Social exclusion and education inequality: towards an integrated analytical framework for the urban–rural divide in China

The aim of this paper is to build a capability-based framework, drawing upon the strengths of other approaches, which is applicable to the complexity of the urban–rural divide in education in China. It starts with a brief introduction to the capability approach. This is followed by a discussion of how the rights-based approach and resource-based approach can supplement the capability model; this framework is then employed to draw out new insights regarding the case of urban–rural inequality in China. It concludes by highlighting the contribution of this framework in terms of mapping out the interlocked processes that create the urban–rural divide in education by taking account of children growing up under the influence of a wider socio-economic context. In doing so, it sheds light on issues which tend to be otherwise overlooked.