探花直播 of Cambridge - ethnicity

Black British Voices: the findings

fpjl2 — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 05:46:05 +0000

探花直播largest survey to date of the opinions and attitudes of Black people in Britain has revealed a central split on the question of British pride.

Minority ethnic doctors less likely to get specialty NHS training posts while some specialties show gender bias

cjb250 — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 23:01:16 +0000

Their analysis, published today in BMJ Open, also found that while female applicants are more successful overall, particular specialities tend to appeal to different genders.

Researchers from the 探花直播 of Cambridge and Cambridge 探花直播 Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust examined data from applicants to Specialty Training Posts through Health Education England for the recruitment cycle 2021-22 to look at potential disparities in the success of applicants according to gender, ethnicity and disability.

During this period, there were just under 12,500 successful applicants to Health Education England for training posts 鈥� a success rate of one in three (32.7%). Overall, females were more successful than males (37.0% versus 29.1%).

探花直播researchers found clear evidence that certain specialities were more attractive to females or to males. Of note, surgical specialities and radiology had the highest proportion of male applicants (65.3% and 64.3% respectively), while obstetrics and gynaecology and public health had the highest proportion of female applicants (72.4% and 67.2% respectively).

Senior author Professor Sharon Peacock, from the Department of Medicine at the 探花直播 of Cambridge, said: 鈥� 探花直播success by female applicants in many specialties is a positive step towards gender balance, and perhaps reflects existing efforts to address disparities. But the skew in applications and subsequent recruitment by gender, particularly amongst surgical specialities, is concerning.鈥�

Gender disparities are known to have knock-on effects. For example, a lack of female representation contributes towards a male dominated culture, which can then result in fewer female role models to inspire and encourage aspiring female doctors.

探花直播researchers say there are several reasons for these disparities. In surgical specialities, for example, a male-dominated workplace culture, bullying and harassment, few female role models, and career inflexibility, have been suggested as factors that deter females from applying. Female surgeons have reported quality of life and fewer unsocial hours as explanations of why women prefer other clinical specialities, in addition to the fear that working less-than-full-time or taking career breaks is perceived negatively.

Approximately half (50.2%) of the applicants were non-UK graduates. 探花直播overall success rate of UK graduates was 44.5%, compared with 22.8% for non-UK graduates.

When it came to minority ethnic groups, after adjusting for country of graduation, applicants from eleven out of fifteen groups (73.3%) were significantly less likely to be successful compared to White British. Those who fared worst were those of Mixed White and Black African ethnicity, who were only half as likely (52%) to be successful as White British applicants.

Dr Dinesh Aggarwal, the study鈥檚 first author, also from the Department of Medicine, said: 鈥� 探花直播data suggests there鈥檚 a need to review recruitment policies and processes from a diversity and inclusion perspective. But the issues extend beyond recruitment 鈥� doctors from minority ethnic groups can struggle to progress within the NHS and report disproportionately high levels of discrimination from colleagues.

鈥淢ore than four in ten of the medical and dental workforce in NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups in England are from a minority ethnic group, and ensuring that they are able to work within an inclusive environment, that allows them to thrive and progress, should be a priority.鈥�

Although only a very small proportion of successful applicants (1.4%) declared a disability, they were more likely to be successful (38.6% compared with 32.8% of non-disabled applicants). However, there were no disabled applicants to 22.4% of the specialities, and for a further 36.2% of specialities, no disabled applicants were accepted.

Dr Dinesh Aggarwal added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 encouraging to see a high proportion of acceptances among individuals disclosing a disability. 探花直播NHS needs to ensure that application and recruitment processes are accessible and open to adjustments for all disabilities, eliminate any fear of discrimination, and provide assurance that all NHS workplaces will accommodate reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled doctors can carry out their work. This will not only help to encourage more disabled applicants, but also allow disabled clinicians to feel more comfortable disclosing this information.鈥�

Professor Peacock added: 鈥� 探花直播NHS is the largest employer in the UK and it鈥檚 vital that it nurtures diverse talent to benefit patient care. People from diverse backgrounds bring different lived experiences and perspectives, which in turn strengthens the pool of knowledge and skills within the NHS. A lack of workforce diversity can be detrimental to patient care, and research shows that inherent biases can influence how clinicians treat patients.鈥�

Dr Aggarwal is a PhD student at Churchill College. Professor Peacock is a Fellow at St John鈥檚 College.

