The Art of Symbolic Resistance: Uyghur Identities and Uyghur-Han Relations in Contemporary Xinjiang

By Joanne Smith Finley

Against the background of the ?r?mchi riots (July 2009), this book provides a longitudinal study of contemporary Uyghur identities and Uyghur-Han relations. Previous studies considered China's Uyghurs from the perspective of the majority Han (state or people). Conversely, The Art of Symbolic Resistance considers Uyghur identities from a local perspective, based on interviews conducted with group members over nearly twenty years. Smith Finley rejects assertions that the Uyghur ethnic group is a 'creation of the Chinese state', suggesting that contemporary Uyghur identities involve a complex interplay between long-standing intra-group socio-cultural commonalities and a more recently evolved sense of common enmity towards the Han. This book advances the discipline in three senses: from a focus on sporadic violent opposition to one on everyday symbolic resistance; from state to 'local' representations; and from a conceptualisation of Uyghurs as 'victim' to one of 'creative agent'.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9004254919
• ISBN13: 9789004254916
• Release Date: September 2013
• Publisher: Brill
• Length: 484 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.4"