Politics and Othering: Forced Labour and the Transfer of Uyghur Rural Labour to Coastal China

This chapter examines how contemporary state policies in China have reshaped the social and cultural structures of non-Han populations, with particular emphasis on the forced labour transfer programme affecting Uyghur society. Drawing on an ethnographic dataset that combines quantitative and qualitative research conducted in both industrial centres employing Uyghur labour and the rural regions of origin, the study pursues two interrelated aims. First, it analyses the institutional and administrative mechanisms through which state-directed labour transfers are implemented and maintained. Second, it assesses the sociological and psychological consequences of these policies for Uyghur workers. The chapter highlights the transformation and exploitation of rural Uyghur labourers who are relocated thousands of kilometres from their homeland into factory systems and residential settings dominated by Han Chinese populations. The argument is made that state-sanctioned ethnic discrimination, particularly the systematic allocation of Uyghur workers to lower-paid positions, has reconfigured labour relations more broadly. These dynamics have undermined the bargaining power of Han workers and intensified resentment towards Uyghur labourers, thereby heightening ethnic tensions and increasing the risk of social conflict.