Hayes, Anna (2021) Book review: Socio-Economic Development in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region: Disparities and Power Struggle in China’s North-West. China Information, 35 (1). pp. 116-117.

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Abstract

[Extract] Since the Urumqi Uprising in 2009, the escalating human rights crisis in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has increased academic analysis of the region. Alessandra Cappelletti’s monograph makes a solid contribution to this field with her probing of socio-economic development in Xinjiang, with a particular focus on Kashgar and Shihezi.

The book contains six chapters (not including the Introduction and Conclusion). The chapters examine the economic and social development of Xinjiang, the contrasting experiences of life in Kashgar (predominantly Uyghur) and Shihezi (predominantly Han), before analysing land use, land seizures, and land acquisitions in Kashgar. The final content chapter explores the notion of Uyghur versus Uyghur, identifying differences between rural and urban Uyghurs, as well as co-opted Uyghurs (those working for the party’s goals within the region) and Uyghur cultural elites. The author also discusses how a sense of Uyghur ethnic identity has been nurtured by Uyghur elites, replacing oasis identity, and what Uyghur ethnic identity means within the People’s Republic of China (PRC) more broadly.

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