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Ethnicity, temporality and educational mobilities: comparing the ethnic identity constructions of Mongolian and Tibetan students in China

Xu, Cora Lingling; Yang, Miaoyan

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Dr Cora Xu lingling.xu@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Miaoyan Yang



Abstract

This article explores the impact of educational mobilities on the ethnic identity construction of minority students in China. Adopting ‘temporality’ as an analytical tool, the article highlights the dynamic temporal multiplicity in ethnic identity construction by comparing longitudinal in-depth interviews of a Mongolian student and a Tibetan student. This multiplicity of temporality is manifested in three aspects: temporality of ethnic othering; temporality of ethnic identity awakening; and temporality of ‘worldly time’ and ‘ethnic time’. Both ‘worldly time’ and ‘ethnic time’ entail distinctive understandings about these students’ pace and priorities in life. Both students defer their ‘permanent’ ethnic identity to an imagined future. Yet, adopting the gaze of the dominant others, both students subconsciously constructed an essentialist view of their ethnic cultures as fixed and stable, and those of the dominant cultures as alive and fluid. This article enriches our understanding of the politics of subjectivation through the lens of ‘temporality’.

Citation

Xu, C. L., & Yang, M. (2019). Ethnicity, temporality and educational mobilities: comparing the ethnic identity constructions of Mongolian and Tibetan students in China. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 40(5), 631-646. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2019.1576121

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 27, 2019
Online Publication Date Mar 14, 2019
Publication Date 2019
Deposit Date Aug 26, 2020
Publicly Available Date Sep 14, 2020
Journal British Journal of Sociology of Education
Print ISSN 0142-5692
Electronic ISSN 1465-3346
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 40
Issue 5
Pages 631-646
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2019.1576121
Related Public URLs https://eprints.keele.ac.uk/5539/

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