This volume is the first to comprehensively examine Chinese's affirmative action policies in the critical area of minority education, the most important conduit to employment and economic success in the PRC after the economic reforms begun in the late 1970s.

"Of great moment to China and the U.S., this dialogue on social inequality and 'affirmative action' in education offers stimulating insights into critical matters, including the imperatives of state-formation and nation-building, majority-minority relations, and the consequences of transnationalism." - Gary Y. Okihiro, Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Author of Island World: A History of Hawai'i and the United States and Pineapple Culture: A History of the Tropical and Temperate Zones

"This book is a welcome contribution to an underdeveloped field in Chinese studies. It will be attractive to several audiences: those interested in China's national minorities; in Chinese educational policies with respect to minorities, and in cross national comparison of affirmative action in China and the United States. The authors come both from the US and from China. Chapters on specific cases contain rich and vivid detail of the dilemmas involved in providing equal educational opportunities to Chinese minorities." - Thomas P. Bernstein, Professor emeritus, Columbia University; Author of Up to the Mountains and Down to the Villages: The Transfer of Youth from Urban to Rural China

Autorentext
MINGLANG ZHOU is Associate Professor of East Asian Studies at Dickinson College, USA.

ANN MAXWELL HILL whose research focuses mainly on minorities in China, teaches anthropology at Dickinson College, USA.

Inhalt
Introduction; A.Maxwell Hill & M.Zhou PART I: DEBATING CHINA'S POSITIVE POLICIES: HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS AND CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE Mandarins, Marxists, and Minorities; W.Connor Tracking the Historical Development of China's Positive Policies or Preferential Policies for Minority Education: Continuities and Discontinuities; M.Zhou Minority Policies and Equality in College Admission Examinations in China; T.Wang Preferential Policies for Ethnic Minorities and Equality in Higher Education in China; X.Teng & X.Ma Yunnan's Preferential Policies in Minority Education Since the 1980s: Retrospect and Prospects; Y.Dai & C.Xu PART II: BETWEEN STATE EDUCATION AND LOCAL CULTURES Compulsory Education in the Eastern Tibetan Areas: A Field Survey in Kangding and Machu Counties; Gelek Tibetan Students Perspectives on/ Neidi/ Schools; G.Postiglione, B.Jiao & N.Tsering School Consolidation in Rural Sichuan: Quality Vs. Equality; C.Y.Chan & S.Harrell PART III: BETWEEN MARKET COMPETITIVENESS AND CULTURAL/LINGUISTIC IDENTITIES The Trade Culture of a Hui Community and Local Education: An Anthropological Case Study; M.Xiaoyi Issues of Minority Education in Xinjiang China; R.Ma Using Yugur in Local Schools: Reflections on China's Policy for Minority Language and Education; Z.Ba PART IV: GLOBALIZING THE DISCOURSE ON INEQUALITY AND EDUCATION Natives and Nation: Assimilation and Indigenous Peoples in China and the U.S.; A.Maxwell Hill Affirmative Action, Civil Rights and Racial Preferences in the United States: Some General Observations; E.Hu-DeHart Learning about Equality: Affirmative Action, College Admissions, and the Law of the United States; D.Edlin