Minority rules: the Miao and the feminine in China's cultural politics

Schein, Louisa

Book

Minority rules: the Miao and the feminine in China's cultural politics

Duke University Press • Durham • Published In 2000 • Pages: xvii, 365

By: Schein, Louisa.

Abstract
This book discusses the manifold ways in which the cultures and identities of China's minority ethnic groups have been constructed and deployed since the 1949 revolution. It does this based on ethnographic and historical data on actual experiences of the Miao people, one of the 56 ethnic minorities officially recognized by the Chinese government as minzu. An important finding of the book includes the multiplicity of agents involved in the construction and deployment of minorities. In the case of the Miao, these forces include not just state agents, but also none-state actors (such as television and film producers, freelance artists, researchers, tour companies and entrepreneurs) and modernist locals. Operating from different sites and in the context of a wide variety of socio-economic situations, these forces have perpetuated a political practice which depicts the Miao (and other minorities) as both feminized keepers of Chinese tradition and as exotic others against which the dominant Han people can assert their own superiority and modernity.

Ethnic stratification

Cultural identity and pride

Gender status

Territorial hierarchy

Inter-community relations

Inter-ethnic relations

External relations

Political parties

Research and development

Rest days and holidays

Public lectures

Sociocultural trends