Community Cultural Wealth: Uyghurs, Social Networks, and Education

ABSTRACT

This article employs Yosso’s framework of ‘community cultural wealth’ to explore the ways in which educated Uyghurs, one of China’s 56 officially recognized ethnic groups, build on social networks like family and friends to improve their own social standing and contribute to the benefit of their communities. Through Yosso’s lens, ethnic minorities have their own cultural capital, which is distinct from the dominant group, and which can also be maximized to garner a successful status within society. This study undertook to discover: (a) In what ways do Uyghurs draw from their own community resources to navigate within a Mandarin Chinese-dominant education and economic system? (b) In what ways do Uyghurs support others within their own community for success? The article is based on ethnographic fieldwork collected within Xinjiang during the fall of 2013, interviews conducted with educated Uyghurs in Xinjiang and eastern China during multiple visits between the years of 2010-2013, and an analysis of interactive Uyghur language websites during the Spring of 2014.

Acknowledgment

The author would like to thank Dr. Deanna Hill at Drexel University for her careful read of this article and her thoughtful feedback. The author would also like to thank the peer reviewers for their thought-provoking comments.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rebecca A. Clothey

Rebecca A. Clothey is a faculty member at Drexel University’s School of Education. Her research interests include international higher education policy, community activism, and issues of ethnicity, equity and access. Most recently, her research has focused on Uyghur cultural transmission in Xinjiang through non-formal education venues such as training centers and Uyghur language websites. She has traveled frequently to China since 1993, and she lived there off and on for almost six years. She was a visiting scholar at Xinjiang Normal University in the fall of 2013. Dr. Clothey has received grants for her research from Fulbright (one to China and one to Uzbekistan), from the Spencer Foundation, and from the Drexel Social Science Research Fund, among others. She has a PhD in Administrative and Policy Studies from the University of Pittsburgh School of Education.