Reference
Aggarwal, D et al. Applications to medical and surgical specialist training in the UK National Health Service, 2021-22: a cross-sectional observational study to characterise the diversity of successful applicants. BMJ Open; 20 April 2023; DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069846

Most minority ethnic groups are less successful than their White British counterparts when applying to specialty training programmes in the NHS, Cambridge researchers have shown.

探花直播NHS is the largest employer in the UK and it鈥檚 vital that it nurtures diverse talent to benefit patient care

Sharon Peacock

DarkoStojanovic

Doctor's white coat with stethoscope and pens

探花直播text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright 漏探花直播 of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified.聽 All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways 鈥� as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Autism rates have increased and show differences in ethnic minorities and links to social disadvantage

cjb250 — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 15:00:20 +0000

Black and Chinese pupils were 26% and 38% more likely to be autistic respectively and autistic children were much more likely to face significant social disadvantage. 探花直播results are published today in JAMA Pediatrics.

探花直播team drew on data from the School Census from the National Pupil Database, collected by the Department for Education from individuals aged 2-21 years old in state-funded schools in England. Of more than seven聽million pupils studied, 119,821 pupils had a diagnosis of autism in their record in the English state educational system, of whom 21,660 also had learning difficulties (18.1%). Boys showed a prevalence of autism of 2.8% and girls showed a prevalence of 0.65%, with a boy-to-girl ratio of 4.3:1.

Prevalence was highest in pupils of black ethnicity (2.1%) and lowest in Roma/Irish Travellers (0.85%), with these estimates being the first to be published for these populations. Pupils with a record of autism in schools were 60% more likely to also be socially disadvantaged, and 36% less likely to speak English. 探花直播findings reveal significant differences in autism prevalence, as recorded in formal school systems, across ethnic groups and geographical location.

探花直播lead researcher of the study, Dr Andres Roman-Urrestarazu from the Autism Research Centre (ARC) and Cambridge Public Health at the 探花直播 of Cambridge, said: 鈥淲e can now see that autism is much more common than previously thought. We also found significant variations in autism diagnosis in different ethnic minorities, though the reason why this should be the case isn鈥檛 clear and warrants further research.鈥�

Previous estimates of the prevalence of autism in the UK by the same research group in Cambridge, and based on a school-based survey, suggested that one in 64 children (1.57%) were autistic. 探花直播new study, based on school records that usually underestimate the actual proportion of children who meet diagnostic criteria, shows a considerable increase in the autism prevalence in England. 探花直播researchers say the increase is likely to be because autism has become better recognised by both parents and schools in recent years.

Professor Carol Brayne, Co-chair of Cambridge Public Health and Professor of Public Health Medicine, said: 鈥淭his study shows how we can draw on large datasets in a way that is rigorous and valuable for our understanding of autism.鈥�

Professor Fiona Matthews from Newcastle 探花直播 added: 鈥淭his study highlights the need for more attention to the unrecognised and differing needs of autistic children from disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds.鈥�

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the ARC, said: 鈥淲e can now see a snapshot of how many autistic children there are, and can drill down into local and ethnic variation, and reveal links with vulnerability. It is important that we safeguard the rights of children to access diagnostic services and education, tailored to their needs.鈥�

This research was made possible by a generous donation for a Global Public Health Leadership programme by Dennis and Mireille Gillings Fellowship awarded to Dr Andres Roman-Urrestarazu. This study was also supported by the Autism Research Trust, the Wellcome Trust, the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking (JU), the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care East of England at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.

