Uyghur Identity: Contestation and Construction of Identity in a Conflict Setting

Abstract: This study explores and discusses the dynamics of identity in conflict through examining Uyghur collective identity in the specific context of China as an emerging power. Particular attention is paid to how this identity is constructed and contested by different actors of the Xinjiang Conflict. The Xinjiang Conflict is a multifaceted conflict, consisting of both direct and structural violence. These dynamics of identity are based on different understandings of what it means to be a Uyghur, which is in line with existing research on contemporary conflicts that considers identity as a driving force of violence. Through a text analysis, this study sets out to assess how Uyghur identity is constructed and contested in the context of the Xinjiang Conflict, by primary actors; the Chinese government, Uyghur diaspora and the local Uyghur population in Xinjiang. As the Uyghurs’ identity has been contested, and discontent is cultivated among the Uyghur community, the conflict between Uyghurs and the Chinese government (dominated by the majority ethnic group Han Chinese) has escalated since the mid 1990s. The findings advanced in this research conclude that Uyghur identity, in the context of conflict, is contested within different areas, such as language, culture, territory, religion and even time. This paper suggests that within these areas, identity is contested though the different processes of negotiation, resistance, boundary-­making and emphasis on certain features of ones identity.