ON SEPTEMBER, 1995, Tibetan nationalism and international front of a global audience when nine exiled. Tibetan women staged a demonstration at the united Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beiljing. From the Tibetan perspective, the women had created history by becoming the first Tibetans ever to hold a protest on Chinese soil.
          This book traces the history of organized political resistance by Tibetan women over the 40-year period leading up to the Beijing Conference. It describes and analyses the development of the Tibetan Women's Association, the mass women's organization of the Tibetan exile community, and in particular the impact of feminism on it. It looks at the overlaps and tensions between nationalism and feminism, and examines how both can be constructed in exile. In doing so, the book raises questions of belonging and representation, of change and permanence, of political expediency and idealism. Overall, it provides a unique insight into the nature of Tibetan nationalism and its interaction with international forces and movements.

ALEX BUTLER is an Australian social scientist who has been involved in the Tiber support movement for over ten years. She is based at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

      Acknowledgements    vii
1    Introduction    1
2    Historical and Symbolic Origins    33
3    TWA'S Membership    58
4    Leadership    83
5    TWA in the Exile Community, 1985-1992    116
6    TWA in the World, 1991-1995    148
7    TWA's New World in Exile    188
    Appendix    233
    References    234