Reference
Roman-Urrestarazu, R et al. Association of Race/Ethnicity and Social Disadvantage With Autism Prevalence in 7 Million School Children in England. 聽JAMA Pediatrics; 29 March 2021; DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.0054

Around one in 57 (1.76%) children in the UK is on the autistic spectrum, significantly higher than previously reported, according to a study of more than seven聽million children carried out by researchers from the 探花直播 of Cambridge鈥檚 Department of Psychiatry, in collaboration with researchers from Newcastle 探花直播 and Maastricht 探花直播.

It is important that we safeguard the rights of children to access diagnostic services and education, tailored to their needs

Simon Baron-Cohen

Artsy Solomon

Boy at sunset

探花直播text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright 漏探花直播 of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified.聽 All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways 鈥� as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Ethnic minorities at much higher risk of homicide in England and Wales

fpjl2 — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 12:10:53 +0000

New research analysing racial disparities among murder victims across most of Britain over the last two decades shows that people of Asian ethnicity are on average twice as likely as White British people to be killed.

For Black people, however, the risk of homicide has been over five and a half times (5.6) higher than for White British people 鈥� on average 鈥� during the current century, and this disparity has been on the rise since 2015.

Researchers from the 探花直播 of Cambridge鈥檚 Institute of Criminology were surprised to find that official UK data did not include relative risk statistics by ethnicity, as is common in countries such as the US and Australia.

They argue that the UK鈥檚 Office for National Statistics (ONS) should publish 鈥渞elevant denominators with raw numerators鈥� to help with public understanding of crime risk and police resourcing. 探花直播work is published as a research note聽in the Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing.

鈥淭hrough a series of straightforward calculations, we found substantial racial inequality in the risks of being murdered in England and Wales,鈥� said co-author Professor Lawrence Sherman of the 探花直播 of Cambridge鈥檚 Institute of Criminology.

鈥� 探花直播pandemic has given the public a crash course in statistics. It provides an opportunity to present all kinds of data in ways that have more meaning for the population as well as those on the front line of prevention,鈥� Sherman said.聽

Billy Gazard, a crime statistician for the ONS, said: 鈥淲e have outlined our plans for improving crime statistics for England and Wales in our July 2020 progress update. Within this update we committed to better addressing inequalities in victimisation and highlighting those groups in society that are at most risk of experiencing crime. We plan to carry out further analysis over the coming year, which will include looking at homicide victimisation rates by ethnicity.鈥�

Cambridge criminologists went back over the last 20 years of annual figures using an approach now familiar to many through coronavirus statistics: rates of cases per 100,000 people. This provided a risk ratio for homicide rates by ethnicity in England and Wales.

探花直播researchers say that, to the best of their knowledge, theirs is the first comparison of ethnic group trends in UK homicide victimisation rates per 100,000 to be published in recent decades, if ever.

They found that homicide risk for White and Asian people has stayed relatively consistent since the turn of the millennium 鈥� around one in 100,000 for White people and a little over two in 100,000 for Asian people, consisting primarily of persons of South Asian descent. For Black people, however, risks have fluctuated dramatically over the last 20 years.

探花直播homicide victimisation rate for Black people was highest in the early noughties: almost 10 in 100,000 in 2001. It dropped by 69% between 2001 and 2012 to a low of 3 in 100,000 around 2013. Rates then began to climb again, rising seven times faster than for White people to reach over 5 in 100,000 last year.

When accounting for age, the disparity is starker still: for those aged 16 to 24, the 21st century average puts young Black people over ten and a half times (10.6) more likely than White people to be victims of homicide in England and Wales.聽

In fact, researchers point out that 鈥� per 100,000 people 鈥� the most recent data from 2018-19 puts the murder risk of young Black people 24 times higher than that of young White people.聽聽

探花直播criminologists found no correlation between changes in homicide risk for different ethnicities. As an example, they point to the last three years of data: the homicide rate for White people aged between 16-24 dropped by 57%, while for young Black people it increased by 31%.

