Governing Teachers for Regime Security After Communism: Rereading China’s Teacher Policy

Authoritarian states place great emphasis on education as a means of strengthening support for the regime. As central actors in educational practice, teachers are subject to intensive state supervision. Unlike earlier Communist regimes, many contemporary authoritarian and post-Communist governments secure teachers’ compliance through a combination of coercion and accountability mechanisms. Under such conditions, teachers often enjoy a limited degree of professional autonomy, though still far from that found in liberal democracies. This study examines authoritarian approaches to teacher autonomy, using post-Communist China as a case study. It asks two key questions: (1) How much professional autonomy has the Chinese state granted teachers? and (2) What political rationales underlie these decisions? The study further analyzes the discursive constructions through which the state has justified its evolving choices—first during the “third wave of democratization” toward the end of the 20th century, and later amid the democratic backsliding of recent years. It contributes to the theme of this workshop by exploring the role of discourse in shaping authoritarian support. It does so at two levels: first, by conceptualizing support for reduced teacher autonomy as a form of authoritarian support; and second, by showing how the Chinese state, through both stricter and more flexible governance measures toward teachers, cultivates support for the regime through education. The analysis draws on two types of source material: teacher-related policy documents and the speeches and actions of paramount political and educational leaders. The latter are included because the low level of institutionalization in Chinese politics and educational administration requires attention not only to formal policy texts but also to the “informal” practices of major power holders. An interpretive approach is used to analyze these materials, a method well suited to the highly contextual nature of Chinese political discourse. Key terms may carry different—even contradictory—meanings and often serve to create an appearance of continuity; conversely, multiple terms may convey essentially the same political message. The conceptual framework is informed by Palmer and Winiger’s notion of “neo-socialist governmentality.” This model challenges the common assumption of a zero-sum trade-off between political loyalty and liberalization, instead emphasizing the simultaneous production and management of freedom. Building on this framework, the study investigates how the post-Communist Chinese state opens certain possibilities for teacher autonomy while actively circumscribing them through both coercive and non-coercive means. I argue that this “neo-socialist” governance of teachers is a significant factor contributing to mass support for authoritarianism.