Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on August 3, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 88-94).

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2006. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (doctoral)--University of Leeds, 1999.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

No description available.

The Uighur issue is of vital regional and global security importance to China. Although minority separatists are not well armed and seem to be largely disorganized, the violence poses a very real threat to China's ability to develop Xinjiang. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s behavior toward its Muslims has received renewed Western attention in the aftermath of 9/11. China's Uighurs have responded to CCP policies with violence and separatist activity, but the Hui (ethnic Chinese who are Muslim) have reacted with relatively high levels of accommodation. Some have blamed Uighur separatism on external influences (such as transnational terror) and Islam. However, the puzzle is, why do the Uighurs engage in separatism where the Hui do not? This study contributes to existing literature by directly comparing the Uighurs and Hui in order to determine the reasons behind Uighur separatism and Hui accommodation. This thesis argues that the Uighurs and Hui have faced different social and economic realities which have led to different perceptions of inequality and thus, different reactions to CCP policy. Also, unlike Uighur ethnic identity, Hui identity stems from and is compatible with the PRC and Chinese society. This study uses primary sources including interviews with Uighurs, Hui and Han Chinese conducted in western China during June and July of 2006.

This thesis is about education in Xinjiang, the choices available to students and parents, and the factors taken into account when making these choices. The subject of language tuition and use has increasingly assumed a central position in the resentment felt by much of the Uyghur population of Xinjiang towards the Chinese government and the Han population. The long-term, policy-driven increase in the use of Mandarin in schools in Xinjiang has accelerated in the last decade as those which have previously used the Uyghur language for the majority of teaching have steadily been converted into bilingual institutions. This change has significantly reduced the linguistic options for Uyghur parents, as ‘bilingual' schools are substantively similar to Chinese-language schools. Mandarin, as the primary language of government and trade in China, is widely recognised by Uyghur parents and students as essential to career success in contemporary Xinjiang and the Uyghur language is not existentially threatened. Nonetheless, this change is lamented by many, even those who chose bilingual or Chinese-language education for their own children. This ethnographic work, largely set in the regional capital of Urumqi, explores the disparity between materially self-interested choices and this sentiment. Contextualising the subject of education against the background of the Uyghur people's general interaction with the Chinese people and state, the thesis contends that there is a communally-maintained avoidance of all influences perceived to be Chinese, and that this avoidance is best understood in ethical terms. Utilising the work of Alasdair Macintyre (1981), it argues that the maintenance of difference from the Han, in the context of a narrative understanding of history which represents all Chinese influence as destructive or dangerous, has come to be understood amongst the Uyghur as virtuous in itself. With evidence drawn from 18 months of fieldwork in Xinjiang and interviews with parents, students and educators, it examines how attempts to maintain this virtue play out against other values and concerns in the choices they make about schooling.

I argue that there are three decisive elements in the Uyghur migrants' construction of their ethnicity, namely one theme, two discourses, and three binary relationships. One theme refers to the unity and stability of the Chinese nation, which is not only the aim of the goverment to promote national belonging, it also creates the category of "Xinjiang People". Two discourses refer to the state discourse and the discourse of the marginal Uyghur migrants. The former emphasizes the importance of national unity and the latter focuses on Uyghurs' interest. These discourses are the tactics of negotiation between the state and the Uyghur migrants. Three binary relationships refer to the relationships between the Uyghur migrants and the state, the Uyghur migrants and the Han, and the Uyghur migrants and the other Muslim groups. Among these, the relationship between the Uyghur migrants and the state is cucial, as it influences the other two relationships. / This thesis examines how the Uyghur migrants in Guangzhou construct their ethnicity. I deconstruct the voice behind the state discourse, and analyze three binary relationships between the Uyghur migrants and the state, between the Uyghur migrants and the Han, and between the Uyghur migrants and the other Muslim groups in the context of globalization. / 黄云. / Sumitted: "2008年10月" / Sumitted: "2008 nian 10 yue" / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-09, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 236-244). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / School code: 1307. / Huang Yun.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

No description available.