Úkryt před pouštními větry: adaptace a stát mezi ujgurskými výrobci plsti na rurálním jihu Xinjiangu.

Mukaidaisi MUHETAER

Doctoral thesis

Uyghur Felt Culture

Abstract:

This dissertation is a study of adaptation strategies developed by Uyghur craftspeople, and felt-makers in particular, in response to state expansion in rural southern Xinjiang from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-2010s. The Uyghur felt-makers in the villages of southern Xinjiang experienced major changes in their professional and daily lives during this long historical period as a result of these expansions of the state beyond the public sphere. Their responses to these changes typically involved efforts to convert whatever elements of symbolic capital they retained into other forms of capital, usually but not always financial. The dissertation shows that, before the mid-twentieth century, the state had no role in the production processes of craft-making, except for indirect involvement in craftsmen's marketing activities through taxation. As a result, up to that time, craft makers were able to develop commercial strategies to improve their economic and social status, and in particular were able to conduct trans-border trade. However, with the arrival of the Chinese Communist Party after 1949, and during the Cultural Revolution period, the state entered fully into the spheres of the production and marketing of craft products, and directly controlled these activities. By 1956, individual production and cross-border trade had all been ended. Craftspeople therefore had very limited options for generating enough extra income to survive or for transmitting their craft knowledge to the next generation, forcing them to use strategies that were illegal and involved secrecy. This situation changed in the reform era. The state again withdrew from involvement in production by individual craftspeople. But it soon retuned to shaping the options available to individual craftspeople indirectly through the market economy. In such a situation, craftspeople had to consider the costs that came with the options they faced. These costs involved giving up different types of symbolic capital, such as their reputation in the community or their tradition of handing down their craft knowledge to their children. Instead, some tried to work as middlemen in the market economy, while others tried to acquire state-recognised forms of capital, such by cooperating with state poverty programs or sending their children to university to get degrees. In the mid-2010s, the Chinese state entered into what Habermas called the "intimate sphere". The adaptative strategies open to people under such conditions were very limited and sometimes even invisible. These were also subject to sudden change. For example, the previous use of "political currency" had enabled people to obtain the status of being "trusted" by the state. This had allowed them some additional opportunities to convert or acquire various types of capital. The value of "political currency" is mainly decided by the local administration, which links the villagers with the state. But this currency can lose its value. change very rapidly when there is a shift in the political environment of the region or even at the whim of an official. In some cases, the dissertation argues, such a change can have dramatically negative consequences. In this dissertation, I use a historical ethnographic approach, combining oral history with ethnographic accounts and archival records to show the various adaptation strategies used by craftspeople in response to the rapidly changing fields created by shifts in state penetration into social, commercial and sometimes private space.

Abstract:

This dissertation is a study of adaptation strategies developed by Uyghur craftspeople, and felt-makers in particular, in response to state expansion in rural southern Xinjiang from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-2010s. The Uyghur felt-makers in the villages of southern Xinjiang experienced major changes in their professional and daily lives during this long historical period as a result of these expansions of the state beyond the public sphere. Their responses to these changes typically involved efforts to convert whatever elements of symbolic capital they retained into other forms of capital, usually but not always financial. The dissertation shows that, before the mid-twentieth century, the state had no role in the production processes of craft-making, except for indirect involvement in craftsmen's marketing activities through taxation. As a result, up to that time, craft makers were able to develop commercial strategies to improve their economic and social status, and in particular were able to conduct trans-border trade. However, with the arrival of the Chinese Communist Party after 1949, and during the Cultural Revolution period, the state entered fully into the spheres of the production and marketing of craft products, and directly controlled these activities. By 1956, individual production and cross-border trade had all been ended. Craftspeople therefore had very limited options for generating enough extra income to survive or for transmitting their craft knowledge to the next generation, forcing them to use strategies that were illegal and involved secrecy. This situation changed in the reform era. The state again withdrew from involvement in production by individual craftspeople. But it soon retuned to shaping the options available to individual craftspeople indirectly through the market economy. In such a situation, craftspeople had to consider the costs that came with the options they faced. These costs involved giving up different types of symbolic capital, such as their reputation in the community or their tradition of handing down their craft knowledge to their children. Instead, some tried to work as middlemen in the market economy, while others tried to acquire state-recognised forms of capital, such by cooperating with state poverty programs or sending their children to university to get degrees. In the mid-2010s, the Chinese state entered into what Habermas called the "intimate sphere". The adaptative strategies open to people under such conditions were very limited and sometimes even invisible. These were also subject to sudden change. For example, the previous use of "political currency" had enabled people to obtain the status of being "trusted" by the state. This had allowed them some additional opportunities to convert or acquire various types of capital. The value of "political currency" is mainly decided by the local administration, which links the villagers with the state. But this currency can lose its value. change very rapidly when there is a shift in the political environment of the region or even at the whim of an official. In some cases, the dissertation argues, such a change can have dramatically negative consequences. In this dissertation, I use a historical ethnographic approach, combining oral history with ethnographic accounts and archival records to show the various adaptation strategies used by craftspeople in response to the rapidly changing fields created by shifts in state penetration into social, commercial and sometimes private space.

Keywords

adaptace, stát, Sin-ťiang, Ujguři, výrobci plsti.

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 20. 11. 2023

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Robert Barnett, Ph.D.

Palacký University Olomouc

Faculty of Arts

Doctoral programme / field:
Asian Studies / Asian Studies