Logic of University Resilient Governance and Risk Deconstruction Strategies from the Perspective of Field Theory

Abstract

Against the backdrop of a global risk society, universities stand as core fields of knowledge production and social reproduction, confronted with unprecedented governance challenges. Intertwined multiple risks, including frequent policy adjustments, fiscal austerity, technological iteration, rising public expectations, and sudden public emergencies, expose the systemic vulnerability of traditional university governance models centered on stability and efficiency. As an analytical framework highlighting organizations’ capacity to maintain functions, adapt to changes and realize transformation amid disturbances, resilient governance has become a vital orientation for the modernization of university governance. This paper introduces Bourdieu’s Field Theory, regards universities as structured spaces interwoven by academic, administrative, market and political subfields, and constructs a three-dimensional analytical framework of “Field – Capital – Habitus” to systematically interpret the internal logic and risk deconstruction strategies of university governance. The study finds that university governance resilience is not a linear outcome brought by external institutional input, but a dynamic product of power games, capital conversion and habitus adaptation within fields. The degree of autonomy and capital exchange mechanisms of different subfields determine universities’ structural plasticity, resource redundancy and cognitive flexibility under risky circumstances. Through the generation and reproduction of institutional habitus, universities can build elastic buffers between institutional pressure and academic freedom to achieve self-maintenance and self-transcendence of institutional resilience. This research offers a new theoretical lens for understanding university governance in complex environments, and provides strategic references for the construction of China’s Double First-Class Initiative and the modernization of higher education governance systems.