Buryat ethnicity in three countries (Russia, China and Mongolia)

Being involved in research on the history of national minorities in Mongolia and China (and the history of the region in the general context of Qing Dynasty rule), I seek to continue this effort by examining the evolution of Mongol society in postsocialist time. By the term “Mongol society” I refer to peoples of Mongolian origin, which live in three neighbouring countries: China, Mongolia and Russia. These countries have experienced dramatic changes in postsocialist time and Mongols (Buryats, Kalmyks and Tyvans in Russia, Khalkha Mongols in the Republic of Mongolia, and the Mongols of Inner Mongolia in China) live under very divergent and contrasting political and economic conditions.
This project is a comparative study of the official policies, institutional settings, and juridical statuses of Mongols in Russia, China and Mongolia. I also plan to compare the current politics of local self-government (limited ”sovereignty”) in Russia and Mongolia with the situation in China, which appears to be different. I shall examine to what extent cultural and social “Mongolness” has survived in the three countries, against the backdrop of strong Hanization of Mongols and other national minorities in China and “Russification” in Russia. Finally, I shall try to describe how different variants of “Mongolness” relate to the national minorities’ differential economic and political success in the three contexts. As far as I know such comparative research has not been done before, and results of the project will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of minority relations and ethnicity in Russia and China.