Seminar – 1 June – Emily Yeh

ALL WELCOME

Emily Yeh

University of Colorado Boulder

The cultural politics of new Tibetan Entrepreneurship in contemporary China: Valorization and the question of neoliberalism

In the first decade of the new millennium, many educated and ambitious young Tibetans in China aspired to work in non-governmental organizations to promote community development, cultural preservation, and environmental protection. A decade later, the figure of the entrepreneur has replaced the figure of the NGO-worker, and hopes and dreams are now pinned on the private sector.  Taking this observation as a starting point, the talk analyzes how new forms of Tibetan entrepreneurship in China have emerged and proliferated, at the intersection of a national push for entrepreneurship in response to a slowing economy, the closure of non-governmental organizations in Tibetan areas, declining state sector employment, and state concerns about stability. It then explores the cultural politics of Tibetan entrepreneurship, and analyzes these in relation to critiques of neoliberal subjectivities associated with entrepreneurship.  One of the key themes of Tibetan entrepreneurship is the effort to create economic value in the service of cultural value and a sense of self-worth for Tibetans living in rural areas.  Finally, I briefly explore geographical specificities of these new forms of entrepreneurship. 

Please email miasu-admin@socanth.cam.ac.uk to book a space