Identity reproducers beyond the grassroots: The middle class in the Manchu revival since the 1980s

Abstract

A diagnosis of the ethnic empowerment fuelled by the Chinese Manchu middle-class elite provides a useful tool for examining the overall Manchu identity revival movement in the 1980s. The strategy of the Manchu middle-class elite has three parts: re-crafting ethnic identity by strengthening networks and cultural differences, pursuing ethnic economic development, and politically legitimating the group existence. This article explores several important questions concerning the strategy. Why is the ethnic middle class keen to provide vigorous leadership in the ethnic identity reconstruction movement? How do the people of this class invest their bitter grievances with new meaning and empower themselves in the process of bargaining and group confrontation with the State? How can they make their ethnic identity more likely to be ‘institutionalised’ into the ethnic mosaic of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the Open and Reform era?