Tom Cliff, "Oil and Water: Being Han in Xinjiang," (University of Chicago Press, 2016)

For decades, China’s Xinjiang region has been the site of clashes between long-residing Uyghur and Han settlers. Up until now, much scholarly attention has been paid to state actions and the Uyghur’s efforts to resist cultural and economic repression. This has left the other half of the puzzle—the motivations and ambitions of Han settlers themselves—sorely understudied. With Oil and Water, anthropologist Tom Cliff offers the first ethnographic study of Han in Xinjiang, using in-depth vignettes, oral histories, and more than fifty original photographs to explore how and why they became the people they are now. By shifting focus to the lived experience of ordinary Han settlers, Oil and Water provides an entirely new perspective on Chinese nation building in the twenty-first century and demonstrates the vital role that Xinjiang Han play in national politics—not simply as Beijing’s pawns, but as individuals pursuing their own survival and dreams on the frontier. Tom Cliff is an anthropologist based at the Australian National University. Han Settlers in Xinjiang Tom Cliff, Oil and Water book Uyghur-Han Relations in Xinjiang Chinese Nation Building in Xinjiang Ethnographic Study of Han in Xinjiang Xinjiang Cultural and Economic Tensions Beijing’s Role in Xinjiang Politics Han Settler Motivations in China Frontier Life in Xinjiang Xinjiang Region Anthropology Uyghur and Han Community Dynamics Oral Histories of Han Settlers Australian National University Anthropology Ethnic Relations in China’s Frontier Regions Xinjiang Han and National Politics