Situating the Uyghurs Between China and Central Asia (Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific) - Softcover

Drawing together distinguished international scholars, this volume offers a unique insight into the social and cultural hybridity of the Uyghurs. It bridges a gap in our understanding of this group, an officially recognized minority mainly inhabiting the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, with significant populations also living in the Central Asian states. The volume is comparative and interdisciplinary in focus: historical chapters explore the deeper problems of Uyghur identity which underpin the contemporary political situation; and sociological and anthropological comparisons of a range of practices from music culture to life-cycle rituals illustrate the dual, fused nature of contemporary Uyghur social and cultural identities. Contributions by 'local' Uyghur authors working within Xinjiang also demonstrate the possibilities for Uyghur advocacy in social and cultural policy-making, even within the current political climate.

Ildikó Bellér-Hann is Research Associate at the Centre for Oriental Studies, Martin Luther University, Germany. M. Cristina Cesàro is an Independent Scholar from Italy. Rachel Harris is Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK. Joanne Smith Finley is Lecturer in Chinese at Newcastle University, UK.