Foreword Acknowledgements 1 Introduction The Chinese nation (Zhonghua Minzu ), ethnic minorities, and the Kam people The cultural reconstruction campaign for China’s ethnic minorities Multiple perspectives on ethnic identity Research aims and linguistic ethnography An overview of the book References 2 The Kam people in China and Zhanli Kam village The Kam in historical context The ethnic classification project (1950s)Social development in the Kam area since the 1980s Reconstruction of the Kam culture, language, and ethnic identity (2000s) Zhanli Village References 3 Ethnic identity reconstruction: Local government’s perceptions and practices Intangible cultural heritage protection Local government’s planning and practice The alignment of local practices with the socio-political milieu References 4 Encounters with local villagers in Zhanli Group 1: The local villagers Group 2: Educated people returning to the village Group 3: Outbound migrant workers from the village References 5 Three case studies from Zhanli Group 1: Wu A Group 2: Wu B Group 3: Wu C References 6 Reconstruction of ethnic culture and identity in the Kam community Practices and processes of ethnic identity reconstruction in the Kam community Ethnic identity and the Kam people in and from Zhanli Tensions and differences between the perspectives of government and local people Reflections on the reconstruction of ethnic identity and culture in China Conclusion and future research References List of figures List of tables Index