On The Reproduction Of The The Uyghur Elite And National Consciousness,

An ethnic group is often regarded as a group of people with similar social psychology and unanimous idea and act. However, there are possibly diversities within a certain ethnic group due to localities, careers, classes, generations and so on. This kind of disaccord also exists regarding ethnic identity, which is the subject of this thesis.The paper takes the current Uyghur as an example to show the different intensities of ethnic identity among various groups within an ethnic group. It focuses on ethnic elites to discuss and analyze their methods, logics and motivations for propagandizing and intensifying ethnic nationalism. Finally, the thesis puts forward that the essence of ethnic group in contemporary China is an instrument to compete for resource and interest. The theory applied here is instrumentalism and the methods are questionnaire and interviews.The paper consists of five parts:The introduction comprises an overview of relevant theories, the reason why I chose this subject and the sources of those materials I used.Chapter1provides definitions of ethnic identity and other concepts, and comparisons of the intensity of ethnic identity among various Uyghur groups, including elites, merchants and peasants.Chapter2illustrates and analyzes the reproduction of ethnic identity by Uyghur elites.Chapter3explores the motivation of the propaganda and strengthening of Uyghur ethnic identity and shows the instrumentalism of ethnicity.The conclusion summarizes the main results of the study and gives a theoretical argument.