Geopolitical Exotica A BOOK SERIES CONCERNED WITH REVISIONING GLOBAL POLITICS David Campbell and Michael J. Shapiro, series editors Volume 30 Dibyesh Anand, Geopolitical Exotica: Tibet in Western Imagination Volume 29 Prem Kumar Rajaram and Carl Grundy-Warr, editors, Borderscapes: Hidden Geographies and Politics at Territory’s Edge Volume 28 Louiza Odysseos, The Subject of Coexistence: Otherness in International Relations Volume 27 Denise Ferreira da Silva, Toward a Global Idea of Race Volume 26 Matthew Sparke, In the Space of Theory: Postfoundational Geographies of the Nation-State Volume 25 Roland Bleiker, Divided Korea: Toward a Culture of Reconciliation Volume 24 Marieke de Goede, Virtue, Fortune, and Faith: A Genealogy of Finance Volume 23 Himadeep Muppidi, The Politics of the Global Volume 22 William A. Callahan, Contingent States: Greater China and Transnational Relations Volume 21 Allaine Cerwonka, Native to the Nation: Disciplining Landscapes and Bodies in Australia Volume 20 Simon Dalby, Environmental Security For more books in this series, see page 192. Geopolitical Exotica Tibet in Western Imagination DIBYESH ANAND BORDERLINES, VOLUME 30 University of Minnesota Press Minneapolis London Copyright 2007 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, elec- tronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by the University of Minnesota Press 111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290 Minneapolis, MN 55401- 2520 http://www.upress.umn.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Anand, Dibyesh Geopolitical exotica : Tibet in western imagination / Dibyesh Anand. p. cm. — (Borderlines ; v. 30) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN: 978-0-8166-4765-1 (hc : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8166-4765-8 (hc : alk. paper) ISBN: 978-0-8166-4766-8 (pb : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8166-4766-6 (pb : alk. paper) 1. Tibet—History. 2. Tibet—International relations. 3. Group identity. 4. Geopolitics. I. Title. DS786.A6753 2007 951'.5—dc22 2007034924 Printed in the United States of America on acid - free paper The University of Minnesota is an equal- opportunity educator and employer. 12 11 10 09 08 07 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Wherever the wind blows from Its rage always falls upon me. O, please, my dear flagstaff, do excuse me I the poor flag must pray for leave —Tibetan verse (translated by W. Y. Evans-Wentz, MODERN POLITICAL PAPERS) This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction xiii 1. Postcoloniality, Representation, and World Politics 1 2. Imagining the Other 17 3. Poetics of Exotica Tibet 37 4. The West and the Identity of “Tibet” 65 5. The Politics of Tibetan (Trans)National Identity 87 6. Postcoloniality and Reimag(in)ing Tibetanness 109 Conclusion 129 Notes 133 Bibliography 151 Publication History 183 Index 185 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments Writing this book has been an intimate experience for me. It would not have been possible without the generous support received from the University of Bristol Postgraduate Scholarship, Overseas Research Scholarship Award Scheme, Economic and So- cial Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme, British International Studies Research Award; British Academy Society for South Asian Studies Travel Grant, University of Bath Centre for Pub- lic Economics Grant, Chiang Ching - Kuo Foundation Library Grant, and British Academy Small Research Grant. The Tibetan government- in - exile’s Department of Information and International Relations at Dharamsala provided valuable infor- mation during my fieldwork. St. Stephen’s College (Delhi) and espe- cially its inspiring history lecturers (including David Baker, Aditya Pratap Deo, Sangeeta- Luthra Sharma, Upinder Singh, and Tasneem Suhrawardy) instilled an academic curiosity in me that changed the direction of my life. I thank Jutta Weldes for her encouragement, support, guidance, and patience during my doctoral research. She is the best super- visor and colleague one can have. I also express appreciation to the Department of Politics at the University of Bristol for supporting me and setting a high standard — thanks to Richard Little, Vernon ix