Urbanization, relational space, and practicing Muslim ethnicity in Western China

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent decades, market reforms, inter-regional mobility, and urbanization have shaped Muslim groups’ social practices, simultaneously encouraging the development of Islamic places (and reinforcing Muslim identity), promoting intermingling with other ethnic groups (and promoting assimilation), and occasionally creating inter-ethnic class solidarity and mutual respect. By the mid-2010s, in western China’s Xining City, the resulting social fluidity stemming from these transformations was being constrained by both community social pressures and state security practices. Furthermore, Sinocentric urbanization discourse was influencing intra-group debates about what, and how, Muslim practices could belong in the city. This discourse affected mundane boundary-marking practices; its relative devaluation of ethnic urban spaces shaped what Muslims considered excessively ‘traditional’ or acceptably modern. Drawing from theories in urban geography, I argue that analyses of relational spaces that include mobility, urban redevelopment, and lived experiences are key to understanding how urban Muslims are adapting to contemporary PRC governance strategies.