Circle of Protest

'Professor Schwartz is the first serious and well-qualified scholar to attempt a broad analysis of the developments in Tibet during the last six years, and in particular the emerging nationalism among Tibetans. The author, who has the unique advantage of having done fieldwork in Tibet and in fact witnessed some of the dramatic events that he describes, shows how traditional Tibetan religion serves as a reservoir of potent symbols which can be put to use in an incipient anticolonialist struggle for national liberation. It also shows how Tibetan Buddhist monks and, not least, nuns play a crucial role not only in demonstrations and other acts of protest, but also in formulating demands for democracy and human rights in terms of Buddhist values and concepts. He shows that the Chinese government is caught up in an insoluble dilemma between its constitutional commitment to freedom of religion and human rights, and its policy of ruthless suppression of manifestations of nationalistic ("splittist") sentiments among Tibetans.' (Prof. Per Kvaerne, Univ. of Oslo). Circle of Protest is written in an accessible style while providing unique information on Tibet of great value to the specialist.
Situated in the late 1980s, the work focuses on the role of Buddhism in the struggle for democracy and human rights and makes clear why monks and nuns have led the protest movement.