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Robert Barnett

@robbiebarnett.bsky.social
623 followers 690 following 32 posts

Professor & Senior Research Associate, SOAS University of London; Affiliate Lecturer, Kings College London; Modern Tibetan Studies, Columbia 1998-2018

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Reposted by Robert Barnett
Jessica Faecks @jessicafaecks.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
#JustPublished in #OpenAccess with #PalgraveMacmillan: 'The Quiet State: Micro-Surveillance and Normalisation in #Tibet' by @robbiebarnett.bsky.social @soasuni.bsky.social. Download the e-book for free: link.springer.com/book/10.1007... Thank you to @ukri.org for supporting this publication!
Book cover for The Quiet State: Micro-Surveillance and Normalisation in Tibet by Robert Barnett, with a foreword by Andrew J. Nathan. The cover features a barren mountain landscape under a blue sky, with large Chinese and Tibetan characters displayed on a hillside in the lower right. The title appears in large white text against a blue background. An “Open Access” label and the Palgrave Macmillan logo appear at the bottom.
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu @tshakya.bsky.social @hofrench.bsky.social @jwassers.bsky.social @bequelin.bsky.social @nectargan.bsky.social @jimmillward.bsky.social @nrg8000.bsky.social @profmartinamills.bsky.social @janecaple.bsky.social @trineb.bsky.social, @beijingpalmer.bsky.social
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Huge thanks to Andy Nathan for the foreword; Minxin Pei, Geremie Barmé, Emily Yeh, Uradyn Bulag and Tsering Shakya for endorsements (extracts above); the co-researchers who made the book possible; & the publishing team and reviewers; and all the Tibetans & others for all their work over many years🙏.
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Emily Yeh: the Quiet State shows "the evolving contours of state disciplinary power in Tibet, as well as methodological innovations for analysis in such 'post-ethnographic' contexts" and "previously undocumented forms of intimate surveillance and spatial confinement."
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Uradyn Bulag: The book "reconstructs previously undocumented mechanisms of micro-surveillance and home-based monitoring ... What emerges is a 'quiet mode' of governance that works through low-profile, labour-intensive controls, repackaging discipline as care" (@UradynB).
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Minxin Pei: The Quiet State's "analysis of the evolving modes of operation of China’s system of control in Tibet" shows how "mobilising ordinary people to implement the state’s 'soft' methods of surveillance at the grassroots level" can be "more effective than brute force.”
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
From Andy Nathan's foreword: "the obscure story of a few thousand displaced Tibetan nuns" shows how "soft modes of control have or are likely to spread throughout China ...cloaked in the pathos of benevolence ... relatively inexpensive, frighteningly efficient, and invisible to outsiders."
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
- Returnee Nuns in the Eastern Tibetan Areas: Centralised Settlement - Returnee Nuns in the TAR: Home-Based Confinement And the conclusion: - Logics of Mobility, Benevolence and Erratic Violence
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Chapters: - Introduction: Research from Afar - Beyond the Kaleidoscope: Modes of Power in the Periphery - Anecdotal Fragments - The Expulsion of the Nuns - Extralegal Group Detention in Tibet - Open-Source Studies and Their Risks
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"The Quiet State: Micro-Surveillance and Normalisation in Tibet" is finally out, open access & available for free here: link.springer.com/book/10.1007.... It's about the new methods of authoritarian rule indicated by mechanisms used to manage Tibetan nuns, and about research methods in closed areas.
link.springer.com
The Quiet State
This open access book uses open-source analysis to reveal hidden state surveillance of Tibetan nuns, offering new methods for post-ethnographic research.
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Reposted by Robert Barnett
Turquoise Roof @turquoiseroof.org · 11/09/2026
@robbiebarnett.bsky.social point on #Kyirong: became the main land crossing only after the 2015 earthquake shut Zhangmu. Trade concentrated into one narrow valley & settlement followed the logistics up the gorge. The risk exposure was built by a prior disaster www.thinkingtaiwan.net/article/100459
thinkingtaiwan.net
Questions Mount over China's Role in Tibet - 想想Thinking Taiwan - 想想台灣,想想未來
The catastrophe that has unfolded in Nepal since August 26 has left thousands dead or m
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Reposted by Robert Barnett
Nicola Macbean @nicolamacbean.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Looking forward to reading this both for the insights into Tibet from a real expert but also for how @robbiebarnett.bsky.social uses open source data on coercion in such an opaque context.
