| This is a study in the politics of education in which state elites attempt to establish political integration by transmitting ideologies of nationhood and national identity via the school system. In some countries, the national identity transmitted by state elites may result in disintegrative rather than integrative effects. Educational theorists have argued that weak state structures, colonial legacies, and economic inequalities, are some of the factors that may inhibit education from achieving national integration. Few theorists, however, have suggested that pre- existing national identities may circumscribe the ability of education to serve as a viable integrating and consolidating agent.; This study argues that in order to understand why the Chinese government has been unsuccessful in integrating Tibet into China, one needs to move beyond the prevailing literature on the development of nations, and recognize that Tibetans had a sense of nationhood and national identity prior to the Chinese takeover in 1950.; The study focuses on the development of Tibetan nationhood by drawing on historical experiences, folk literature, and oral traditions, as well as religious practices and cultural symbols in creating a sense of Tibetan national consciousness. It then turns to the role of the Chinese government in trying to reshape Tibetan nationhood and identity in its efforts to incorporate Tibet into China, and examines the contestation of national identities.; In this sense, the study argues for a new perspective on the Tibet Question, one which posits different yet important contributions being made from both Tibetans and Chinese to the creation of Tibet as a nation. Toward this end, the study argues that the formation of the Tibetan nation is an ongoing process, neither ceasing nor originating with the Chinese takeover, but one which has continued in response to Chinese policies. This suggests that a realistic and accurate picture of contemporary Tibet must move away from the overdrawn and simplistic analysis that Tibetan culture and national identity is on the verge of disappearing, and move to a more richly textured consideration of the complex processes occurring in the country, specifically the role of education in the evolution of Tibetan national identity. |
