The Case of the Missing Indigene

Debate Over a “Second-Generation” Ethnic Policy

Bibliographic Data

ID8062859
AuthorsMichael Elliott (0000-0002-2519-4871, corresponding author), Mark Elliott (0000-0003-4402-6600)
Year2014
Volume73
Pages186-213
Publication date2014-12-22
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe China Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1324-9347 • E-ISSN: 1835-8535
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/679274
OpenAlexW2023171230
LanguageEN
Citations received46
References cited5

The last few years have seen a vigorous public policy debate emerge over a “second-generation” ethnic policy (di’erdai minzu zhengce) which, if implemented, would constitute a major revision of ethnic politics in China. Despite the fact that nationalities policy is a notoriously sensitive subject within China, the debate is happening openly in newspapers, academic journals and on the Internet. The prominence accorded to anthropological theory and international comparison is a notable feature of the debate. This article first explores the main positions in the ongoing policy discussion, then goes on to argue that, rather than comparing China’s non-Han peoples to minority immigrant populations in the industrialized democracies, a better comparison is to indigenous peoples. It then considers why this perspective is completely missing from the present debate

China · Ethnic group · Happening · Immigration · Indigenous · Newspaper · Perspective (graphical · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public policy · Sociology · Subject (documents · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · Gender Studies · History · Law · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

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