Women in the Uyghur Advocacy Movement in Canada: The Making of a Political “Activist"

Abstract

This study analyzes the life stories of three female Uyghur political activists. Born and raised in East Turkestan/Xinjiang, all three chose to emigrate to the West. Today they live in Canada, advocating for the rights of Turkic peoples in their “Homeland” and raising public awareness of the CCP’s campaign against the Uyghurs, a campaign which is currently recognized as genocidal by seven countries as well as a number of human rights organizations. This study adopts a narrative analysis of these life stories, which were collected as a form of oral history. The narratives focus on the experiences of ethnic Uyghurs living, studying, and working in China in the 1980s–2000s during the ongoing crackdowns and “strike hard” campaigns in East Turkestan/Xinjiang. Through the techniques of narrative analysis, we investigate and analyze the tensions, turning points, and motivations which led to their personal transformations and decision to become publicly involved in creating social and political change for their community. While the political statements of Rukiye Turdush, Arzu Gul, and Raziya Mahmut have been widely circulated in Canadian government and media reports, this study focuses on their personal lives and the troubling, traumatic events in their youth which triggered their choice to leave China. We ultimately argue that a narrative analysis of their stories helps us perceive these narratives as a continuation of their activism.