Individualism without full individualization? The compressed life trajectories of the Tibetan graduates of an English training program

Abstract

Drawing upon fieldwork data collected among a group of Tibetan graduates who attended an internationally linked English training program that dramatically and fundamentally altered their life trajectories, this study argues that these Tibetans acquired individualism prior to individualization practice. Their pathway is in contrast with the tendency found among Korean women “toward individualization without individualism, a region-wide phenomenon in East Asia’. Different scenarios exactly reveal complicatedness and complexity in compressed modernity of East Asia. However, the study also finds that their exercise of individualization did not turn them into an ontological or radical—that is, egoistic—individualist on account of multiple factors. Toward the end of the article, we also recommend replacing the controversial concept of individualization (individualism) with the notion of individuation—a project of the individual that may be geared toward collective action and shared ideals—to avoid conceptual ambiguity in the future. This individuation project is more likely to contribute to both the integrity and identity of the individual in her search for a legitimate status and a settled life in the wider society, as well as a prosperous society in the future.