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ANTH 470/SISEA 470
PAPER TOPIC #3 TIBET
Due by email at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 14



A. The Tibet Question is one of the most polarized disputes in the world, with the two sides so far apart that there often seems to be little hope of a solution. Both the Chinese side and the Free Tibet side tend to see the issue in absolute terms. Your assignment is to explain the how and the why. First, how could such completely opposite interpretations emerge from the same situation on the ground? Second, why is each side so absolutist about the issue? Do you see any recent trends toward working out a compromise solution? If so, what are they, and what are the obstacles to them? If not, why have they not appeared? Be sure to draw on the readings from the class website, on the books by Yeh and by Wang and Shakya, and on some of the numerous Tibet links on the internet.

B. There is huge concern with the Tibet issue in the West, including both North America and Europe. Yet North American and European regimes have no national interests there--no oil, no military or terrorist threat, a tiny exile population. In contrast, there is little concern with Xinjiang outside the Human Rights organizations. Yet the issues each region has with China are nearly identical--religious and cultural intolerance, repression of dissent, historical claims of nationhood, Han migration to the region. Why is there so much more concern with Tibet than with Xinjiang in Europe and North America?

C. Now that you know so much about the Tibet Question, come up with a workable solution that addresses all the following problems:

-- How to give Tibetans their desired autonomy without splitting China.
-- Where to draw the boundaries
-- What to do about the rights of minorities in what becomes Tibet
-- How to defuse the claims and emotions of Chinese nationalists, who will see any compromise as a total sellout
-- How to defuse the claims and emotions of independence-minded Tibetans and other Free Tibet people who will see any compromise as a total sellout.

D. Self-immolations have recently become one means for Tibetans to express powerful feelings, but it is difficult to know just what these feelings are. There are many interpretations of these acts, as you can see from the special issue of Cultural Anthropology. Since very few of the self-immolators have left testaments, we can't know the motivations of the great majority. There are clearly structural factors that affect the sense of hope or hopelessness of various people in Tibet, but that doesn't explain these extreme acts. Perhaps we can only think about these acts in a karmic sense: what are their effects? You need to base your answer in what you have learned about Tibetan culture, society, politics, and relations with the State.

Essays should be between 1500 and 2000 words in length, not counting bibliographic references. You may use any style (footnotes, endnotes, or embedded author and date) for references, as long as it is clear where you have gotten your information. Quotations should always be referenced, as should any information that is taken explicitly from a given source.