classrooms; 5 Workplace Demoralized: Authoritarian Administration; 6 Workplace Depoliticized: Corruption and Bureaucracy; 7 Bureaucracy, Culture, and Workplace Democracy; Bibliography; Index; About the Author.