Digital Turban‐Head: Racial Learning and Policing Muslims in Northwest China

“What do you think of ‘our turban-heads’ (women de chantou)?” the taxi driver wondered, nodding out window at a Uyghur pedestrian. I stared him blankly. Not waiting for my response, he continued, wanting to get thoughts on how United States's war in Iraq was going. He had heard that it going affect oil prices. It 2010, and President Barack Obama just been elected, so mumbled something about new administration would try find way disaster previous started. short ride through office towers hotels brought desert glitz Ürümchi, administrative center Chinese domestic industry colonization 15 million Muslims—Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, others—who saw region as their ancestral homeland. have thought opening question lot since then. As mass campaigns against Turkic Muslims took form 2010s, first with renewed “hard strike” campaign ethnic separatism, religious extremism, violent terrorism, then, 2014, an intensified “people's terror,” what constitutes “the terrorist” globally racialized figure became central concern research. Over course past decade, hundreds thousands were detained result pervasive predictive policing surveillance program. But led racialization this surveillance? What did mean when said “our turban-heads”? Embedded statement feeling I—like non-Muslim driver—was not “turban-head,” but American white man, I, like him, “turban-heads” own. clear from conversation conflating his mine. That any location, “turban-heads,” whether or Xinjiang, problem be contemplated abstractly military force. They because they might harm economy peace mind non-Muslims. A difference perhaps, is who object “war casual anti-Muslim racism, fellow citizens, meters away, prevented hearing use slur only by pane glass. The referring mine Iraq. But, course, militarized occupation also shaped Muslim compatriots treated back States. There many similarities between Islamophobic actions toward Americans institutions treatment (Brophy, 2019; Doyon, 2019). In both places police long tracking behavior its “radicalization” domestication technology (Byler, 2022b; Harcourt, 2018). different scale intensity warfare Xinjiang. Here supporting colonial project internal enemy (Cliff, 2016), Muslims, native place which lived “infected” so-called foreign Islam (Grose, great deal excellent scholarship racial capitalism has shown, essential part process economic expropriation frontier making (Byrd et al., 2018; Koshy 2022). say, racialization—as institutionalized supported police, law, school system, on—is simply natural outcome transhistorical process; contrary, historical feature global imperial conquest depends (Bledsoe Wright, Sheridan, happening Xinjiang emergent, intensifying racializing ethnoreligious difference, sequence much newer than older North settler colony. rhetoric terror post–2001, terrorist produced, transnational 2022b). provided socially acceptable reading bodies appearance others diagnosing them “terrorists” “radicals” distance (Asad, 2007). context accelerated processes racialization, phenotypical production based language, cultural, practice, claims autonomy prefigured modern state. Because Uyghurs historically claimed own state, East Turkestan, prior unfolding settler-colonial second half twentieth century, categorized “counterrevolutionary” “separatist” before arrival terrorism discourse after September 11, 2001. Now began fieldwork, things facial hair, hair coverings, smell, techniques body, all information “foreign Islam” proceeded person, speaking advance, should regarded one turban-heads” see Amrute, 2016 parallel discussion racism). Race contentious topic studies ethnicity China. Many field China accepted widespread ethnonationalist notions Han majority's superiority created “civilizing mission” (Harrell, 1995) minorities, turn shapes attitudes minorities. until recently, few describe dynamic racialized. are some good reasons this. China's 55 official minorities—such Yi, Zhuang, Miao, others—in more less assimilated into mainstream, pass Han, speak Mandarin language. Ethnic these minorities primarily cultural food traditions, particular rights entitlements (Hansen, 1999). scholars concerned Western experiences onto situations incommensurable (Castillo, 2020; Liu, Among publics, uncritical thinking goes, impossible racist, brown relative Europeans Americans, former oppressors. More though, there emergent awareness certain extent Tibetans, differently other terms incarceration rates—Uyghurs formally incarcerated around six times national average—and criminalization faith practices traditions 2021b). obvious differences phenotypes, land, Native populations number millions make “hardness” Tibetan readily apparent When comes additional factor. says turban-heads,” explicit appeal racism. enacting violence regardless conceptualizes same xenophobes conceptualize Muslims. internment Northwest China, residential system children, automated using biometric markers 2021b), desecration sacred spaces (Thum, 2020), over horizon, indicates speech act contributes devastation Afghanistan Iraq, location. Much race concerns discrimination African workers coastal cities. This Shanshan Lan (2019, 481) argues, must triangulated kind “racial learning” Black workers—meaning learn means each discourses originated ongoing manner Europe America. simple white. Nor anti-Black anti-Chinese racism same, claim ultimate culprit contemporary West. Instead, (2014) points need understand structure, is, if being important consider legal systems produce enforce logics. While Roberto Castillo (2020) argues likely “institutional racism” may yet accurate