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ID:
152492
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| Summary/Abstract |
Through an analysis of popular posts Tibetans shared over the social media application WeChat in 2013 and 2014 and offline discussions about them, this paper shows how Tibetans living in and traveling through Xining City practiced and performed their ethnic identity in the face of perceived harassment. Through their viral posts, they created a cyber-community that contributed to Tibetan ethnic group formation when Tibetans interpreted their ethnic identity as the basis for unjust treatment by the Chinese state and private Han individuals. In online posts the Han are portrayed as harassing Tibetans after terror attacks across China, violating minzu rights, denigrating Tibetan culture and territory, and denying Tibetans equal footing as modern compatriots. Social media are changing the ‘representational politics’ of Tibetan ethnicity, altering participation in the representation of the Tibetan ethnic group. Still, online discourse remains subject to constraints; private offline discussions remain important fora of opinion exchange.
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| 2 |
ID:
162541
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| Summary/Abstract |
Western China and the states of Central Asia are increasingly urbanized, and governments are investing large sums in founding and expanding cities. Rapid and spectacular hyperbuilding has led to the creation of unevenly developed urban districts and new tensions between unequally positioned residents. Xining City, the capital of China’s Qinghai Province in western China, has drawn large numbers of Tibetan migrants since the “Open up the West” Campaign accelerated urban development there in the 21st century. Tibetan migrants dwelling and working in Xining must find their place within the city as municipal authorities and developers continuously remake the urban landscape both materially and discursively. The current Chinese national project that promotes the “civilized city” is closely linked to this development; it is revaluing what counts as high-quality urban places and ideal urban behavior and contributing to the creation of new centers of monetary and cultural value as “civilization” is reimagined through spectacular new urban centers. Hyperbuilding is reshaping aspiring middle-class Tibetans’ understandings of their place in Xining relative to other ethnic groups. This paper argues that urban hyperbuilding produces not only new spaces for state and market power but also puts economic and social pressure on already marginalized ethnic minorities.
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