From the Margins to the Centre: The Uyghur Challenge in Beijing

Abstract

Recent literature on Uyghur identity in China makes clear that Uyghurs today not only have perceptions and narratives relating to their identity which challenge official ones, but also that these are expressed publicly in literature, art and everyday practice. However, to date this agency has been highlighted only in the context of the Uyghurs' native-place, Xinjiang, while the little that has been written on representations of Uyghur identity in nationally distributed media and culture suggests that Uyghurs are still completely marginalized and voiceless. This article challenges this view by shifting the focus to Uyghurs who migrated to Beijing and by showing that they have been able to achieve an independent public voice that extends not only beyond Xinjiang but also beyond China. The article explores the role that Uyghur artists and entrepreneurs, and Xinjiang restaurants in Beijing play in challenging the orthodox representations of Uyghur identity in China and argues that although there are only a few thousand Uyghurs in the city they play a significant role in the negotiation of Uyghur identity, representation and nationalism. The article also challenges the widely held view that internal migrants in China are silent and politically powerless.

Ecological Degradation and Endangered Ethnicities: China's Minority Environmental Discourses as Manifested in Popular Songs

“…This is especially true where famous musicians who enjoy wide popularity are concerned, which is the case with most of the musicians discussed in this article. Moreover, it is precisely because of the capacity of popular songs to communicate messages in an inexplicit form through a mixture of lyrics, sound, and visual images that minority musicians in China have used them to express politically sensitive messages in public, not only in minority regions but also in Beijing (Baranovitch 2003a, 54-107;2003b;2007b;. Indeed, while representing minority views and discourses, the popularity that most of the musicians discussed in this article have gained in Beijing has enabled them to spread their messages not only among their fellow minority people but also among their Han Chinese audience.…”

The Rise of Ethnicity underChina's Market Reforms

“…Of the ethnic migrants, 31.4% were self‐employed (for example, selling silver jewellery for the Hmong and shish‐kebab for the Uyghur). The high presence of self‐employed migrants and their businesses has become an integral part of China's urban landscape and plays a significant role in the negotiation of their ethnic identity and representation (Baranovitch, ).…”

An elephant in the planning room: Political demography and its influence on sustainable land-use planning in drylands

“…Although the government encourages Uyghur migrants to take jobs in the cities of the region, as well as in the more developed eastern coastal areas, the outcomes are mixed. On the one hand, studies report that Uyghur migrants to the cities have to some degree changed the perceptions of Uyghurs by the Han and indirectly improved the general status of their people in Xinjiang (Baranovitch, 2003;Erkin, 2009). On the other hand, the policy of encouraging Uyghur out-migration is seen as cultural assimilation (Barat, 2010).…”