鈥淧olicing requires reliable evidence, and changing levels of risk are a vital part of preventative policing,鈥� said Sherman. 鈥淥ur initial findings reveal risk inequalities at a national level, but they may be far greater or lower in local areas. We would encourage police forces to produce their own calculations of murder rates per 100,000.鈥�

Sherman has long advocated for a more 'meaningful'聽approach to crime data. He has led on the development of the Cambridge Crime Harm Index: a classification system weighted by the impact of an offence on victims, rather than just counting crime numbers.聽

鈥淪imple statistics show us that the risks of becoming a murder victim are far from equal,鈥� added Sherman. 鈥淲e need more data analysis of this nature to inform police resource allocation, and promote a more fact-informed dialogue with communities across the country.鈥澛犅�

Calculations now familiar from coronavirus coverage 鈥� cases per 100,000 people 鈥� applied to ethnicity and homicide victimisation in the UK for the first time.聽

We need more data analysis of this nature to inform police resource allocation, and promote a more fact-informed dialogue with communities across the country

Lawrence Sherman

rudlavibizon

Met Police sign in South London

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Mongolia: unravelling the troubled narratives of a nation

amb206 — Fri, 27 Feb 2015 08:00:00 +0000

In the spring of 1991 Franck聽Bill茅聽sat in a north London cinema watching the movie聽Urga. Nikita聽Mikhalkov鈥檚聽award-winning film tells the story of the unlikely friendship that develops between a Russian truck driver and a Mongolian herder.聽Bill茅, a Russian language student at the 探花直播 of Westminster, was captivated by the movie鈥檚 narrative and the stunning landscapes. He decided that, instead of going to Moscow for the semester abroad required by his course, he would travel to聽Ulaanbaatar.

A few months later聽Bill茅聽flew in to Mongolia鈥檚 capital city airport where he was met by the local family he was going to stay with. His knowledge of Mongolia, a country three times the size of France, was confined to what he had read in the聽Lonely Planet聽guidebook. 鈥淚 spoke fluent Russian but only a few words of Mongolian which I鈥檇 picked up from an old conversation book,鈥� he says. All this was to change as he immersed himself in Mongolian culture, and began studying the language.

Today聽Bill茅聽is one of around a dozen researchers based in the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit (MIASU) at the 探花直播 of Cambridge. Recently published books by聽Bill茅聽and his聽MIASU聽colleague Dr Christopher聽Kaplonski聽make important contributions to the scholarship that has emerged from聽MIASU聽since its establishment in 1986. Both books are the outcome of recent fieldwork in Mongolia and both deal with universal human issues that are deeply uncomfortable. A launch of the books takes place at聽Heffer鈥檚聽bookshop in Cambridge next Tuesday (3 March 2015).

In聽Sinophobia: Anxiety, Violence, and the Making of Mongolian Identity, Franck聽Bill茅聽explores the identity of a country that feels increasingly under pressure from its booming southern聽neighbour.聽 探花直播Lama Question: Violence, Sovereignty and Exception in Early Socialist Mongolia聽by Christopher聽Kaplonski聽challenges accepted narratives about the violent crushing of the Buddhist establishment in the聽1930s聽as the monasteries that had dominated life for centuries were torn apart.

With a population of 2.8 million, Mongolia shares a border with two of the world鈥檚 foremost powers which have long played a pivotal role in its identity. Russia, lying to Mongolia鈥檚 north, is a declining player on the global stage. China, to its south, is a flourishing economy hungry for the resources that Mongolia possesses 鈥� notably coal, copper and gold.

From his first visit,聽Bill茅聽was fascinated by the politics of Mongolian nationalism and how this informs the country鈥檚 relationships with its聽neighbours. His initial encounter with the country took place just eight years after its liberation from the Soviet Union. 探花直播Soviets had held the country in a tight grip for 70 years and had presided over the dismantlement of Mongolia鈥檚 traditional nomadic society, a process that saw many thousands of deaths.