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Reposted by Robert Barnett
Turquoise Roof @turquoiseroof.org · 08/09/2026
The Quiet State @robbiebarnett.bsky.social reconstructs the #surveillance of #Tibetan Buddhist nuns entirely from official Chinese media: coercion repackaged as "care" studied under structured opacity. Remote research on Tibet at its most rigorous link.springer.com/book/9789819... #osint #openaccess
link.springer.com
The Quiet State
This open access book uses open-source analysis to reveal hidden state surveillance of Tibetan nuns, offering new methods for post-ethnographic research.
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Reposted by Robert Barnett
Turquoise Roof @turquoiseroof.org · 01/09/2026
As @robbiebarnett.bsky.social concluded, "in all these projects, and many others, the drive to extract power from the landscape or to project power to one's neighbors involves, as we now see, terrifyingly high-risk gambles with the limitations of nature."
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Reposted by Robert Barnett
9DASHLINE @9dashline.com · 08/09/2026
"A signal of displeasure, arguably misread, appears to have been enough to shut down the field’s largest international gathering, and in a democratic state, with a reputational cost to that state as well as to China" www.9dashline.com/article/cros... | by @robbiebarnett.bsky.social
9dashline.com
Cross-border Interference or Garbled Messaging: China, Nepal, and the Cancellation of the World’s Largest Tibetan Studies Conference
Written by Robert Barnett. On 8 August the Nepalese government ordered Kathmandu University to abort its plan to host a major international conference on Tibet. Media reports and online chatter assume...
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Reposted by Robert Barnett
Greg @jamyang.net · 18/03/2026
🧵 The EU's foreign affairs service just published its 4th annual report on foreign information manipulation. #FIMI It identifies China's #Spamouflage network as active here on #Bluesky (大家好!) It touches on the targeting of #Tibetans. A thread on what it says:
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Reposted by Robert Barnett
Remote Xuar @remotexuar.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
The next Inner #Asia #Colloquium is coming! Join the talk on 📆 2 September at 10:00 CEST (bit.ly/4mguLhA) to learn how #cadre management shapes #China’s strategy for governing #Tibet in #XiJinping’s ‘New Era’: www.remote-xuar.com/events/stabi... 🎤 Speaker: @doctordev.bsky.social
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
The ruling is likely to cause a precipitous drop in the number of Tibetan senior high-school students studying Tibetan, since it will now be optional in the last 3 years of high school. Students in China rarely have time for subjects that don't contribute to their gaokao score. (10)
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Tibetan will still be a compulsory class in Tibetan primary schools (grades 1-6) and junior high schools (grades 7-9), but not in senior high schools. (9)
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Tibetan high school graduates who need a qualification in Tibetan language in order to join a college course on Tibetan medicine, language or literature will be allowed to take a separate Tibetan exam, but it will not count towards their gaokao score. (8)
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
He added that the policy change is because Tibetan-related university programs "face relatively limited enrollment quotas, narrow pathways for advancement, a narrow range of disciplines, and limited employment opportunities." He did not provide evidence to support these claims. (7)
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Karma Tseten said the goal of removing Tibetan from the gaokao "is to correct the erroneous societal perspectives of prioritizing scores and academic advancement, and to truly achieve student success and social equity." It is unclear how the decision could help these aims. (6)
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
The announcement was made by Karma Tseten, governor of the TAR, at a high-profile press conference at China's State Council Information Office in Beijing on Tuesday Aug 5. It was made clear that the decision is not limited to the TAR but will apply throughout China. (5)
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Till now Tibetan students could use their Tibetan paper grade for 50% of their gaokao marks, but ability in Tibetan will now not count. Tibetan will also not be one of the optional gaokao papers (ideology and politics, history, geography, physics, chemistry, and biology). (4)
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
This means that Tibetan will no longer be a paper in the gaokao. (3)
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
"Following relevant policy adjustments, Tibet, like other provinces and autonomous regions, has implemented a "single-paper [unified] exam" system. The unified exam covers Chinese, mathematics, and a foreign language (including English, Russian, Japanese, French, German, and Spanish)." (2)
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
China has announced that from next month, Tibetan will no longer be a subject in the annual National College Entrance Examination (高考 gaokao), China's most important test for high school students. According to the announcement (www.scio.gov.cn/live/2025/36...):
scio.gov.cn
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Benno Weiner's talk on the history of Sino-Tibetan borderlands, focusing on "pluralistic promises" vs "revolutionary impatience" in Amdo: Friday 18th Jul at 15:00 CET (9am EST, 2pm UK, 630 IST). www.remote-xuar.com/events/makin...
