The resurgence of Islam in China's Northwest Xinjiang province among the Uyghurs, the largest ethnic group in the region, has been noted by numerous scholars. However, how this resurgence of Islam relates to Uyghur ethnic identity and how Uyghur women are responding to government policies and social change are questions that still need to be explored. This book focuses on Kashgar, an ancient city in south-western Xinjiang, bordering Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It examines how the Kashgar women in different social strata have expressed their ethnic and gendered identities in the context of Islamic traditions, the resurgence of Islam, and the shifting policies of the Chinese government over the last fifty years. It addresses the changing class hierarchies, family planning programmes and the re-veiling of women. The book will appeal to readers from a wide range of disciplines, including scholars of minority and gender studies in China, Central Asia, anthropology, post-socialist studies, and Islamic studies, and to those interested in Chinese political history since the 1950s.

Author Biography

Ayxem Eli gained her PhD in Asian Studies/Anthropology from the University of Melbourne, Australia. She is currently working as a post-doctoral research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Germany.