Part of the Institute for Chinese Studies "Understanding China -- Its Roots and New Frontiers Lecture Series"
“What Explains the Rise of Ethnic Minority Tensions in China?”
Abstract:
In the past few years there has been a rise of flash ethnic violence in the relatively developed areas of China such as Beijing and Shanghai, to the far-reaching Western provinces of Xinjiang and Tibet. While the state’s response to ethnic unrest oscillates between ‘soft’ (e.g. funding ethno-cultural activities) and ‘hard’ (e.g. increasing security mechanisms) policies, this talk suggests that this strategy will do little to address the underlying causes behind ethnic minority tensions in the long-term. Instead, it will argue that the most culpable factor behind current ethnic tensions are socio-economically rooted: Minorities are increasingly experiencing ‘ethnic penalties’ in the labour market, whereby their comparable educational attainment and training, akin to the majority ethnic group, Hans, do not match similar labour market outcomes. While intuitively, overt discrimination insofar as one’s physical appearance or linguistic abilities, and first generation migrant status, are often cited as prevailing reasons to explain this ‘penalty’, the findings presented in this talk will suggest that explanatory factors such as an individual’s social network, a firm’s working culture, and social trust in a community are equally important considerations. Moreover, the interactive role of non-cognitive skills in minority labour acquisition will be discussed. Finally, the talk will consider the policy implications of these findings for ethnic minority management, and the lessons learned for other multi-ethnic jurisdictions.
Biography:
Reza Hasmath (Ph.D., Cambridge) is a Lecturer in Chinese Politics at the University of Oxford, and an Associate Professor in Political Science at the University of Alberta. He is also a Tutor in Politics at Hertford College, University of Oxford; and, a Research Associate in the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), the China Growth Centre, St. Edmund Hall, and the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford. He has held faculty positions in Management and Sociology at the Universities of Toronto and Melbourne, and has previously worked for think-tanks, consultancies, development agencies, and NGOs in USA, Canada, UK, Australia and China. His recent articles have appeared in the Journal of Contemporary China, Journal of Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies, and the International Labour Review. His forthcoming books are Ethnicity in Contemporary Urban China, and Inclusive Growth, Welfare and Development Policy: A Critical Assessment.
