(Stellenbosch University, Centre for Chinese Studies, 2012-03) Anthony, Ross
The third CCS Discussion Paper for 2012 offers an ethnographic description and analysis of a recent development project in one of the central Uyghur neighbourhoods in the regional capital of Urumqi. In the past two decades, China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has been the recipient of several large-scale development projects which have occurred in conjunction with market-orientated mechanisms introduced to help foster growth. Because such measures have been introduced in conjunction with the large-scale migration of Han Chinese to this traditionally non-Han region, critics have argued that such measures merely assist a process of “internal colonialism”. The territory, occupied primarily by Uyghurs, a Turkic Muslim ethnic group, has a considerable history of resistance to Beijing rule. Thus, the recent economic development of the region has been viewed by scholars, not to mention many Uyghurs, as Beijing’s attempt to consolidate the Chinese presence in the region.