From Global Value Chains to Family Schoolbags: Risk Transfer Mechanisms and the Alienation of Education as a Safe-Haven Asset

Against the backdrop of profound restructuring of global value chains (GVCs) and post-industrial transformation, educational involution has evolved from a phenomenon confined to a single country into a shared structural dilemma for developing countries worldwide. Its core contradiction lies in the asynchronous imbalance between the intensity of educational competition and the level of economic development. This study constructs a three-tiered "push-squeeze-pressure" model: Low-end global division of labor forces countries to prioritize industrial investment, squeezing out spending on people's livelihoods and creating governance risks (push); inadequate social security and the concentration of educational resources lead to the transfer of risks to society, with education becoming a risk-hedging tool (squeeze); under survival pressure, families view educational investment as defensive savings, driving excessive competition and involution (pressure) . The study reveals that the root cause of educational involution lies in the interaction of global structural constraints, national governance strategies, and the alienation of social functions, rather than a single cultural or institutional factor. This finding breaks the myth that "educational problems can be solved through education," providing a new framework for interdisciplinary understanding of educational competition and helping to break the policy dilemma of "ineffective burden reduction."