The peasant condition in Xinjiang

This article explores Uighur peasants' perceptions of their own position in the reform period in Xinjiang province, Northwest China, which remain predicated on their obligations towards the state as landlord. Despite the emphasis on 'market economy', the legacy of the Maoist period continues to impose constraints upon households - perhaps more in this remote region, dominated by ethnic minorities, than has been reported in other parts of China in recent decades. The article examines various channels of state control, the agents of this control, and the sanctions enforced. It also argues that some concepts of the secular authorities converge in peasants' perceptions with a traditional religious world view. However secular power is resented and resisted in various 'everyday' strategies.