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Ethnic, sectarian, or localized grievances? On Wang Lixiong's analysis of Tibetan self-immolation

Ethnic, sectarian, or localized grievances? On Wang Lixiong's analysis of Tibetan... Asian Ethnicity, 2013 Vol. 14, No. 3, 376–380, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2013.784509 REFLECTION Ethnic, sectarian, or localized grievances? On Wang Lixiong’s analysis of Tibetan self-immolation Yan Sun* Department of Political Science, CUNY Queens College, City University of New York, Queens, NY 11367, USA Since its first occurrence in 2009, the total number of Tibetan self-immolations had reached 97 by the end of 2012, with an additional 10 or so in the first three months of 2013. However, our understanding of this shocking act remains limited. Why did those Tibetans resort to such an extreme form of protest? What were their motives? What were their grievances? What objectives did they intend to achieve? Wang Lixiong, a dissident Chinese scholar-writer and respected authority on Tibetan affairs, attempts to answer these questions by analyzing the last words of more than two dozen self-immolators who had left final notes. His data are derived from information collected by his Tibetan wife, Woeser, who is also a dissident writer. Below I will introduce Wang’s major findings and evaluate them in the light of two competing perspectives. First and foremost, Wang Lixiong’s data refute three commonly held assumptions about the Tibetan self-immolators. One assumption, popular among Tibetan exiles and http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Asian Ethnicity Taylor & Francis

Ethnic, sectarian, or localized grievances? On Wang Lixiong's analysis of Tibetan self-immolation

Sun, Yan
Asian Ethnicity , Volume 14 (3): 5 – Jun 1, 2013
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Ethnic, sectarian, or localized grievances? On Wang Lixiong's analysis of Tibetan self-immolation

Abstract

Asian Ethnicity, 2013 Vol. 14, No. 3, 376–380, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2013.784509 REFLECTION Ethnic, sectarian, or localized grievances? On Wang Lixiong’s analysis of Tibetan self-immolation Yan Sun* Department of Political Science, CUNY Queens College, City University of New York, Queens, NY 11367, USA Since its first occurrence in 2009, the total number of Tibetan self-immolations had reached 97 by the end of 2012, with an additional 10 or so in the first three...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2013 Taylor & Francis
ISSN
1469-2953
eISSN
1463-1369
DOI
10.1080/14631369.2013.784509
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Abstract

Asian Ethnicity, 2013 Vol. 14, No. 3, 376–380, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2013.784509 REFLECTION Ethnic, sectarian, or localized grievances? On Wang Lixiong’s analysis of Tibetan self-immolation Yan Sun* Department of Political Science, CUNY Queens College, City University of New York, Queens, NY 11367, USA Since its first occurrence in 2009, the total number of Tibetan self-immolations had reached 97 by the end of 2012, with an additional 10 or so in the first three months of 2013. However, our understanding of this shocking act remains limited. Why did those Tibetans resort to such an extreme form of protest? What were their motives? What were their grievances? What objectives did they intend to achieve? Wang Lixiong, a dissident Chinese scholar-writer and respected authority on Tibetan affairs, attempts to answer these questions by analyzing the last words of more than two dozen self-immolators who had left final notes. His data are derived from information collected by his Tibetan wife, Woeser, who is also a dissident writer. Below I will introduce Wang’s major findings and evaluate them in the light of two competing perspectives. First and foremost, Wang Lixiong’s data refute three commonly held assumptions about the Tibetan self-immolators. One assumption, popular among Tibetan exiles and

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Asian Ethnicity – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jun 1, 2013

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