The impression of China as a homogeneous nation with a smattering of ethnic minorities around its edges has been irrevocably altered by the uprisings in Muslim and Tibetan regions of northwestern China since the 2008 Olympics. This book delves deep into the conditions of economic and educational inequality in northwest China experienced by these ethnic minorities. The author, Lin Yi, Associate Professor of Sociology at Xiamen University, argues that beyond economic disparities, cultural exclusion is the source of the continued subordinate status of these ethnic groups perpetuated by Han-chauvinist policy, practice and attitudes. He proposes a reconceptualization of the Chinese state ideology of nation building and modernization which would include not only minority rights but also accommodate ethnic cultures.
The empirical study behind this book gives the reader a view into a fascinating, rarely visited corner of China, the borderlands between Qinghai and Gansu provinces, middle ground to Tibetans, Mongolians,...