Resistance and Reform in Tibet

Tibet exerts a powerful fascination far beyond its borders. Given its very remoteness and the all-encompassing character of Tibetan Buddhism, it has been the setting for countless works of romance, adventure and fantasy. Yet relatively few writers have studied Tibet as an evolving, contemporary society, despite the fact that for the last forty years this nation of over 5 million people has been confronting a dual challenge more critical than any other since the 'dark ages' of the tenth century: surviving Chinese Communism and confronting modernity. This book describes the character of that struggle. Identity, ethnicity, nationalism and the course of political protest since 1987 are principal themes, while religious iconography, the role of Buddhist nuns and monks and China's post-1980 reforms in Tibet are also discussed. The contributors include Tibetans and Chinese as well as Western experts, hence this is far from being a traditional 'Eurocentric' view of what Tibetans think and feel. Resistance and Reform in Tibet reveals the emergence of a distinctive, modern Tibetan society and the sophistication, creativity and resourcefulness of its people's responses to Chinese domination. Tibet today reflects a rich mixture of traditional and innovative strategies in a nation's struggle for survival.