The Mongols at China's Edge: History and the Politics of National Unity(Asia/Pacific/Perspectives)

This important study explores the multifaceted experience of Mongols in China, past and present, as their identity balances precariously between historical memory and their contemporary position as an ethnic minority. Uradyn E. Bulag assesses the intricate relationship between socialism and nationalism that generates both resistance and complicity and defines the moral dilemmas that have confronted Mongols and Chinese in negotiating nationality issues. Written by an indigenous anthropologist trained in the West, the work is informed by the author's sophisticated understanding of theory and personal sense of society and history. Breaking new ground in the study of Chinese and Mongol history and ethnicity, the author offers a fresh interpretation of China viewed from the perspective of its peripheries. Visit our website for sample chapters!

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 By Way of Introduction: Minzu Tuanjie and Its Discontents Part 2 Producing and Reproducing National Unity Chapter 3 Ritualizing National Unity: Modernity at the Edge of China Chapter 4 Naturalizing National Unity: Political Romance and the Chinese Nation Part 5 Tensions of Empire Chapter 6 From Inequality to Difference: Colonial Contradictions of Class and Ethnicity in "Socialist" China Chapter 7 Rewriting "Inner Mongolian" History after the Revolution: Ethnicity, Nation, and the Struggle for Recognition Part 8 Models and Morality Chapter 9 Models and Morality: The Parable of the "Little Heroic Sisters of the Grassland" Chapter 10 The Cult of Ulanhu: History, Memory, and the Making of an Ethnic Hero

About the Author :
Uradyn E. Bulag is assistant professor of anthropology at Hunter College, City University of New York. He is the author of Nationalism and Hybridity in Mongolia (Oxford).

Review :
The Mongols at China's Edge will interest readers interested in nationalism, autonomy, Tibet and Xinjiang (by analogy and contrast), China, twentieth-century history, and issues of representation. Most valuable for the broad historical perspective it places on modern problems faced by one of China's most visible national minorities. An essential read for anyone working on minorities in China, or for that matter in any region. Learned, thoughtful, and beautifully written. Bulag's passionate, historically-grounded exposition of the complexities of ethnic reconstruction make this book one of the best recent studies of China's ethnic minorities. Through his ethnic lens, he analyses not just Mongols, but the evolution of China's national identity. Anthropologists, historians and many other scholars should incorporate his powerful critique into their teaching and research. This is an insightful detailed study of ethnic identity and nationalism in China. Combining analyses of a wide range of topics, ranging through poetry, sexuality, children's stories, and historiography, Uradyn Bulag takes the reader on a journey through the evolution of Mongolian identity in China and shows how such identities are woven into the fabric of Chinese national identity. The book is a welcome addition to the relatively scarce body of literature that seeks to generate greater understanding of history and culture from the Mongols' point of view. [This book] is likely to remain a major source both on the Mongols of China and the tortuous process of their absorption into the Chinese nation and may well become a model for studies of other national minorities of China. Old and thorny questions of ethnicity, nation, nationhood, nationality, national minority, national unity, ethinic or national identity, ways of imagery, national iconography and hagiography as weell as morals of ethnic policy receive in this book a vivid and fresh presentation in the mirror of changing luck of the Mongols of China's Inner Mongolia and Qinghai in the twentieth century. Bulag offers a textured and sophisticated discussion of the Inner Mongol's efforts to affect their own degree of integration and distinction in the People's Republic of China. This book is a significant contribution not only to the field of Chinese Area Studies, but also to the more general literature of political anthropology and cultural geography. Old and thorny questions of ethnicity, nation, nationhood, nationality, national minority, national unity, ethnic or national identity, ways of imagery, national iconography and hagiography as well as morals of ethnic policy receive in theis book a vivid and fresh presentation in the mirror of the changing luck of the Mongols of China's Innter Mongolia and Qinghai in the twentieth century. This book is highly recommended for all who wish to gain an understanding of the complexities of Mongol identity in modern-day China and the achievements and compromisees of Ulanhu. More generally, the book should be of interest to scholars of Chinese minority nationality policy and indeed all those with an interest in multi-culturalism and nation building in ethnically complex societies.