Everyday Mobilization: Tibetan Struggle for a Nation in Exile

Abstract

The present work focuses on the lived experiences of the Tibetan refugees in order to understand their way of life dedicated to the nation’s freedom, lived only through imagination and narratives. Tibetan communities living inside and outside two Tibetan settlements, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, and Bylakuppe, Karnataka, in India, were interviewed. An analysis of 15 interviews showed that for participants, the meaning of being a true Tibetan depends on identification with the cultural and religious values specific to Tibet, perceiving their enemy as a substantial threat to Tibet‘s existence, and following non-violent ways to struggle for Tibet’s cause. A determined sense of belonging only to a Tibet free from the atrocities of the enemy (thus not belonging to the current Tibetan Autonomous Region or anywhere else), along with challenges in exile and faith in present political strategies, motivates a phenomenon of everyday mobilization reflected in their rational life choices to free Tibet. This article contributes to a broader debate on the mobilization process for the continuity of a social movement amid statelessness.