Nationalism and Ethnoregional Identities in China

Most western political scientists have tended to neglect the ethnic dimension in China, and have overemphasized the development from large empire to unified nation. This bias is partly due to the difficulty of mastering the Chinese language and even more, the generalized view of the People's Republic of China as a totalitarian communist regime focused on the unified state. Most of the contributors to this study use largely Chinese-language sources; five are social anthropologists, three are political scientists. The range of subjects covered includes religious relationships, language, public policy and culture. The essays in this volume will go some way towards remedying the neglect of the ethnic component of the Chinese polity and society.

Introduction - nation, ethnic, region, and religion as markers of identity, William Safran; state discourses, minority policies and the politics of identity in the Lijang Naxi People's autonomous county, Sydney D. White; Hans-Muslim and intra-Muslim social relations in north-western China, Colin Mackerras; language education, intellectuals, and symbolic representation - being an urban Mongolian in a new configuration of social evolution, Naran Bilik; the texture of tongues - languages and power in China, Arienne M. Dwyer; preferential policies for ethnic minorities in China - the case of Xingjiang, Barry Sautman; ethnic identity change in the People's Republic of China - an explanation using data from the 1982 and 1990 census enumeration, Matthew Hoddie; unforgiven and remembered - the impact of ethnic conflicts in everyday Muslim-Han social relations on Hainan Island, Keng-Fong Pang; patriotic villains and patriotic heroes - Chinese literary nationalism in the 1990s, Yingjie Guo. Notes on contributors.