Primed by dire warnings in the pages of his guidebook,聽Bill茅聽was nervous that as a Russian-speaking stranger, he would be unwelcome. His fears were unfounded. Instead, he was struck by the lack of post-socialist resentment shown by the Mongolians he met, including the family with whom he lodged. Yet, as聽Buriads, a Mongolian ethnic group living mostly in the Russian Federation to the north of Mongolia, their community had suffered tremendously, particularly in the political purges of the聽1930s. Many of those considered to be 鈥榠ntellectuals鈥� were聽Buriad聽and, as 鈥榚nemies of the people,鈥� they were deported to Siberia, never to be seen again.

Why, wondered聽Bill茅, were the Mongolians so apparently accepting of their recent history as a nation until the control of an outside force?聽鈥淩ussians have made mistakes but generally their presence was positive. They brought a lot of good things,鈥� he was told by his hosts in聽Ulaanbaatar. These good things included forms of 鈥榟igh culture鈥� (such as ballet, opera, urban living) and protection from Chinese territorial ambitions.

On each successive visit,聽Bill茅聽became increasingly aware of the striking differences in Mongolian attitudes to its聽neighbours聽鈥� and modern Mongolia鈥檚 discourses about China form the backbone of his book. Over the course of his fieldwork in聽Ulaanbaatar, he has built up a picture of a nation whose identity is contingent on a deeply-entrenched distrust and dislike of its Chinese聽neighbours聽鈥� a phenomenon described as聽Sinophobia.

Since Mongolia鈥檚 southern border reopened in the early聽1990s, the Chinese have invested heavily in Mongolia, quickly becoming its main trade partner. Mongolia鈥檚 coal resources were crucial to China鈥檚 rapid growth. In turn, China has been able to supply household goods that are no longer available in Russia.聽While the Mongolians have undoubtedly benefited from their position on the border with China, they have remained deeply suspicious of their southern聽neighbour鈥檚聽intentions. China is suspected of sending men to reproduce with Mongolian women and dilute the gene pool. Chinese vegetables are said to be purposefully poisoned. It is even聽rumoured聽that China is biding its time to take over the country.

鈥淚n the west, we see Mongolia as part of Asia, its people and culture enmeshed with those of its聽neighbours. But this is not how the Mongolians see themselves. They draw a clear line between themselves and other Asians, particularly the Chinese. Because Mongolians are so keen to deny any cultural and ethnic overlap, to be called Chinese is perceived as a great insult,鈥� says聽Bill茅.

鈥淚t鈥檚 common to hear derogatory statements about the Chinese and to see insulting graffiti. Hip hop songs, in particular, have been an important vector of national pride and anti-Chinese sentiments. Tourists visiting Mongolia may well return home with little idea of the level of anti-Chinese sentiments but anyone who can read and understand Mongolian will be immediately aware of the聽Sinophobia聽that pervades public discourse.鈥�

At its most extreme,聽Sinophobia聽takes the form of聽Dayaar聽Mongol聽(All Mongolia), a far-right nationalist group.聽 In 2009,聽Dayaar聽Mongol聽聽signalled聽its disapproval of聽Sino-Mongolian聽relationships by posting a video of a woman with her hair shorn as punishment for the 鈥榗rime鈥� of having sex with a Chinese man.

鈥淭hese extreme groups do not enjoy widespread support and are generally seen as hooligans. But, for the vast majority of Mongolians, dislike of China isn鈥檛 seen as racist. It is perceived primarily as聽self-defence. Voicing criticisms of the Chinese is functionally equivalent to a patriotic statement,鈥� says聽Bill茅.

鈥淢any Mongolians will confide in private that they do not have anything against the Chinese. However, making such statements in public would render them suspect. They would be seen as unpatriotic and potentially traitors. And they would also be suspected of being part Chinese.鈥�

Christopher聽Kaplonski聽comes to the subject of his book, which explores the violence again Buddhist monks in Mongolia in the聽1930s, culminating in genocide, as an anthropologist interested in the way in which nations and individuals build narratives around political violence and its aftermath.聽聽Kaplonski聽was one of the first Western anthropologists to carry out fieldwork in Mongolia. He has worked on collective memory, political violence, identity, and coming to terms with the past.聽

Kaplonksi鈥檚聽research covers the dynamics of political conflict, as well as the processes of social-political reconstruction in coming to terms with the past. In the turbulent period covered by his book,聽 探花直播Lama Question: Violence, Sovereignty and Exception in Early Socialist Mongolia, the newly-installed socialist government聽 sought to break the power of the Buddhist establishment, and establish Mongolia as the world鈥檚 second socialist country, following the Soviet Union itself.

