ABSTRACT
This book concludes that minzu is not just an identity, a category, a policy, or a social discourse that is exclusively defined and applied within Xinjiang and China; it is a concept that also travels across the geopolitical boundaries of nation-states and is practiced in China’s non-Han migrants’ everyday lives overseas, such as in Australia. Although the minzu concept is officially absent in Australia, it is used to reproduce meanings by Uyghur individuals in their new sociocultural environment. The traveling concept of minzu offers a new way to understand current Uyghur culture and society, and their migration between China and Australia. It also reveals the crisis faced by Uyghurs who are on the edge of “Chineseness.” This conclusion further reflects on the broader implications and themes for anthropological studies, particularly in the areas of Muslim migrants, Chinese overseas, and citizenship.
