Urban Xinjiang Ethnic Minorities under the Development Policies: Strengthen Ethnic Identity or Assimilation

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of development policies towards ethnic minorities in urban Xinjiang. Try to find out how ethnic minorities define themselves and be defined by others along with the changing circumstances and interests which caused by the implementation of development policies. Semi-structured interview was the main method to collect first-hand data. Observation was going on during the whole process of fieldwork. A state-owned company in urban Xinjiang was chosen as a case study. In order to make the study more comprehensive a private-owned company has been used as a comparison. Four main factors – “access”, “participation”, “payment”, and “promotion” – have been used to analyze the influences of development policies against the ethnic minorities’ workers. The result of this paper could be seen from two aspects: firstly, the implementation of development policies combined with some old system and regulations would marginalize people from ethnic minority groups in a disadvantage situation. Thus, strong ethnic consciousness roused up. Secondly, due to the changing circumstances and interests, ethnic identity would be reinterpreted and reproduced.