Negotiating Inseparability in China: The Xinjiang Class and the Dynamics of Uyghur Identity
Timothy Grose
Abstract
This book describes and theorizes the experiences of Uyghur graduates of the “Xinjiang Class” national boarding school program. These experiences reveal how young, educated Uyghurs strategically and selectively embrace elements of the corporate Chinese “Zhonghua minzu” identity in order to stretch the boundaries of a collective Uyghur identity. More specifically, Xinjiang Class students establish cross-regional bonds with Uyghur classmates and non-Xinjiang Class Uyghurs in inner China (neidi) and transnational bonds based on shared faith with foreign Muslims living in Chinese cities. These net ... More
This book describes and theorizes the experiences of Uyghur graduates of the “Xinjiang Class” national boarding school program. These experiences reveal how young, educated Uyghurs strategically and selectively embrace elements of the corporate Chinese “Zhonghua minzu” identity in order to stretch the boundaries of a collective Uyghur identity. More specifically, Xinjiang Class students establish cross-regional bonds with Uyghur classmates and non-Xinjiang Class Uyghurs in inner China (neidi) and transnational bonds based on shared faith with foreign Muslims living in Chinese cities. These networks activate and perpetuate a transregional and often transnational ethno-national identity that is regularly communicated through Islamic practice.
Keywords:
Uyghurs,
Xinjiang,
Ethnicity,
Education,
Islam,
Boarding Schools
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2019 |
Print ISBN-13: 9789888528097 |
Published to Hong Kong Scholarship Online: May 2020 |
DOI:10.5790/hongkong/9789888528097.001.0001 |