Re-Imagining Nationalism: Exploring the Narratives of Tibetan Women in Canada

This thesis focuses on Tibetan women's narratives to understand how Tibetan nationalism is reconfigured and sustained in exile in Canada. Using the framework of Third World nationalism, this thesis examines the ways in which Tibetan nationalism embodies and departs from established theories. This thesis analyses the themes of authenticity, citizenship, and exilic nationalism to highlight the heterogenous understanding of nationalist movements. This thesis establishes how Tibetan women challenge official and academic narratives of nationalism to forge their own understanding of nationalism. By challenging core conceptual categories inherent in nationalist projects like authenticity, nation and citizenship, Tibetan women are pushing back against ethno-nationalist frameworks to formulate new conceptions of nationalism. These new conceptions allow multiple narratives to coexist in the movement and demand a fluid understanding of nationalism which includes a broad base of people, including those that have been marginalized by orthodox understandings of nationalism.