Collaborative Nationalism: The Politics of Friendship on China's Mongolian Frontier (Asia/Pacific/Perspectives)

Cosmopolitanism And Friendship Have Become Key Themes For Understanding Ethnicity And Nationalism. In This Deeply Original Study Of The Mongols, Leading Scholar Uradyn E. Bulag Draws On These Themes To Develop A New Concept He Terms Collaborative Nationalism. He Uses This Concept To Explore The Paradoxical Dilemma Of Minorities In China As They Fight Not Against Being Excluded But Against Being Embraced Too Tightly In The Bonds Of Friendship. Going Beyond Traditional Binary Relationships, He Offers A Unique Triangular Perspective That Illuminates The Complexity Of Regional Interaction. Thus, Collaborative Nationalism Traces The Regional And Global Significance Of The Mongols In The Fierce Competition Among China, Japan, Mongolia, And Russia To Appropriate The Mongol Heritage To Buttress Their Own National Identities. The Book Considers A Rich Array Of Case Studies That Range From Chinggis Khan To Reincarnate Lamas, From Cadres To Minority Revolutionary History, And From Building The Mongolian Working Class To Interethnic Adoption. So-called Friendship And Collaboration Permeate All Of These Arenas, But Bulag Digs Below The Surface To Focus On The Animosity And Conflicts They Both Generate And Mask. Weighing The Options The Mongols Face, He Argues That The Ethnopolitical Is Not So Much About Identity As It Is About The Capacity Of An Ethnic Group To Decide And Organize Its Own Vision Of Itself, Both Within Its Community And In Relation To Other Groups. Nationalism, He Contends, Is Collaborative At The Same Time That It Is Predicated On The Pursuit Of Sovereignty. Introduction: Triangulating China's Ethnopolitics -- Hunting Chinggis Khan's Skull And Soul -- Lamas To The Rescue : Tibeto-mongolian Buddhism And Imperial Nationalisms -- Friendship, Treason, And Collaborative Nationalism -- Yearning For Friendship : The Political In Minority Revolutionary History -- The Flight Of The Golden Pony : Socialism And The Stillbirth Of The Mongolian Working Class -- Interethnic Adoption And The Regime Of Affection -- Conclusion: The Specter Of Interethnic Friendship. Uradyn E. Bulag. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. In this deeply original study of the Mongols, leading scholar Uradyn E. Bulag draws on key themes of cosmopolitanism and friendship to develop a new concept he terms 'collaborative nationalism.' He uses this concept to explore the dilemma of minorities in China as they fight against being embraced too tightly in the bonds of 'friendship.' Through a rich array of case studies, Bulag illuminates the fierce competition among China, Japan, Mongolia, and Russia to appropriate the Mongol heritage to buttress their own national identities. Weighing the options the Mongols face, he argues that the ethnopolitical is not so much about identity as it is about the capacity of an ethnic group to decide and organize its own vision of itself, both within its community and in relation to other groups Contents......Page 10 Maps, Figures, and Tables......Page 12 Acknowledgments......Page 14 Maps......Page 17 Introduction......Page 20 Part I. SUBIMPERIAL DESIRES......Page 48 Ch01. Hunting Chinggis Khan’s Skull and Soul......Page 50 Ch02. Lamas to the Rescue......Page 84 Part II. COLLABORATIVE NATIONALISM......Page 118 Ch03. Friendship, Treason, and Collaborative Nationalism......Page 120 Ch04. Yearning for Friendship......Page 152 Part III. INTERETHNIC INTIMACY......Page 184 Ch05. The Flight of the Golden Pony......Page 186 Ch06. Interethnic Adoption and the Regime of Affection......Page 218 Conclusion......Page 262 References......Page 268 Index......Page 294 About the Author......Page 302