Abstract
The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (bri) is a state-driven development campaign that promote economic integration and infrastructure building across Eurasia and beyond, aiming to reconnect countries and revive the prosperity of the historical Silk Road region. Since its inception in 2013, there has been a growing literature surrounding the initiative, yet the studies of education within the bri context remain relatively under-researched. This paper aims to explore such connection by undertaking the task through a combination of policy review, semi-structured interviews, and empirical fieldwork data. It adopts a Cultural Political Economy theoretical framework to analyzes how education policy and practice has been positioned, constructed, and coordinated in relation to the wider cultural political economy in assisting the bri planning and development. Against the background of China’s resurgence as a global power and its ambition in reinvigorating the Silk Road, I argue that the strategic positioning of education into the bri represents a constructive force in imagining, empowering, and materializing the New Silk Road Project. This reveals education and its multifaced properties in promoting cultural outreach, fulfilling political obligation, and accelerating economic growth in line with the overall bri building.
Political Economy of Connectivity: China’s Belt and Road Initiative