remote-xuar.com
Making Minorities on the Sino-Tibetan Borderlands of Socialist China | Remote
Inner Asia Colloquium
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Reposted by Robert Barnett
Benno Weiner @bennoweiner.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
End of the year, new app, seems like a good time to share something I did for Shepherd back in summer. Particularly happy that three of the books are by Tibetan authors writing in Tibet/China. @woeser.bsky.social @robbiebarnett.bsky.social shepherd.com/best-books/u...
shepherd.com
The best books to understand the plight of Tibetans in contemporary China
Benno Weiner shares the 5 best books on understanding Tibetan plights in contemporary China. Have you read My Tibetan Childhood?
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Reposted by Robert Barnett
Turquoise Roof @turquoiseroof.org · 20/12/2024
As traffic to our site from Chinese readers grows, we continue to make available Mandarin translations where possible: 强力外交:中国在不丹的跨境村庄 摘要 turquoiseroof.org/download/%e5... (Summary of @robbiebarnett.bsky.social's report: Forceful #Diplomacy: China’s Cross-Border Villages in #Bhutan) #不丹
turquoiseroof.org
强力外交:中国在不丹的跨境村庄 摘要
2016年,中国开始在通常被认为属于不丹的领土上建造一个村庄。五年后,这个村庄的存在 才被外界观察者发现,或被外国政府注意到。 当时,中国已经在不丹的传统习惯边界内建立了另外两个村庄。这些也位于喜马拉雅山高地或 喜马拉雅峡谷的偏远地区。目前已有22个这样的村庄和定居点。从卫星图像来看,这些中国 村庄和聚居区由约 752 个住宅区组成,估计分为 2,284 个住宅单元,每个单元可容纳一个家 庭。为了...
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Map3: China's 8 cross-border villages in Bji Gewog, western Bhutan, & areas claimed there by China. The Bhutan-Tibet (China) border is as shown on the 1:250,000 Map of Bhutan 2006. Names of valleys & sites of Chinese villages added. Map: Robert Barnett 2024.
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Note that Map 2, based on Bhutan's official 2006 map, shows Menchuma as *within* Tibet (China). Previous Bhutanese maps & government statements showed Menchuma as part of Bhutan, suggesting Bhutan ceded the area to China at some time in the early 2000s. This has never been made public.
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Map 2: China's 14 cross-border villages in Kurtoe Gewog, Lhuentse, northeastern Bhutan. The Bhutan-Tibet (China) border is as shown on the 1:250,000 Map of Bhutan (Dept. of Survey & Land Records), 2006. Names of valleys & sites of cross-border villages have been added.
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
3 Maps showing China's new villages in Bhutan. Map 1: principal areas of Bhutan currently claimed by China. Most of the claimed areas in the west (parts of Bji gewog) & in the northeast (the Beyul and Menchuma) have now been annexed by China. Map: Foreign Policy/Robert Barnett.
