<p>"<i>The Time Inheritors</i> is an insightful contribution to the literature on higher educational mobility, social inequality, and the sociology of education … Written in a clear and concise style, the book draws on rich empirical material, including four datasets and interviews with over 100 internationally mobile studies, as well as administrators, and parents." — <i>British Journal of Sociology of Education</i></p><p>"…<i>The Time Inheritors</i> offers not only a rich account of Chinese educational mobility, but also a set of conceptual tools for rethinking how time is inherited, distributed, and valued across the global context." — <i>Time & Society</i></p><p>"<i>The Time Inheritors </i>is among the most innovative contributions to the sociology of education and mobility in recent years. It introduces the novel concept of time inheritance, grounds it in compelling empirical evidence, and situates it within global debates on inequality. Xu's analysis provides new tools for scholars, prompts for practitioners and policymakers, and a public language for recognising how time structures opportunity. The book deserves to be read not only by academics and graduate students but also by educators, practitioners, and those navigating educational mobility from both disadvantaged and privileged backgrounds." — <i>International Studies in Sociology of Education</i></p><p>"…Cora's book offers fresh insights and holds considerable promise for advancing research into the lived experiences of Chinese international students in New Zealand. However, its significance reaches beyond the national context. By introducing this eye-opening work, I invite scholars from across the globe—particularly those engaged in the sociology of education and migration studies—to join the dialogue and critically examine the dynamics of educational mobility through a temporal lens." — Le Cui, <i>New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies</i></p><p>"…<i>The Time Inheritors</i> is a landmark contribution to education, sociology and contemporary Chinese studies. It offers a fresh conceptual vocabulary, a deeply humanistic methodology, and a framework that bridges micro-level narratives with macro-level structures. Xu challenges readers across the globe to reconsider what is truly inherited across generations, and what that means for equity in education." — <i>British Journal of Educational Studies</i></p><p>"<i>The Time Inheritors</i> is a conceptually comprehensive book that uses education as an empirical point to explore how temporal inequality underpins broader patterns of social inequality … Xu's framework sheds light on how advantage and disadvantage unfold across generations, offering insights into the complexities of inequality in both local and global contexts." — <i>The China Quarterly</i></p><p>"<i>The Time Inheritors</i> is an ambitious book, which is of interest to those in many fields, given the multidisciplinary nature of the work. Crossing cultural studies, China studies, sociology of education, higher education, and educational mobilities within one volume is a challenging feat, but the author connects these different viewpoints and theoretical framings effectively. For those who are interested in understanding issues of inequality in higher education, and more specifically, the Chinese context, this is an essential read." —<i> Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies</i></p><p>"This book offers not only a compelling theoretical contribution but also a deeply nuanced portrayal of how time shapes educational trajectories and life chances across generations and borders … Grounded in rich empirical data and theoretical depth, the book invites Canadian readers to develop a comparative perspective on the structural forces that shape time-induced inequalities across generations.<i> The Time Inheritors</i> is also an essential resource for those working in Canadian higher education, especially in understanding the educational mobility of international and migrant students, including, but not limited to those from China." — <i>Canadian Journal of Education</i></p><p>"Xu's conceptually sophisticated monograph reveals how intersectional inequalities are constructed, experienced, and transmitted temporally, with special reference to education. Through the vivid stories of students in mainland China and Hong Kong, and Chinese international students, Xu brings to life different individuals' 'time inheritances,' demonstrating the exciting possibilities time offers as a lens for innovative thinking about inequality. A must-read for sociologists and anthropologists of education, China, and time." — Rachel Murphy, author of <i>The Children of China's Great Migration</i></p><p>"Innovative and ambitious, <i>The Time Inheritors</i> proposes a time-centric framework that brings together analyses of social structure, history, individual behavior, and affect. We often feel we are fighting for time. But, as Cora Xu argues in this important study of Chinese students, the scarcity of time is not a given or universal. Different experiences of time result in part from the varying amounts of time we inherit from the previous generation. Time inheritance is therefore critical to the reproduction of social inequality." — Biao Xiang, coauthor of <i>Self as Method: Thinking through China and the World</i></p><p>"Cora Lingling Xu offers a groundbreaking analysis of educational inequality and social mobility in contemporary China. Xu centers the voices of marginalized students throughout, providing poignant insights into their lived experiences of rural poverty, urban precarity, and educational alienation. At the same time, Xu's comparative scope reveals how even seemingly privileged groups can be constrained by the temporal logics of social reproduction. <i>The Time Inheritors</i> is a must-read for scholars, educators, and policymakers concerned with educational equity and social justice. Xu's lucid prose and engaging case studies make the book accessible to a wide audience while her cutting-edge theoretical framework and methodological rigor set a new standard for research on education and inequality." — Chris R. Glass, coeditor of <i>Critical Perspectives on Equity and Social Mobility in Study Abroad: Interrogating Issues of Unequal Access and Outcomes</i></p><p>"By centering the temporal dimension of who is advantaged or disadvantaged, how, why, and with what consequences, <i>The Time Inheritors</i> takes a unique and powerful approach. Not only does the book contribute theoretically and empirically to our understanding of class inequalities but it also resonates deeply. The inclusion of Chinese translations and characters will give Chinese readers a rich, nuanced cultural appreciation of her findings." — Dan Cui, author of <i>Identity and Belonging among Chinese Canadian Youth: Racialized Habitus in School, Family, and Media</i></p><p>"An extremely well-written, theoretically informed, and compelling volume that represents a major contribution to the study of education, migration, and social inequality in China and beyond. <i>The Time Inheritors</i> proposes a bold and innovative framework—that of time inheritance—to open the black box of social inequality's temporal dimension. Whereas the relatively privileged classes inherit temporal wealth and strategies that enable them to bank and save time, facilitating their mobility, the time poor lack this inheritance, forcing them into a vicious cycle of wasting time and paying back temporal debts. Drawing from a rich palette of vivid and intimate longitudinal case studies, <i>The Time Inheritors</i> unpacks the complex intersections between familial, national, and global time inequalities." — Zachary M. Howlett, author of <i>Meritocracy and Its Discontents: Anxiety and the National College Entrance Exam in China</i></p>