In doing so, the socialists waged a decade and a half long struggle from the early聽1920s聽to the late聽1930s聽to win the hearts and minds of the Mongolian populace, deploying a wide variety of measures, such as propaganda, punitive taxes and eventually mass killings.聽

In particular,聽Kaplonski聽looks at the execution of approximately 18,000 Buddhist priests and how this dark episode has been absorbed into Mongolia鈥檚 history. Most significantly, he complicates the accepted narrative that Joseph Stalin ordered the execution of lamas and that the Mongolian government and the Mongolian People鈥檚 Revolutionary Party, as agents of a nation under the thumb of聽Choibalsan, had no choice but to carry out the directives of a Communist dictator.

探花直播phrase 鈥榯he lama question鈥� (lam聽naryn聽asuudal聽in Mongolian) is the term the socialist government itself used to signify the struggle between the socialist government and religious establishment of Mongolia.

Buddhism, in the shape of over 700 monasteries populated by some 80,000 lamas, had for centuries exerted an influence that extended deep into politics, economics and everyday life, rather in the same way that Roman Catholicism dominated pre-Reformation Europe. Often seen as backward and corrupt, even by reforming Buddhists, the Buddhist establishment represented an almost insurmountable challenge to the socialists determined to bring their vision of modernity and progress to Mongolia.

鈥淥ne of the things that intrigued me most, from an academic point of view, was the fact that the violence took so long to erupt. Political violence is often seen as a tool of first resort for totalitarian governments the world over, but in Mongolia, it was a step they avoided taking for over a decade and a half. 探花直播book is an attempt to answer this question: why did it take so long,鈥� says聽Kaplonski.

In the space of just 18 months, between late 1937 and mid-1939, many thousands of lamas were sentenced to death and shot. All but a handful of the monasteries across the country were destroyed 鈥� and with them countless numbers of religious聽artefacts, books and culture were lost to future generations.聽 It is estimated that a further 18,000 people, many of them聽Buriads, were also killed during a period which is portrayed in both Mongolian and Western history as an episode sparked by Stalin鈥檚鈥楪reat Terror鈥�.聽

A chance discovery in the Mongolian National Central Archives in聽Ulaanbaatar聽of a trial against leading Buddhist monks prompted聽Kaplonski聽to begin the painstaking task of piecing together a story that conflicts with the narrative that most Mongolians recount if they are asked about the聽repressions聽and mass killings of the聽1930s.

Intrigued by what he read,聽Kaplonski聽set about improving his grasp of Mongol聽bichig聽(the classic Mongolian script in use at the time ) and from 2008 to 2011 he spent months sifting through documents held in the Central Archives in and other archives. He also visited some of the surviving monasteries, since restored, and interviewed a wide range of people, those who had lost relatives, had been monks themselves, or grew up next to the ruins of a monastery.

鈥淒ay after day, I sat under a window in the Central Archives and聽ploughed聽through piles of government resolutions and reports in what often seemed like a fruitless exercise, occasionally rewarded by the appearance of a document that provided a key piece of the puzzle 鈥� such as a letter between top officials wondering what to do with the monasteries now that they were all empty,鈥� says聽Kaplonski.

鈥淭he聽organisation聽of the archives is fairly rudimentary 鈥� for example, there is no cross-referencing of files. On top of that, the archives of the secret police, which hold the case files themselves, are closed to foreign, and most Mongolian, researchers.鈥�

Kaplonski鈥檚聽extraordinary determination bore fruit in 2008 when he was given permission to obtain copies of 鈥榬ehabilitation documents鈥� from the secret police (known as the聽Dotood聽Yam) archives. His coup meant that he was able to add a small but important piece to the giant puzzle of the lama question.

