The fight over Inner Mongolia's "bilingual education" policy
This week on Sinica, we discuss the controversy surrounding the decision by Beijing to selectively replace Mongolian-language instruction in schools in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region with Mandarin — and how people both in Inner Mongolia and in Mongolia are pushing back. We're joined by Christopher Atwood, one of the nation's leading specialists in Mongolian history and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and by Christian Sorace, an assistant professor of political science at Colorado College. 7:28: A historical overview of Mongolian history through independence 19:03: The demography of Inner Mongolia 23:09: What the bilingual education policy would actually do 35:07: The impetus for pushing language policy Recommendations: Jeremy: Buying books from your local bookstore. He also recommends the website bookshop.org, which allows you to support local bookstores. Christopher: Ravelstein, by Saul Bellow, and the album At Fillmore East, by the Allman Brothers Band. Christian: As a new father, he’s recommending a children’s book: Telephone Tales, by Gianni Rodari. Kaiser: The Vow, a true crime documentary series available on HBO Max. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.