On the Nexus of Local and Global

In the last three decades, China has undergone dramatic changes in both the economic and social realms-rapidly integrating into the global economy and simultaneously influencing and being influenced by this era's massive global economic restructuring. Trying to work within both socialist and capitalist paradigms, the Chinese regime has introduced social and educational policies reflecting the tensions between economic efficiency and social equity. Based on a large-scale qualitative study the author conducted in China between 2006 and 2009, On the Nexus of Local and Global looks at how these dynamics and their related structural changes have challenged individual and collective identities, as well as realigned such critical social factors as class, race, and gender. Above all, this entry in the Issues in Globalization and Social Justice series carefully considers the role education plays in these processes of construction and reconstruction and particularly how young people are selecting and implementing their future projects in the light of these global concerns.