Uyghur Women Activists in the Diaspora: Restorying a Genocide
Ebook
Presenting the life stories of ten Uyghur women, this book applies the techniques of narrative analysis to explore their changing worldviews and conversions to political engagement. Born and raised in East Turkestan/Xinjiang in the 1970s-90s, each woman, after personally experiencing incidents of ethnic discrimination, chose to leave China before 2005. Settling in a western country, they strive to become the voice of the Turkic people who are silenced or detained in the “re-education” camps.
The narratives are based on interviews conducted online between 2020 and 2021, collected as a form of oral history. The book focuses on the escalating tensions, turning points experienced in their youth, and the religious, political and psychological factors that prompted their transformations in self-identity, ideology and the emergence of a new Uyghur–Muslim feminism.
Through the women's stories, the book describes how women activists are navigating the competing reality constructions of the dire situation in the Uyghur Homeland and actively restorying a genocide to bring about social and political change.
Ten women narrate their struggles as ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang, their turning points that prompted them to leave China, and the emergence of a new Uyghur-Muslim feminism.
Describes the Uyghur advocacy movement and the rise of women Uyghur leaders in the diaspora as they react to an existential threat to their culture, family life and future as a people, and the development of a new Uyghur-Muslim feminism.
Explores the interior journey of ten Uyghur women who overcame ethnic discrimination and religious persecution in China to resettle in the West where they have developed leadership qualities and established meaningful careers as the voices of over one million Uyghurs trapped in the “re-education” camps and prisons of Xinjiang.
Argues for the power of storytelling and re-storying and their potential to promote social justice and to awaken Western countries to the genocide ongoing in Xinjiang, China.
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Introduction
Part 1: Personal Narratives as an Extension of Uyghur Advocacy Work
Part 2: The Narratives
1. Zubayra Shamseden
2. Rushan Abbas
3. Rahima Mahmut
4. Rukiye Turdush
5. Arzu Gul
6. Raziya Mahmut
7. Dilnur Reyhan
8. Gulchehra Hoja
9. Zumrat Dawut
10. Mihrigul Tursun
Part 3: Restorying a Genocide
Bibliography
Index
This is the first book to specifically highlight the critical role Uyghur women in diaspora have played in bringing attention to the challenges that Uyghurs face today. These oral histories reveal the fortitude of a community under duress, and are an important backdrop for examining Uyghur activism through a gender lens.
- Title: Uyghur Women Activists in the Diaspora: Restorying a Genocide
- Authors: Dilmurat Mahmut, Susan J. Palmer, Abdulmuqtedir Udun
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2024
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781350418356, 9781350418332, 1350418331, 1350418358
- Resource ID: LLS:9781350418356
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-09T09:01:37Z
Susan J. Palmer is an Affiliate Professor at Concordia University, and a Lecturer and Researcher at McGill University. She has authored or co-edited many books on new religious movements.
Dilmurat Mahmut is an independent researcher, and his research interests include Muslim identity in the West, immigrant/refugee integration and Uyghur diaspora identity.
Abdulmuqtedir Udun is a Uyghur researcher, journalist and interpreter based in Ottawa, Canada.