A close reading of the 鈥榬ehabilitation鈥� documents enabled聽Kaplonski聽to build a more detailed picture of the process by which people could apply to have their relatives cleared of the charges laid against them in the聽1930s. This process, essentially a re-examination of the original case, not only brought closure to those who never knew what happened to their relatives, but the documents also provided key details to the bureaucracy and reasoning behind the mass killings.

探花直播personal stories of the聽countless lamas who were killed, or fled into the countryside, will never fully be told.聽鈥淢onastic records for the聽1930s聽simply do not exist,鈥� says聽Kaplonski. 鈥淪uch documents were either destroyed by the state or by the monks themselves as their impending fate became evident.聽 Few Mongolians at this period wrote letters or kept diaries. Oral histories and reminiscences can give a personal account of a particular experience but not in the detail required to build a more comprehensive understanding of how and why what took place happened.鈥�

Most other scholars have simply portrayed the events of the聽1930s聽as Stalin鈥檚 Great Terror spilling over into Mongolia.聽Kaplonski聽has taken the inquiry still deeper into uncomfortable territory. His conclusion that the Mongolian secret police and government bureaucracies who carried out the monitoring and eventual killings of lamas, and others, had more agency than has been聽publically聽acknowledged will grate with popular Mongolian narratives for a period that, for many older citizens, falls within well living memory.

鈥淏laming Stalin allows unpleasant and potentially divisive issues of responsibility and guilt to be avoided.聽 Few Mongolians, or other academics have questioned this view. Difficult questions about the agency of Mongolians in the killings for the most part haven鈥檛 really been asked,鈥� he says.

鈥淚ndeed, it is reported that the archives of the security services remain closed precisely because to open them up would be devastating in a country where social networks are tightly intertwined and where it would not be a surprising for a descendent of a repressed person to know the descendants of his or her repressors.鈥�

Sinophobia: Anxiety, Violence, and the Making of Mongolian Identity聽by Franck聽Bill茅聽and聽 探花直播Lama Question: Violence, Sovereignty, and Exception in Early Socialist Mongolia聽by Christopher聽Kaplonski聽are both published by 探花直播 of Hawai鈥檌 Press. Both books will be launched at an event at聽Heffer鈥檚聽bookshop in Cambridge on 3 March 2015, 6.30-8.00pm. Booking not required but please RSVP to david.robinson@blackwells.co.uk.

MIASU聽was established in 1986 by the distinguished anthropologist Professor Caroline Humphrey. Ever since, it has played a pivotal role in the careers of researchers from all over the world seeking to understand this little known yet strategic region.

MIASU聽also facilitates visits from Mongolian and Tibetan scholars who typically stay in Cambridge for a few months, giving them the opportunity to access specialist and rare material in Cambridge 探花直播 Library and discuss their research with colleagues at Cambridge.

Inset images: ger in Ulaanbaatar selling fermented mare's milk and horse meat (Franck Bill茅), street scene in Ulaanbaatar (Chris Kaplonski), anti-Chinese graffiti: Mongolians let's kill Chinese聽(Bill茅),聽Baruun H眉ree, a Mongolian monastery in 脰v枚rhangai province, sutra (books) said to have been buried during socialism and later retrieved, two high-ranking lamas (foreground) on trial as counter-revolutionaries, 1937 (all Kaplonski).

In two separate books, anthropologists Dr Franck Bill茅 and Dr Christopher Kaplonski look at the identity of Mongolia, a country that stands at a cultural and political crossroads.聽 While Bill茅 explores Mongolia鈥檚 relationship with its powerful neighbours, Kaplonski revisits a dark period in the country鈥檚 recent history.

In the west, we see Mongolia as part of Asia, its people and culture enmeshed with those of its neighbours. But this is not how the Mongolians see themselves. They draw a clear line between themselves and other Asians, particularly the Chinese.

Franck Bill茅

Chris Kaplonski

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