Paper short abstract:

The recent inclusion of Xinjiang in the Chinese nation and the independence (called terrorist) activities of the population, ethnically and religiously different from the majority group, have created the basis for the establishment of transnational conflictual relations between Uyghurs and China.

Paper long abstract:

Uyghur population is mired in a kind of constant conflict with the authorities of the Chinese central government, because of the participation by part of the population (especially younger ones) in local organizations declared Islamist terrorists, and the often violent acts the state claims such groups conduct.

Islam (pillars, customs, demonstrations) is the element of Uyghur identity that the State instrumentally employs in building the image of a "minority/otherness," separated from the "majority/normality," that is stigmatized and fixed as China. And yet, the conflict of Uyghur nationality-Central State relations, justified by an apparent ideological and ethnic incompatibility, masks a project of political state control, which is based on the fear of state disintegration and fighting against an "other" cultural identity to retain control.

We intend to contribute, within the framework of Decolonial Studies, a detailed overview of the current state of relations between the different powers that are in China, Central State/majority versus ethnic identities/minorities. We will study the ethno-political and religious nature of the conflicts and the theoretical and practical and social implications they have provided, in order to discover, describe and demonstrate the existence of what has been called epistemic racism, in which some elites breed underestimating racist practices at the expense of ethnically, racially and socially discriminated against groups.