Ethnic Diversity and State Multiculturalism: Critiquing the ‘Color-Blind’ Approach in China’s Minzu Higher Education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Diversity plays a pivotal role in shaping national curricula as it reflects the commitment to combat racism and ethnic discrimination. In China’s public higher education, the integration of multiculturalism (duoyuan wenhua 多元文化) into the Minzu 民族 university system exemplifies the nation’s efforts to recognize and embrace diversity. This study examines the academic landscape in Minzu higher education and its implications for inter-ethnic relations in China. It argues that a top-down ‘color-blind’ approach enforced within Minzu higher education fails to address structural inequalities associated with ethnicity. Despite the institutional emphasis on diversity through institutional multiculturalism, this study reveals a tendency to view ethnicity through a hierarchical lens that centers on the norms of the dominant ethnic group. This reflects the university’s strict regulation of discussions on ethnic topics. These findings underscore Minzu higher education’s capacity to reconcile ethnic diversity with the uniformity mandated by state-led multiculturalism.