"Network or community. The utility of two models of social relations on the case of urban Uyghur Kashgar, Xinjiang, China"

February 19, 2014 | 11:00 h - 12:00 h

A Crossroads Lecture by Rune Steenberg (Research fellow at ZELF Berlin) on "Network or community. The utility of two models of social relations on the case of urban Uyghur Kashgar, Xinjiang, China"

Venue: Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn

Walter-Flex-Str. 3, 53113 Bonn; first floor, right conference room

Abstract of the announced lecture:

'Network' has become an increasingly popular metaphor in social science. Yet, while it captures certain aspects of social relations in Central Asia extremely well, others are better described employing the less favored concept of 'community'. This lecture identifies such aspects in the social relations of Uyghur city dwellers and traders from Kashgar, Xinjiang, China: Local institutions of mutual labor and financial support as well as long distance trade display the unboundedness and fluidity of 'networks', but also rely on a level of cohesion and trust constitutive of 'communities'. Drawing on the example of Uyghurs in Kashgar, this lecture discusses some advantages and shortcoming of these two analytical tropes and drafts an outline for their complementary analytical use.

<link http: crossroads-asia.de external-link-new-window external link in new>crossroads-asia.de