The identification of the Dulong (Drung), one of China’s smallest minority
nationalities, has often been presented as an unproblematic case for the
Nationalities Identification Project. As a geographically bounded and distinct
community, they fit naturally into the state’s new category. Their
designation as an officially recognized “nationality”
(minzu) appeared to conform to the Drung people’s own sense of
identity. But as this article shows, alternative outcomes of the 1950s
identification process were quite possible, necessitating an exploration of the
complex interplay of historical and sociopolitical factors that led to the
recognition of the Dulong. The identification of the Dulong appears mainly grounded
in a politics of names, driven more by political efficacy than a concern for the
Drung people’s sense of ethnic consciousness. Going beyond the apparent
authenticity of the official Dulong category, I argue that the effect of
classification itself, a performative act of naming, gave the state-endorsed
categories a life of their own. This power of naming reveals an essential aspect of
the exercise of power in China by ordering social reality and authoritatively
determining a taxonomic space. Finally, I discuss the ways in which state-defined
identities become conventional wisdom and outline the dialectical relationship
between the legitimating “scientific” arguments of the
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