Gaokao

A review of Jia, Li, and Cousineau’s landmark data-driven account of China’s national college entrance examination, arguing that the gaokao is best understood not merely as an educational sorting mechanism but as the archetype of a totalizing social tournament that organizes the entire political economy.

A review of Zachary Howlett’s ethnography of China’s Gaokao, arguing that the exam’s meritocratic promise conceals deep structural inequality while its remarkable social endurance demands more explanation than the book provides.