Ondrej Klimes – författare

Cultural Security in Contemporary China and Mongolia applies the term “cultural security” not exclusively to state- or institution-implemented processes, but also considers the indigenous, bottom-up, and inside-out mechanisms of establishing and maintaining communal cultural security of an ethnic group. Markers of cultural identity differ according to an inside and outside perspective and can be re-defined according to inner or outer circumstances. Importance of these markers increases when a community feels endangered in their cultural existence, or diminishes when perceived cultural identity is not questioned. The dynamics shaping cultural security are illustrated in examples of ethnic communities in the People’s Republic of China and in Mongolia.

In Struggle by the Pen, Ondřej Klimeš explores the emergence of national consciousness and nationalist ideology of Uyghurs in Xinjiang from c. 1900-1949. Drawing from texts written by modern Uyghur intellectuals, politicians and propagandists throughout this period, he identifies diverse types of Uyghur discourse on the nation and national interest, and traces the emergence and construction of modern Uyghur national identity. The author also demonstrates that the modern Uyghur intelligentsia regarded political emancipation and social modernization as the two most important interests of their nation, and that they envisaged Uyghurs as citizens of a modern republican state founded on the principles of representative government. This book thus presents a new perspective on Uyghur intellectual history and on Republican Xinjiang.

This book applies the term “cultural security” not exclusively to state- or institution-implemented processes, but also considers the indigenous, bottom-up, and inside-out mechanisms of establishing and maintaining communal cultural security of an ethnic group.

This edited volume presents the results of a three-year comparative study on Chinese cultural diplomacy (CD) across Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, which contributes to the broader theoretical debate on China`s increasing soft power in international relations.