"Afterlives" of the Danwei in 21st-century China: The Case of the University Sector

Abstract

Abstract: This article addresses the issue of the "afterlives" of the danwei (work units) in 21st-century China by examining the case of the danwei system in the university sector (gaoxiao danweizhi). It finds that two essential features of traditional gaoxiao danweizhi—i.e. universities as state appendages and the high degree of "organized dependence" (Walder) of professors on the university/state—have survived today in a reconstituted form. In particular, the weakening of professors' economic and personal dependence on the university/state has been accompanied by the strengthening of their career dependence on the state due to the governmental regulation of research projects, a new form of academic political steering. Drawing primarily on the author's over 10 years of full-time work at two research universities in China, this article contributes to existing studies on danwei, higher education and intellectuals.