| Summary/Abstract |
This article proposes an analytical framework to address why implemented autonomy outcomes may differ across ethnically-defined autonomous regions in China. The framework consists of a structural explanatory variable, inter-ethnic boundary-making processes, and an agential intervening variable, titular elites’ representation in the ethno-regional state. It is applied to a synchronic comparison of four ethno-regions with differing autonomy outcomes for 2010–2015, Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia. Titular elites’ representation in the ethno-regional state is used as a proxy for titular elites’ bargaining capacity with the central state. This article argues that an ‘integration-distinction balance,’ or rather, higher inter-ethnic integration combined with robust consciousness of inter-ethnic distinction, can contribute to titular elites’ representation in the ethno-regional state, which can lead to greater autonomy outcome for the ethno-region.
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