Modernization and ethnicity in China: a study of everyday ethnicity and urban renewal in Hui neighborhoods

Abstract

Though much of the international attention given to China’s ethnic politics focuses on minority groups’ resistance to the Chinese state, relations between the state and ethnic Hui Muslims are not marked by resistence, separatism, or violence. Why don't the Hui rebel? This study investigates China’s ethnic politics by examining the politics of Hui identity in “quiet times” outside of the moments of activated ethnic salience which are frequently the subject of studies on ethnic politics. To do so, it will utilize the theoretical framework of everyday ethnicity to examine how daily practices maintain ethnic boundaries in Hui enclave communities undergoing of urbanization. I find that in the context of urbanization, interactions between groups of Hui from different regions, classes, levels of education, professions, and religious orientations raise the salience of intragroup boundaries, as these groups articulate different understandings of which daily practices define the boundaries of Hui identity. These processes renew contestation of Hui identity, and create a multiplicity of definitions of Huiness. The resulting intra-ethnic debate minimizes resistance to the state itself, as potential inter-ethnic conflict is effectively defused by way of continuous intra-ethnic boundary contestation. Thus, by focusing contention on internal boundaries, the state is able to exert control and effectively manage ethnic politics.