Writing Insecurity: The PRC`s Push to Modernize China and the Politics of Uighur Identity

Abstract

”Writing Insecurity” puts forward a framework for looking at identity politics in Xinjiang. This framework posits that the PRC`s modernization program is in conflict with the interests of the Uighur nationality, rendering insecure both the people of Xinjiang and the state`s integrity. The PRC`s push to modernize China comprises a blend of material and ideational developments, especially dynamic in the post-Mao era. For Xinjiang`s Uighur minority, development has relocated much of the region`s resource wealth to urban centers in the east and permitted a massive influx of Han Chinese migration. Furthermore, and despite rising tides of Chinese nationalism, development has not exclusively consolidated Chinese national sentiments. Revitalizing the Silk Road has also re-established cultural ties between Muslim minorities and Central Asian, Turkic, and Middle Eastern centers. Perhaps the most oft cited security-political dynamic of the contemporary era is the concurrent dilution and multiplication of competing cultural loyalties. This article seeks to contribute to a body of literature that criticizes accepted notions of identity and culture, while exploring these as a motivating force in the case of Uighur resistance\nto China`s modernization project.