The unintended hegemonic effects of a limited concession: Institutional incorporation of Chinese schools in post-war Hong Kong

The unintended hegemonic effects of a limited concession: Institutional incorporation of Chinese schools in post-war Hong Kong

• Wong, Ting Hong Academia Sinica, Taiwan

British Journal of Sociology of Education, 33(4), 587-606, 2012

Routledge

2012

• R Educational Policy & Administration
  • RC Educational Planning & Decision Making Process, Educational Administration
• R Educational Policy & Administration
  • RE School Management, School-Parents Relationship
• R Educational Policy & Administration
  • RF School Supervision, Accountability & Inspection: Education Indicators, Privatization of School
• P Social Context of Education
  • PA History of Hong Kong Education
    • PAB History of Hong Kong Education (1945-1997.6)
• P Social Context of Education
  • PA History of Hong Kong Education
    • PAC History of Hong Kong Education (1997.7-)

Chinese Languages Language Schools Educational Sociology Education Policy Historical Analysis School Finance Political Power

• Hong Kong

• 1945-1949
• 1950s
• 1960s
• 1970s
• 1980s
• 1990-1997.6

• Primary Education
• Secondary Education

Using the case of Chinese schools in post-Second World War Hong Kong, this paper explores the unintended consequences of an incomplete hegemonic project. After World War II, anti-imperialist pressures and rising educational demands in the local setting propelled the colonial authorities to be more active in providing and funding Chinese schools. This development created a considerable number of vernacular institutions that were either directly state-run or generously government-financed. Nevertheless, this concession was circumscribed because the regime eschewed universal and compulsory education, and many Chinese schools remained private and unaided. Producing three different types of vernacular institutions, the state's partial incorporation of Chinese institutions unwittingly divided these schools and pre-empted them from forming a united, antagonistic identity. These findings urge us to examine carefully, when using Gramsci's concept of hegemony, the extent of compromise the powerful have actually conceded. They also hint that hegemony should not be conceived only as a conscious, conspiratorial project, for state practices occasioned by conjunctural forces may produce unintended consequences that have profound repercussions on political power.
[Copyright of British Journal of Sociology of Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2012.674789]

• English

Journal Articles

• 01425692

• 10.1080/01425692.2012.674789

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/159e514e

2014-01-18