Re-imagining Nationalism: Exploring the Narratives of Tibetan Women in Canada by Tariqa Farrell Tandon A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2019 Tariqa Farrell Tandon Abstract This thesis focuses on Tibetan women’s narratives to understand how Tibetan nationalism is reconfigured and sustained in exile in Canada. Using the framework of Third World nationalism, this thesis examines the ways in which Tibetan nationalism embodies and departs from established theories. This thesis analyses the themes of authenticity, citizenship, and exilic nationalism to highlight the heterogenous understanding of nationalist movements. This thesis establishes how Tibetan women challenge official and academic narratives of nationalism to forge their own understanding of nationalism, by ‘doing’ their own forms of Tibetan-ness. Challenging core conceptual categories inherent in nationalist projects like authenticity, nation and citizenship, Tibetan women push back against ethno-nationalist frameworks to formulate new conceptions of nationalism. These new conceptions allow multiple narratives to coexist in the movement and demand a fluid understanding of nationalism which includes a broad base of people, including those that have been marginalized by orthodox understandings of nationalism. ii Acknowledgements It is said that behind every successful womxn there are many other womxn (and maybe a few men) who have supported her through her journey. I am not sure where I consider myself as falling on the spectrum of success, but finishing this thesis can surely be considered a marker of some success. And I could not have done this thesis without the support of many amazing womxn, whom I would like to acknowledge here. First, Dr. Gopika Solanki, for being such a supportive supervisor. You have really shaped my experience of grad school and made me realize that a professor and student can have a meaningful friendship as well. You have made me believe in my academic capabilities, have guided in building these capabilities, and for this I shall be forever grateful. I would also like to thank Dr. Christina Gabriel and Dr. Mythili Rajiva for being part of my committee – your comments and encouragement are appreciated so very much. I am glad that my committee was made up of strong female academics – I could not have had a better and more supportive committee. To all the participants who put their trust in me and shared their personal stories – I am greatly indebted to you. I am so glad to have met all of you and gotten to know you. I can only hope that this project is a true representation of your journeys, stories, and desires, and that I have done your narratives justice. To Pramila and Neelam – my Toronto maasis – thank you for all your help with this project, and for housing me when I came to Toronto. To ‘Pamela’ and ‘Olga’, I am forever grateful for your friendship. You have inspired this project, and have helped and supported me in so many ways – thank you. Writing a thesis is not only an academic endeavour – it demands discipline, motivation and self-belief. Alex, my writing partner, who shared in the pain of completing her own thesis during the same time, but who somehow also found time to support me emotionally. Lindsay, Shana, Nathalie, Kritika, Ewa and Raveena – you have kept me sane throughout this process, and I thank you for taking the time to listen to me vent, making me laugh, and being such wonderful friends. It is much appreciated. To Brookes, I could not have navigated the administrative nightmare that grad school can be without you. Beyond that, I could not have thought of completing this part of my life without the emotional support (and endless supply of tissues) that you provided – thank you. Lastly, I do have to thank two men who have supported me throughout my life – my father, Rajesh and brother, Suheil. I owe much of my success to your support and love. Thank you for always being there. This list is by no means an exhaustive representation of the many other amazing womxn that have supported me through my life – this is merely a snapshot of those womxn (and two men) that have been my constants these last few months. To all the other womxn who have shaped who I am – I am eternally grateful. iii This thesis is dedicated to my mother, Martha Farrell – you gave me life, and so much more. I wish you could have been here to read this. iv Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND 18 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 29 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 45 CHAPTER 4: AUTHENTICITY AND IDENTITY 72 CHAPTER 5: THIRD WORLD NATIONALISM IN EXILE 118 CHAPTER 6: CITIZENSHIP AND IDENTITY 156 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONS 186 