Geopolitical Exotica

Geopolitical Exotica examines exoticized Western representations of Tibet and Tibetans and the debate over that land\u2019s status with regard to China. Concentrating on specific cultural images of the twentieth century—promulgated by novels, popular films, travelogues, and memoirs—Dibyesh Anand lays bare the strategies by which \u201cExotica Tibet\u201d and \u201cTibetanness\u201d have been constructed, and he investigates the impact these constructions have had on those who are being represented. ┬áAlthough images of Tibet have excited the popular imagination in the West for many years, Geopolitical Exotica is the first book to explore representational practices within the study of international relations. Anand challenges the parochial practices of current mainstream international relations theory and practice, claiming that the discipline remains mostly Western in its orientation. His analysis of Tibet\u2019s status with regard to China scrutinizes the vocabulary afforded by conventional international relations theory and considers issues that until now have been undertheorized in relation to Tibet, including imperialism, history, diaspora, representation, and identity. ┬áIn this masterfully synthetic work, Anand establishes that postcoloniality provides new insights into themes of representation and identity and demonstrates how IR as a discipline can meaningfully expand its focus beyond the West. ┬áDibyesh Anand is a reader in international relations at the University of Westminster, London.