Reveals the role of time in reproducing inequalities as students navigate rural-to-urban, cross-border, and transnational higher education.

Winner of the 2026 Best Book Award presented by the Higher Education Special Interest Group of the Comparative and International Education Society

Can a student inherit time? What difference does time make to their educational journeys and outcomes? The Time Inheritors draws on nearly a decade of field research with more than one hundred youth in China to argue that intergenerational transfers of privilege or deprivation are manifested in and through time. Comparing experiences of rural-to-urban, cross-border, and transnational education, Cora Lingling Xu shows how inequalities in time inheritance help drive deeply unequal mobility. With its unique focus on time, nuanced comparative analysis, and sensitive ethnographic engagement, The Time Inheritors opens new avenues for understanding the social mechanisms shaping the future of China and the world.

Les mer

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Significance of Inherited Time

List of Acronyms

Presentation Style

Part I: Theorization of Time Inheritance and Education Mobility

1. Time Inheritance, Banked Time, and Borrowed Time

2. Education as Debt Accumulation or Entitlement

3. Education Mobility as Fate Changing

Part II: How Time Inheritance Reproduces Inequalities

4. Visions of Decisions: From Self-Sabotage to Path Paving

5. Time-Shaped Dispositions: From Debt-Paying Mentality to Sense of Entitlement

6. Time-Induced Consequences: From "Squandering" Labor Time to Achieving Work-life Balance

7. Time Use: From Wasted Time to Gained Time

8. Shades of Career: From Being Trapped in Precarity to Making Bold Career Moves

Summary of Part II: Observed Mechanisms of Inequality Reproduction Through Time Inheritance

Part III: How Time Inheritance Transforms Inequalities

9. Not a Mechanistic Determinism: From Unqualified Inheritors to Zealous Parvenus

10. City-Bound Time Inequalities

11. Political Time: Different Inheritances, Similar Prices

Summary of Part III

Conclusion: Moving Beyond Bourdieu: A Road Map for Global Time Inheritance Research

Appendix: Participant Profiles

Notes
References
Index

Les mer

Reveals the role of time in reproducing inequalities as students navigate rural-to-urban, cross-border, and transnational higher education.

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9798855801910
Publisert
2025-10-02
Utgiver
State University of New York Press
Vekt
363 gr
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Dybde
17 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
256

Forfatter

Biografisk notat

Cora Lingling Xu is Associate Professor in Sociology of Education at Durham University, United Kingdom.