Historiography Flashcards
What are the 4 main ways Leibold suggests second generation ethnic policies can be achieved?
• 4 main ways to achieve these:
o Politically: eliminate group-differentiated rights and obligations to ensure the equality of all citizens – including the removal of ethnic markers from ID cards, school and job applications
o Economically: Increase economic interaction and ties between ethnic minority regions and the rest of the country
o Culturally: Focus on integrating different ethnic traditions into a collective civic culture and society – including increased use of national written and spoken language; guarding against religious extremism
o Socially: enhance the flow of people across administrative boundaries – facilitating foreign immigration and promoting mix-ethnic schooling
What are the second generation ethnic policies?
• There are now calls within China for a policy of a “melting-pot” whereby cultural pluralism is tolerated, and groups are permitted to maintain their cultural traditions but there are no ethnic-specific groups or group-differentiated institutions, laws or privileges which encourages national ethnic mingling
What is the current belief of the Chinese state?
- Chinese government officials continue to blame “outside forces” for inciting ethnic divisions
- Currently 56 “nationalities” (minzu) with the Han as the one majority nationality, the others are classified as minorities.
- China is split into a system of territorial-based autonomous units
Who are two loud voices of the second generation ethnic policy movement?
• Ma Rong and Hu Angang: Ma argues for a melting pot of national integration and Angang suggests “minzu identity” to be replaced with a single “national identity” – 7 of Angang’s policies have been adopted by the government suggesting that they are listening to him and taking onboard constructive “criticism” (though whether or not the Party is explicitly criticised is another matter)
How is the population of China split ethnically?
•100 million ethnic minorities, 1.2 billion Han – 10 million of which are Tibetan and Uyghur
What does Peter Bol say China is?
- It is not a continuous state based on a single foundation but rather a single continuous civilization that developed over time
- It is an idea and seeks to sustain itself through a historical narrative that cherry-picks representative examples from history that are said to represent the whole
- Claims about national culture and identity are ideological - they tell people what to value
Where does the word China come from according to Bol?
China - the word comes from Qin: a series of different states, sometimes more than one, with different ruling dynasties and rituals, with different boundaries and cultural histories
“Middle Kingdom” - Western mistranslation of “several states”
“China” adopted in 20th century reflecting Western naming of nations - Zhongguo = China to the West. China and Chinese originate in Western usage
Previously Zhongguo meant what?
All states through history that took the area of the “central states” of antiquity as their historical core
What did the Song dynasty use the word “Chinese” to denote? How were others referred to?
All those living inside the central states
People usually referred to others using the name of the state they belonged to e.g., “the people of the Song”
When did ethnic terms arise according to Bol?
Ethnic terms arise when different cultural groups lived together under one political authority - e.g., the Han people and the tribal people, the Fan
How does Anderson define a nation?
It is an “imagined political community and is imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign”
What are 5 defining factors between the Uyghurs and the Han?
- Language skills
- Religiosity
- Economic Opportunities
- Han migration into Uyghur dominated areas
- Status attainment
What does Benjamin White argue minorities are?
“Minorities are specifically modern political groupings”
“They belong to the era of nation states”
Their distinctions are understood to have political significance
What does White say the most important precondition for minorities is?
Most important precondition is representative government - previously the ruler drew the right to rule from his own religion and own God
Once rule by divine right is no longer satisfactory, the state must find a stronger and more direct link between itself and society - ruler represents not God but claims to represent the people although this does not need to be democratic (If Uyghurs are to claim they are different from the state, the leader therefore does not represent the people and is illegitimate)
How does White argue the people represented must be defined? Why is this relevant to minorities?
- Geographically: territorial states within fixed borders
- Culturally: some form of nationalism
- “States generally assume a cultural identity acceptance to a majority of their populations, culturally - defined groups falling outside this definition of national identity, but inside the states geographical borders, become minorities.”
