The self-perception of Uyghur youth in Almaty

Abstract

For much of recent history the Uyghurs, if mentioned at all, have been portrayed in western media in an orientalising manner as Silk Road traders from a distant land. Since the People’s Republic of China issued a so-called ‘de-extremification’ ordinance in March 2017, the Uyghurs have suddenly found themselves at the centre of global political discourse. Indeed, many western readers have discovered the existence of the Uyghurs precisely within this discourse of ‘terrorism’, ‘re-education’, surveillance and ethnic oppression. Yet the Uyghurs do not exist merely within the context of interaction with the Chinese state, they are a ‘borderlands’ people with substantial populations in the Central Asian republics. This paper represents an investigation into the self-identifications and acculturation strategies of the second largest Uyghur community outside of Xinjiang: the Uyghurs of Kazakhstan. It provides a unique perspective on the lifeways of Uyghurs in a society vastly different from the PRC, and acts as a testament to the dynamic manners in which Uyghurs navigate a society which is simultaneously russified, nationalising, and internationalising. The study is based on sixteen in-depth interviews with young, post-Soviet generation Uyghurs in Almaty — a community which has been largely neglected even in the few existing sociological and anthropological studies of the Uyghurs of Kazakhstan. Led through principles of participant driven research, it aims to give voice to the issues which Uyghurs consider pertinent to their identificatory and acculturative environments, while also drawing on the benefits of the dialogue created through interaction with an outside researcher. Within the framework of ethnographic, interpretivist research, it seeks to contribute holistic insights to Kazakhstani nation building, Central Asian minority politics, China-Central Asia relations, and Uyghur studies. It also serves as a case study in wider discourses of securitised peoples, transborder populations, and acculturative strategies.