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ABSTRACT
Though scholars of ethnicity remark that religion is an important qualifying attribute for membership in an ethnic group, the nature of the relationship between religious faith and ethnic identity requires further exploration. An approach that emphasizes the importance of religious practices in forming and maintaining ethnic boundaries may offer a more complete explanation of the relationship between religion and ethnicity. This article proposes a framework for understanding how religious practices influence ethnic boundary formation and maintenance processes. I propose that religious practices may play a universalizing, negotiating, or differentiating role in influencing the formation and maintenance of ethnic boundaries. To illustrate these various roles played by religious processes, the article presents a heuristic case study of Islamic faith in boundary setting processes in Hui Muslim communities in China.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank J. Paul Goode (University of Bath), Peter H. Gries (University of Oklahoma), Marie-Eve Reny (University of Montreal), Tristan G. Brown (Columbia University), Daniel P. Brown (University of Oklahoma), Jason Pudlo (University of Oklahoma), and Christopher J. Elford (U.C. Berkeley) for their comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
† A previous version of this article was presented at the Association for the Study of Nationalities 20th Annual World Conference on April 24, 2015 at Columbia University in New York.
1. Author's field observations, Beijing, 28 June 2014.
2. See Eckstein (Citation1975, 142–146), George and Bennett (Citation2005, 75), Flyvbjerg (Citation2006, 230–231), and Thomas (Citation2011, 516–517).
3. This should not suggest that all scholars ignore the relationship between religion and ethnicity. The ethnosymbolist tradition envisions both the nation and religion as eternal and intertwined. See Smith (Citation2003, 15, 17, 23, 25).
4. According to the 2010 Chinese Census.
5. Author's field observations, Jinan, 20 July 2014.
6. Interviewee 006.
7. Interviewee 007 and Interviewee 008.
8. Author's field observations, Xining, 12–18 July 2014.
9. Author's field observations, Najiahu, 4 July 2014.
10. Yihewani is often referred to as xin jiao, or ‘new school,’ while Gedimu is referred to as lao jiao, or ‘old school.’
11. Interviewee 010.
12. Interviewee 007 and Interviewee 008.
13. Interviewee 010.
14. Interviewee 007 and Interviewee 008.
15. Interviewee 012.
16. Interviewee 007 and Interviewee 008.
17. Interviewee 010.
18. Interviewee 006.
19. Interviewee 003.
20. See Gaubatz (Citation1996).
21. Author's field observations, Xining, 12–18 July 2014.
22. Author's field observations, Jinan, 19–24 July 2014.
23. Interviewee 006.
24. Interviewee 010.
25. Author's field observations, Jinan, 19–24 July 2014.
26. Interviewee 003.
27. Interviewee 002.