Belonging between Inclusion and Exclusion

Dimensions of Ethno-Cultural Identity for Uyghur Women in Xinjiang, China

Bibliographic Data

ID3948628
AuthorsSarah Tynen (0000-0001-7333-3533, University of Colorado Boulder)
Year2021
Volume26
Issue4
Pages1243-1266
Publication date2021-07-05
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeopolitics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14650045.2019.1686360
OpenAlexW2987830926
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited54

Research on Uyghur communities in China often focuses on the power and oppression of the Chinese state, neglecting the power situated in the domestic sphere and women’s bodies. My research addresses how younger Uyghur women (aged 18–35 years old) feel suffocated by the expectations of their ethnocultural identity, and how those women both conform to and reject social norms. The themes of marriage and clothing illustrate how representations and discourses of the female body reinforce the boundaries of the Uyghur community. The pleasure and pain of Uyghur identity manifests in women’s bodies during territorial insecurity of fading nationalist space. Multiple scales of identity in the body and household disrupt the imaginary cohesiveness and boundedness of territory. While the Chinese state polices Uyghur bodies, so too does Uyghur society police the bodies of other Uyghurs – especially women – as a security strategy of bordering the nation

Aesthetics · China · Elite · Identity (music · Inclusion (mineral · Nationalism · Oppression · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Situated · Sociology · State (computer science · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · China's Ethnic Minorities and Relations · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies · Gender Studies · Law

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