The Plight of Uighur Muslims from the Lens of Various Theories

By Anonymous -



                                         

Anarchy:

The word anarchy has been derived from the ancient word ‘anarchos’ which means ‘without rulers’. In anarchy, there is no superior power within a system that would be able to enforce rules. It is a situation in which a government either does not exist or has no authority or control over people. It is synonymous with concepts such as freedom, liberty, independence, and self-government. In recent words, it refers to the reduction or total absence of conventional government rule. It is also referred to as any country or community that is temporarily or permanently under no system of government control. 

Uighur Muslim population:

The Chinese government is keeping an eye on the Uighur population in the Xinjiang province in China. They have set up surveillance cameras at various places which have the technology of 3D face scanning. Every boy above a certain age is forced to give his blood at the check posts, they also have to get their phones scanned and if the Chinese government finds any app which is prohibited then they would have to undergo trials. The government officials are sent to their homes for surprise visits and as spies and if they find that the people are going for some religious activities then they would get in trouble. 

The government has started re-education camps. There they used to teach about the past Chinese leaders and their achievements. People were kept under high-security regions and they were sent to various places without even telling them.



Realist perspective:

In realism, state behavior is driven by the desire of the states to increase their power. In realism, the desire of each state in any international system is to become the most powerful state in global politics or become the hegemon. 

If we look at the realist perspective of anarchy, the state has to survive and they are suspicious of other states. Looking at this example from a realist perspective China is trying to be the hegemon by showing the Muslim countries that if they tried to invade their ideology in their country then what would happen to them. China is trying to create terror in the world through soft power as well as through hard power. It is also creating various technologies which would make it a technologically advanced nation and would come in a race with the USA.



Liberalist perspective: 

The idea of liberalism to the core is grounded in the idea of independence and the possibility of peaceful growth where countries if they come can peacefully further mutually benefit each other. As the states are mutually benefitted from each other they would try to prevent conflict with each, through liberalism the economic and political ties of the countries are strengthened.

There is no liberalist perspective on this, China is just trying to project a different image in the international arena but in reality, is actually the opposite. 



Constructivist perspective:

According to constructivists, the concept of anarchy is subjective, and it is essentially defined by the state. This means that what a state identifies and perceives as a threat is not fixed and can shift depending on the social, internal context, and intersubjective meaning that states assign to it and it can also depend on the way we try and perceive things. Constructivists acknowledge the existence of anarchy in the international system. If we look through the example of Uighur Muslims, the state and the Uighur population did not have an agreement and the lack of agreement would lead to enmity between both the groups. 

Conclusion:

There are various theories in the international arena that lead to various perspectives. This situation of Uighur Muslims and the state could be understood by these theories and each and every theory would have a different viewpoint of that. These viewpoints would lead to increasing our thinking capacity. 

Picture source:

https://www.cagle.com/paresh-nath/2011/08/british-anarchy

https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/c/chinese_military.asp

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/11/liberalism-according-to-the-economist

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-international-studies/article/problem-of-change-in-constructivist-theory-ontological-security-seeking-and-agent-motivation/5CC379187B7C0EF84D4EE07E5BBF30C4



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