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Using the UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Project as a case study, this dissertation explores the practice of global educational governance (GEG) with a focus on how key actors in the ESD project promote it globally and specifically in China and exert influence on educational changes at a distance. The implementation of the UNESCO Project in the Chinese educational system represents a special mode of educational governance driven by the interplay of global-national-local actors. By analyzing data from interviews and documents, this study unpacks the mechanisms that UNESCO and the relevant Chinese actors interact and govern the educational policy and practice globally and in China, and how such processes embody features of the emerging GEG. In this study, I argue that the ESD Project is an instantiation of the GEG in practice with interesting characteristics. First, this dissertation showcases the various roles actors at the global and national level play in the governance process. Specifically, the findings confirm that UNESCO acts as an orchestrator that exercises indirect and soft governance. And nation-state is not the sole player in the governing process anymore. International Organizations, NGOs, knowledge workers, and others play essential roles in the process. Second, the analysis reveals that the governance mechanisms used in this case are mostly soft. Networks help actors gain access to various resources, extend outreach, and amplify influence, facilitating the flows of knowledge across different scales. Third, the understanding of GEG can be further refined by taking into consideration the practice of stakeholders in countries with strong state control such as the contemporary China. Finally, an important finding of this study is providing a unique perspective in the GEG structure to demonstrate that the collaboration between the multiple parties does not necessarily weaken the authority of the Chinese government or hollow out the state authority over educational practice. The study thus brings new insight into the current governance literature by developing an analysis of the shift of location of authority in the process of global educational governance. |
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