Does Western knowledge flow into Chinese universities? A case study of Chinese returned academics and academic knowledge flows

摘要

From the outset of China’s Reform and Opening up period in 1978 and until 2015, 2.2 millionChinese students returned to the country upon completion of their qualification abroad.Among these returnees are a large number of overseas-educated academics who havebeen enticed back to Chinese academia by the government and universities in order tofacilitate China’s competition in globalised higher education. Therefore, an investigation ofthe contributions of this cohort to the Chinese academic community is considered bothtimely and worthwhile. This paper draws on interview data collected as part of a doctoralresearch study. In particular, it examines the experience of one Chinese returned academic’sengagement with knowledge flows. Detailed analysis of the interview accounts suggeststhat, on the one hand, the participant recognises the fundamental position of certaindisciplinary knowledge. On the other hand, he opposes “borrowism”, advocates criticalappropriation of Western knowledge, and emphasises the need to re-contextualise exoticideas and to incorporate these within Chinese knowledge. The analysis also highlights thesignificance of personal involvement in society to better understand and document localknowledge.