characterizing bias state attempting manage (as case guest China). explicitly mandating institutionalized, moves education, media, banking hospital, courts. matter calling turban-head; racist institutions. driver's symptomatic whole society's approach counterterrorism adapted 2009. media continually frame pious vermin hunted down streets schools staffed teachers say classroom like, “I learning (language) students, I'm worried will me stupid” (A. Byler, 2022, 409)—implying stupid language speak. officials discuss Islam,” meaning normative Islamic such Quranic recitation, mosque attendance, votive fasting signs ideological cancer And most importantly given relationship violence, hunt “terrorist gang” bounties infiltrate communities, turning informants employing low-wage migrants red-arm-banded “security personnel” every housing complex bus station. Eventually army “volunteers” coercively drafted live villages, built digital dossiers Muslim, slotting finely tuned categories trustworthy, normal, untrustworthy. contexts taught culture, “backward” (Chinese: luohou) best dangerous worst context, abounds (Lan, Dividing local communities micro-policing units small 10 families, authorities combined human tools profile preemptively target (nearly exclusively Muslim) removing sense privacy safety homes.... [As result,] home, neighbours Neighbourhood Committee fundamentally altered young men interviewed during ethnographic fieldwork period told people knew cultivated informants. Several them, later learned, secretly informing conversations them. why tested practice; wanted know side on—for “turban-heads.” For me, encountered, circle those could trusted radically narrowed. vast majority groups we found separatists terrorists all. These labels gave committed crimes, didn't commit crime all, no defend 2022a) We policy encouraged spy other. Often money, threatened families. Of our tips false accusations. Some while take revenge others. arrest truth information. example, four five gathered together activities visiting friend attending funeral someone illegal gathering teach plan everyone attended label host ringleader. Everyone funeral, required conduct rituals. normal Muslim. exaggerate extremist terrorist. People accused prove innocent. Often, ended up sentenced 4 5 years prison “education hard labor” camps. informant money received commendation. common. where exist, “violence workers” (Correia Wall, Tahir, Public Security Bureau existed founding People's Republic 1949, 1989 necessary create institution armed police. Prior this, public security enacted neighborhood committees attached work units. Vagrants, without within units, sent camps reform labor. After student protests Tiananmen, decided time providing edge community policing. then build professional force reformed Civil Affairs Ministry private forces—police assistants guards—hired corporations personnel positions power came population—it low-level hired populations. research shown joined simultaneously protecting families system. By 2017, largest concentration proportion population. study Xu, Leibold, Impiombato (2021) notes, drawing academy report, 10,700 regular officers, along 30,870 assistant officers 48,010 militia guards, 2018. entire population 25 million, 60 percent One conducted showed 80 reports capital city focused despite 20 city's 2021a). Policing economy, task evaluating, detaining, monitoring Billions dollars invested state-of-the-art safe-city systems, region-wide network 7000 hubs—labeled “People's Convenience Police Stations” (Wong, 2019)—biometric checkpoints, forensics used scan targeted citizens’ smartphones. itself To reprise Simone Browne's (2015) conceptualization surveillance, equipped assessment devices, produced parameters counted abnormal behavior. “reified boundaries, borders, lines” (Browne, 2015, 16). Bangladesh-India borderland studied Sahana Ghosh 870), “detectability” deviated imposed norms documents demonstrate behavior, wearing veil having beard, well fell outside gaze virtual (VPN) encrypted chat application WhatsApp, sign untrustworthiness. “Turban-heads” digitized. Whether images real life, spotting probability now resulted alert. enforcement allowed diagnose presence supposed “extremists” unprecedented scale. space two years, 2017 2018, detained. Automated harvesting assessing data contractors, assistants, commanders inconveniences everyone, absence somewhat normal. Nearly family missing member, friend, neighbor. absences subtracted parts were, placing life hold times. fact loved detention held threat. cases, asked support police's decision detain relative. If not, too 2021a, already, feels continue time, even though sustainable keep way. unhappy. hours away family. training. don't actually cause before. Back feared ISIS coming, threat doesn't seem real, either. All us fear, that's happens grow culture thing can am China: Don't spread fear. bring fear your children. next generation people. 2021c) recent contribute logics (Ibrahim, 2021), cultivating abolition antiracism pedagogies rely archives resistance (Yonucu, Islamophobia begin. November 2022 across world brief episodes, occasionally kitchen tables move (Dorjee, sparked deaths children parents fire apartment locked due “zero COVID” policy. Shanghai elsewhere, seen mobility tightly controlled blank pieces paper protests. range protesting—from arbitrary health checks regime founded violence—could taken openly articulated picked cameras arrest. pages archive protest movements handwritten demanded revolutionary change. current protestors motivated policing, protesting Uyghurs, included demand close (something made diaspora world) (Smith, 2023). Though start, themselves read