Between Islamic Affiliation and Gender Inequality

Ethnicity (minzu) is a major concern in research on contemporary China, ¹ partly because ethnic minority groups’ religious beliefs and ways of life are strikingly different from those of Han Chinese. Yet there is little analysis of the impact of religious affiliation or ethnic ways of life on social relations (e.g. gendered behaviour and outcomes) among members of minority groups China. To narrow this knowledge gap, I conducted fieldwork in the city of Ürümchi between 2005 and 2008, which included a 2007 Survey of 900 households drawn from a cluster sample of Uyghur Muslims, observations, guerrilla interviews with local Uyghurs, and 230 in-depth interviews with Uyghurs in the city (Chapter 2). ²