Sharia, charity, andminjianautonomy in Muslim China

Gift giving in a plural world

Bibliographic Data

ID2260774
AuthorsMatthew S Erie (0000-0002-0422-3338, China Centre; University of Oxford; Canterbury Road Oxford OX2 6LU United Kingdom, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume43
Issue2
Pages311-324
Publication date2016-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Ethnologist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0094-0496 • E-ISSN: 1548-1425
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/amet.12307
OpenAlexW2277711894
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited56

In Marcel Mauss's analysis, the gift exists in the context of a homogenous system of values. But in fact, different types of normative systems can inhabit the same social field. This is the case among Hui, the largest Muslim minority group in China, for whom the "freedom" of the gift resides in the giver's capacity to follow the rules underlying gifting, in this case, the rules of sharia. I call this capacity "minjian (unofficial, popular) autonomy." Hui follow sharia in pursuit of a good life, but their practices are also informed by mainstream Han Chinese gift practices and by the anxieties of the security state. In their gifting practices, Hui thus endeavor to reconcile the demands of Islamic, postsocialist, and gift economies. [gift economy, autonomy, sharia, charity, China, Islamic finance, ethics] 按照马塞尔·莫斯的分析, 馈赠存在于均质化价值观体系的背景中。但实际上, 在同一社会领域中可以存在着不同类型的社会规范体系。中国最大的穆斯林民族-回族就是这样的案例, 对他们来说 馈赠的"自由"取决于馈赠者按照馈赠的深层次规则行事的能力, 在这里, 规则即指"设若尔提" (伊斯兰教法) 。我将这一能力称之为"民间自主权" (非官方的, 大众化的) 。在追求美好的生活时, 回族会遵循"设若尔提", 但他们的做法同时也会受到汉族主流的馈赠礼物的做法和"安全国家"焦虑的影响。因此, 在馈赠礼物时, 回族人会努力协调伊斯兰教、后社会主义经济和礼物经济的不同要求。[礼物经济, 自主权, "设若尔提", 慈善, 中国, 伊斯兰金融, 伦理

Autonomy · China · Context (archaeology · Islam · Law and economics · Mainstream · Normative · Political science · Sharia · Sociology · Theology · History · Islamic Finance and Banking Studies · Law · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Philosophy · Religion, Society, and Development