![Sample our Global Development journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5929/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Global-Development.jpg"})
Abstract
Many debates over migrant labor politics in contemporary China rely upon essentialist notions of ethnic identity. In contrast, I identify migrant labor politics as transnational processes through which women migrants from rural Tibet become ethnic workers. Drawing on post-colonial theories of ethnicity and on feminist literature on global capitalism, this article analyzes the uses of migrant laborers in a globalizing Tibetan carpet industry. First, I investigate the making of Tibetan carpets and the essentialist construction of ‘carpet weavers’ employed by Tibetan–Nepalese carpet factory owners, carpet dealers in New York City, and various participants in Lhasa, including party cadres, international non-government organizations (NGOs), and overseas investors. I argue that the functioning of the international carpet business relies upon the ethnicization of migrant labor, in which labor subjugation involves creating ethnic subjects and ethnicized boundaries. This form of labor commodification is driven by both an economic logic and a moral imperative for preserving or regenerating ‘ethnic culture.’ Second, through the lens of gender, I look closely at the ethnicization of migrant labor in post-socialist Lhasa, analyzing its significance for the labor force in the carpet industry. The women carpet weavers, who mostly come from Tibet's rural areas, I found, strive to reconcile their desires for female autonomy with labor positions that reduce them to strangers in the city. Some women attempt to overcome their experiences of alienation while actively engaging in the reproduction of the patriarchal family as well as in labor hierarchies at work.
Muchos debates sobre la política del trabajo migratorio en la China contemporánea se basan en las nociones esencialistas de la identidad étnica. En contraste, identifico a la política del trabajo migratorio como los procesos transnacionales a través de los cuales las mujeres que migran del Tibet rural se vuelven trabajadoras étnicas. Basándome en teorías post coloniales de etnicidad y literatura feminista sobre capitalismo global, este artículo analiza los usos de las trabajadoras migrantes en la industria tibetana de la fabricación de alfombras, en proceso de globalización. Primero, investigo la fabricación de las alfombras tibetanas y la construcción esencialista de “tejedoras de alfombras” utilizado por los dueños de las fábricas tibetano-nepaleses, los comerciantes de alfombras en la ciudad de Nueva York, y varios participantes en Lhasa, incluyendo los cuadros del partido, organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG), e inversores extranjeros. Sostengo que el funcionamiento del negocio internacional de las alfombras se apoya en la etnización del trabajo migratorio, en el cual la subyugación del trabajo involucra la creación de sujetos étnicos y de límites etnizados. Esta forma de comodificación del trabajo está impulsada por la lógica económica y un imperativo moral de preservación o re-generación de la “cultura étnica”. En segundo lugar, desde la óptica del género, observo detalladamente la etnización del trabajo migratorio en la Lhasa post-socialista, analizando su significancia para la mano de obra en la industria de las alfombras. Las mujeres tejedoras de alfombras, quienes principalmente vienen de las áreas rurales de Tibet, he encontrado, luchan por reconciliar sus deseos de autonomía feminina con las posiciones de trabajo que las reducen a extrañas en la ciudad. Algunas mujeres intentan superar sus experiencias de enajenación mientras participan activamente en la reproducción de la familia patriarcal así como en las jerarquías laborales en el trabajo.
诸多有关中国当代移工政治的辩论，多半仰赖本质化的族裔认同。有别于此，我将指认移工政治做为跨国的过程，使得来自西藏农村的女性移民从中成为少数族裔工作者。本文运用后殖民族裔理论以及全球资本主义的女性主义文献，分析逐渐全球化的西藏地毯纺织产业利用移工的方式。我首先调查西藏地毯纺织以及由西藏一尼泊尔地毯工厂老板，纽约市地毯商人，以及在拉萨的各类参与者如政党干部，跨国非政府组织（NGOs）和海外投资者所共同使用的“地毯纺织工”本质化建构。我主张，国际地毯市场的运作实际上仰赖将移工族裔化，其中劳动的从属化包含了创造少数族裔的身分以及族裔化的边界。此一劳动商品化的形式，同时由经济逻辑与保存，再生“族裔文化”的道德诉求所驱动。再者，我将透过性别的视角，仔细检视后社会主义拉萨中移工的族裔化过程，分析其对于地毯纺织产业劳动力的重要性。我发现这些多半来自西藏农村地区的女性地毯纺织工，必须努力调和她们希冀获得女性自主权的愿望，以及致使她们成为都市中的陌生人的劳工身分。有些女性试着克服其所面临的异化经验的同时，却仍积极参与父权家庭的再生产与工作的劳动阶层化。
Acknowledgements
I thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments. I also want to thank Norma Rantisi, Ted Rutland, Kevin Gould, and Kabir Heimsath for providing me with constructive comments on the early manuscript and to thank my writing mentor Lee Gould for her editorial advice on the final manuscript. I thank the School of Communication (Simon Fraser University) for providing me with the necessary financial resources for the two field trips (2005, 2006) and Robbie Barnett, who supported my research at Columbia University (2007).
Notes
1. The Tibetan Buddhist School, established in the thirteenth century, has been led by the Dalai Lama (15 incarnations) since the seventeenth century.
2. For example, China's money and migrants pour into Tibet, New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/world/asia/25tibet.html [accessed on September 5, 2011]. Also, see Fischer (Citation2005). A few researchers began exploring how rural origins, social class, and state policy affect the Sino-Tibet migration politics (Hansen Citation2005; Hu and Salazer Citation2008; Yeh Citation2008).
3. In Nepal, there are indigenous Tibetan speaking communities, using different ethnic identities, including Lama. However, many Tibetan refugees also started to use ‘Lama’ as a surname. For a detailed analysis on ethnic identities and cultures in Nepal, see, for example, Levine (Citation1987).
4. Tibetans with refugee backgrounds play important roles as factory owners and exporters in this industry. In recent years, many news sources indicate that in light of the Maoist movement in Nepal, more restrictive policies are imposed on Tibetan-owned businesses, including carpet factories.
5. See Hess (Citation2009) for a detailed history of Tibetans' immigration from South Asia to North America, Western Europe, Australia, and other continents.
6. According to my informants, the residence quarter previously included several dormitory buildings, a canteen, a nursery, and a bathhouse. In 2007, I saw workers and other renters living in the one-story bungalows. Only two old dormitory buildings were left. Workers, who live in these bungalows and buildings, pay their rent and utilities, approximately 45 yuan per month. All renters share public toilets and tap water. Sixty percent of the workers live in this residence quarter. Eighty percent of them were single in 2007.
7. A good example is a publication by the TAR Women's Federation in 2005, which showcases more than 50 Tibetan women as model citizens. This book, entitled The collection of the stories of Tibetan women in the new era (Citation2005), was part of cultural initiatives, celebrating the TAR's 40th anniversary. This collection of model Tibetan women (e.g., teachers, cadres, artists, construction workers, scholars, doctors, and businesswomen) includes a peasant entrepreneur, who ran a weaving workshop. But, no story of a carpet worker is documented.
8. See, for example, Makley's (Citation2007) analysis of new sexual regimes and ethnic mixings in a Tibetan town Labrang in her book, The violenece of liberation: Gender and Tibetan Buddhist revival in Post-Mao China.