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Map 2: China's 14 cross-border villages in Kurtoe Gewog, northeastern Bhutan. The Bhutan-Tibet (China) border is as shown on the 1:250,000 Map of Bhutan (Dept. of Survey & Land Records), 2006. Names of valleys & sites of cross-border villages have been added : R Barnett 2024
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
3 Maps showing China's new villages in Bhutan. Map 1: principal areas of Bhutan currently claimed by China. Most of the claimed areas in the west (parts of Bji gewog) & in the northeast (the Beyul and Menchuma) have now been annexed by China. Map: Foreign Policy/Robert Barnett.
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Time-lapse videos of construction at each site are here: turquoiseroof.org/forceful-dip... /5
turquoiseroof.org
Forceful Diplomacy: China’s Cross-Border Villages in Bhutan
In 2016, China began constructing a village in territory generally understood to be part of Bhutan. It was five years before the existence of that village was discovered by outside observers or notice...
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
China's explanation to CNN for its villages within Bhutan's traditional borders: “China’s construction activities in the border region with Bhutan are aimed at improving the local livelihoods”. (The only residents in those areas are the c. 7000 people China has paid to relocate there since 2017.) /4
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
CNN has a major report on China's villages in Bhutan: edition.cnn.com/2024/11/05/a.... It has the 1st quote from China's Foreign Ministry on the villages, not denying they're in disputed territory: “China and Bhutan have their own claims regarding the territorial status of the relevant region.” /3
edition.cnn.com
China is building new villages on its remote Himalayan border. Some appear to have crossed the line | CNN
Chinese construction is expanding on land that Bhutan’s official maps show as part of the Himalayan kingdom, as Beijing ramps up efforts under leader Xi Jinping’s national security drive to assert con...
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Details of China's construction programme on the Bhutan border are here, including lists and locations of the Chinese cross-border villages: turquoiseroof.org/forceful-dip.... /2
turquoiseroof.org
Forceful Diplomacy: China’s Cross-Border Villages in Bhutan
In 2016, China began constructing a village in territory generally understood to be part of Bhutan. It was five years before the existence of that village was discovered by outside observers or notice...
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
China is close to achieving its objectives on its border with Bhutan. Its strategy can be called 'Friendly Annexation' - friendship-based diplomacy at the same time as annexing territory within its neighbour's customary borders. It seems to be working: blogs.soas.ac.uk/china-instit.... /1
blogs.soas.ac.uk
The Bhutan Anomaly - SOAS China Institute
Research by Robert Barnett and others has found that China has been annexing Bhutanese territory in recent years.
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Robert Barnett @robbiebarnett.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Seminar at SOAS, Thurs Nov 21, 5pm on "Text-mining Propaganda: Studying Tibetan Newspapers, 1950s to early 1960s". Speakers: Franz Xaver Erhard (Leipzig University) & Robert Barnett (SOAS). Moderator: Marcus Gilroy-Ware @mjgw.bsky.social (Creative Digital Media, SOAS). Details: soas.ac.uk/about…
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Reposted by Robert Barnett
Made in China Journal @madeinchinajournal.com · 12/11/2024
In this new essay, James Leibold examines the expansion of the Tibet-Aid Project in Xi Jinping’s ‘New Era’ of Han-centric nationalism and explores how the project facilitates Han settler colonialism in the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
madeinchinajournal.com
The Tibet-Aid Project and Settler Colonialism in China’s Borderlands
This year marks 30 years since China launched its ambitious Tibet-Aid Project (援藏计划), a vast and ongoing party-state effort to reshape the region. Unveiled at the 1994 Tibet Work Forum, the scheme pai...
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Reposted by Robert Barnett
Turquoise Roof @turquoiseroof.org · 17/10/2024
Forceful Diplomacy: China’s Cross-Border Villages in Bhutan In 2016, China began constructing a village in territory generally understood to be part of Bhutan. It was five years before the existence of that village was discovered by outside observers or noticed by foreign governments.
turquoiseroof.org
Forceful Diplomacy: China’s Cross-Border Villages in Bhutan
In 2016, China began constructing a village in territory generally understood to be part of Bhutan. It was five years before the existence of that village was discovered by outside observers or notice...
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