Clarke, Michael, and Hayes, Anna (2016) Introduction: inside Xinjiang. In: Hayes, Anna, and Clarke, Michael, (eds.) Inside Xinjiang: space, place and power in China's Muslim far northwest. Routlede Contemporary China Series . Routledge, London, UK, pp. 1-11.

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Abstract

[Extract] The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) is China's largest province, shares borders with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and Mongolia, and possesses a variety of natural resources, including oil. Such factors are often commonly cited in contemporary commentary on the region to explain its importance to Beijing. As such, Xinjiang (literally 'New Frontier') is often deemed to be primarily of strategic or geopolitical importance to the People's Republic of China (PRC) with political, economic and social developments within the region given meaning through how they impact, positively or negatively, on China's strategic health along its Central Asian frontiers.

Research Statement

Research Background	The book draws on the accumulated expertise of some of world’s foremost experts, and emerging researchers, in regional studies of Xinjiang. In this manner the book engages a new readership, as scholars probe the nuances of inter-ethnic relations in Xinjiang, government policies in the region, identity formation and sense of belonging, and just how space, place and power are negotiated and applied in the region.
Research Contribution	Scholarly attention on Xinjiang has hitherto been largely focused on the implications of Chinese statehood on the region, its links to the Central Asian Republics, and the success (or otherwise) of Chinese government attempts to modernise the region. This book, however, interrogates the ‘experiences’ of rapid modernisation for the region and its people. It also examines the influence of increased connectivity to other regions, both within China and outside of it, on ethnic and regional identities. Its chapters also interrogate the private and public lives of the region’s inhabitants, and how space, place and power in the region are configured and reconfigured, and ultimately, how they are applied in the region.
Research Significance	Inside Xinjiang provides important insight into the social, economic and political terrains of Xinjiang. The collection brings together international academics in the field of Asian and International studies, all of whom are actively engaged in research on Xinjiang. They represent diverse discipline backgrounds, enabling the collection to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to analysis of the region.
Item ID:	42883
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Research - B1)
ISBN:	978-1-138-78079-8
Keywords:	Xinjiang, China, Uyghur, Han
Date Deposited:	20 Apr 2016 00:44
FoR Codes:	44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4410 Sociology > 441013 Sociology of migration, ethnicity and multiculturalism @ 40% 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4408 Political science > 440807 Government and politics of Asia and the Pacific @ 60%
SEO Codes:	94 LAW, POLITICS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES > 9402 Government and Politics > 940201 Civics and Citizenship @ 10% 95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9504 Religion and Ethics > 950404 Religion and Society @ 20% 97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970116 Expanding Knowledge through Studies of Human Society @ 70%
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