Tibet, China, and Settler Colonialism

The term settler colonialism is increasingly being used to describe the relationship between the People’s Republic of China and its so-called ethnic minorities, such as Tibetans and Uyghurs. In this talk, I will provide a brief overview of settler colonialism as both a framework for scholarly analysis and real-world practice of domination. I will also explore how this term is being applied to the PRC, with reference to Tibet, and discuss how describing the Tibetan situation as settler-colonial differs from other approaches to the Tibet issue. As a way of illustrating this approach, I will discuss urbanization in Tibet as a technique of settler colonialism, particularly the relationship between urbanization and migration.