Tradition and Transmutation: A Diachronic Analysis on the Logic of Competitive Collective Action in the Tibetan Borderlands of Gan-Qing-Chuan, China

Abstract

This paper presents a unique approach to the study of Chinese ethnic group conflicts, diverging from the conventional focus on external factors such as macro-causal analysis and strategy research. Instead, it delves into the internal theme of group conflicts, namely “the logic of collective action,” and analyzes its manifestations in the Tibetan borderlands of Gansu, Qinghai, and Sichuan China across two distinct historical periods: the tribal society period and the contemporary era. The findings indicate that in the contemporary Tibetan borderlands of Gansu, Qinghai, and Sichuan, the ideological discourses of “collective responsibility” and religion as mobilizing mechanisms have tended to diminish in influence, while the structural social mentality has grown in strength. While deliberations and oaths (mengshi) still constitute the preliminary phase to collective action, the subsequent action has shifted from predominantly “armed struggle” to the combination of “struggle and negotiation (wenzheng wudou),” and the framework of collective action from “retributive justice” to “restorative (distributive) justice,” embodied in “li (precedent)” and “li (reason).” The evolution of this logic of collective action is the inevitable result of the changing mechanism of power relations following the implantation of a new political power system in Tibetan borderland society.