REFERENCE LIST 191 LIST OF INTERVIEWS 205 v List of Abbreviations CCP – Chinese Communist Party CIA – Central Intelligence Association CPPCC - Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference CTA – Central Tibetan Administration (see TGIE) IC – Identification Certificate NPC - National People’s Congress PCART - Preparatory Committee for the Autonomous Region of Tibet PLA – People’s Liberation Army PRC – People’s Republic of China RC – Registration Certificate SFT – Students for a Free Tibet TAR – Tibet Autonomous Region TCCC – Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre TCV – Tibetan’s Children Village TGIE – Tibetan Government in Exile (see CTA) TWA – Tibetan Women’s Association US/USA – United States of America vi List of Appendices APPENDIX 1 – TIBETAN GRIEVANCES 206 APPENDIX 2 – PARTICIPANT INFORMATION 212 APPENDIX 3 – SAMPLE QUESTIONS 213 vii Introduction This thesis focuses on Tibetan women’s narratives to understand how Tibetan nationalism is reconfigured and sustained in exile in Canada. Using the framework of Third World nationalism, this thesis examines the ways in which Tibetan nationalism embodies and departs from established theories. When looking at the case of Tibetan nationalism, the available existing frameworks of Third World nationalism are unable to fully capture the scope of the Tibetan nationalist movement. By using the case study of Tibetan nationalism, this thesis highlights how existing frameworks of Third World nationalism have been narrow in scope, discounting for the continuance of colonial rule in different parts of the world as well as the role played by the experience of exile and the diasporic community in creating, sustaining and promoting nationalist movements. Tibetan nationalism is simultaneously a Third World as well as exilic nationalist movement. Straddling these two worlds, Tibetan nationalism is unique because it is a case of Third World nationalism that has been formulated and institutionalized in exile in India. Thus, Tibetan nationalism both embodies and departs from the established literature on Third World nationalism. With Tibet being occupied by another ‘Eastern’ state, the Tibetan nationalist movement challenges the false binaries of East versus West that have predominated the narratives of postcolonial theories. For Tibetans, colonialism is not a Western reality, but instead is being carried out by another Global South power. Much of the literature on postcolonial studies have focused on the previous colonies of European states and the focus has remained on European colonialism (Loomba, 1998). The term itself suggests the contemporary histories and politics of the 1 world after the European colonialism (Loomba, 1998; Mukora, 1999). Chrisman (1994) argues that the Oriental/Occidental binaries erases the specificities of the histories of those continents and colonies that do not belong to the West/East axis, but they are nonetheless absorbed into it. Yet not many have de-centred the role of European colonialism to understand the new forms of colonialism that are being undertaken around the world, with Global South actors emerging as colonizers. While Loomba (1998) accedes that only a small part of the world, including Tibet, was never under formal European colonialism, she fails to acknowledge the ways in which China is carrying out a colonial project in Tibet currently. These East/West binaries only work to erase the “coloniality of the (post)colonial nation-state” (Osuri, 2017, p. 2428). As Anand (2012) argues, China and India are engaging in new forms of imperialisms, where formal equality is guaranteed within a nationalist framework, but informal imperialism persists. Osuri (2017) notes that there is a “structural concealment of the relationship between postcolonial nation-states and their possible imperial or colonial arrangements” (p. 2430). Postcolonial states are disregarded as engaging in their own colonial projects, and colonialism is understood to be a relic and in the realm of European states only. Yet, as the colonization of Tibet highlights, colonialism continues to exist even today, and can be a project perpetuated by a postcolonial state. Unlike other cases of contemporary settler colonialism, Tibet’s occupation highlights how the Global South is also participating in colonial projects, a reality often overlooked by postcolonial frameworks. Yet, the Tibetan nationalist movement has also 2 had to contend with appealing to the Western powers to justify their movement. Hence, the Tibetan nationalist movement also highlights that there is not a simple dichotomy between the colonizer and the colonized, but that there is a third actor, the Western powers, which also need to be considered in the framing of the nationalist