2006 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Investigative Study regarding Transformations in Uighur Communities and Ethnic Identities in Central Asia
| Project/Area Number |
15251002
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 海外学術 |
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| Research Field |
Area studies
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| Research Institution | Chuo University |
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Principal Investigator |
SHINMEN Yasushi Chuo University, Faculty of Literature, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (10235781)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KOMATSU Hisao University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, Professor, 大学院・人文社会系研究科, 教授 (30138622)
SAWADA Minoru Toyama University of Toyama, Faculty of Humanities, Professor, 人文学部, 教授 (20215916)
FUJIYAMA Shojiro Fukuoka Prefectural University, Faculty of Integrated Human Studies and Social Sciences, Professor, 人間社会学部, 教授 (30113244)
HORI Sunao Konan Unversity, Faculty of Letters, Professor, 文学部, 教授 (80140391)
YOSHIDA Setsuko Shikokugakuin University, Faculty of Sociology, Associate Professor, 社会学部, 助教授 (70352086)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2003 – 2006
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| Keywords | Central Asia / Uyghur / Community / ethnic identity / Xinjiang / Kazakhstan / Uzbekistan / Qirghizstan |
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| Research Abstract |
The purpose of this project is to examine issues concerning Uyghur society, culture and ethnic identity over a region including the PRC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Former Soviet Union (FSU) Central Asian republics.
The Uyghurs are a settled people leading agricultural or urban lives in the oases of Xinjiang. They are the primary ethnic group in PRC Xinjiang and form the majority of its population. The Uyghurs also make up a considerable portion of the populations of the FSU republics, including over 200,000 in Kazakhstan. This is a result of large-scale migrations from China to Russian and Soviet Union territories, mainly due to various political conditions existing since the 19th century.
While the Uyghurs are equivalent in number to the other main Central Asian ethnic groups, they still constitute social and political minorities in China and the Central Asian countries. Having no political entity of their own is a condition unique to Uyghur existence. While possessing a degre
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e of unity in such aspects as language, culture, and religion, the areas they populate are scattered over a vast geographical space, divided into regions with different historical backgrounds. On the other hand, while their consciousness as one people and their ethnonym developed only during the 20th century, the Uyghurs possess a common ethnic awareness, which seems to be the basis of their ethnic centripetal tendencies.
However, underlying this awareness can be the manifestation of a set of variables, which are regional, social, as well as ethnic in nature. In particular, we investigate the relationship between the ethnic awareness expressed and politicized by leaders and intellectuals in nationalist movements and the ethnic feelings and awareness of Uyghurs at the grassroots level of local society. Of particular note is that Uyghur ethnic awareness interlocks closely with national policies and social and cultural circumstances in each country, as well as with each region's particular historical background. Less
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