This book explores the socio-spatial impacts of China's high-tech repression against Uyghurs both within and beyond its borders. The study is built on surveys, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions with the members of Uyghur diaspora in Türkiye. Findings indicate that high-tech repression minimizes the social life in East Turkestan. This type of governance aims to achieve a complete erasure of privacy and individual agency by strategically leveraging technology. While Uyghurs who escaped to Türkiye appear to gain relative freedom, our findings indicate that with China's transnational repression mostly applied through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), they live in a social space which functions as a quasi-spatial extension of East Turkestan.
Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: An Overview of China's policies on Uyghurs.- Chapter 3: China's high-tech repression in East Turkestan.- Chapter 4: Case Selection, Research Methodology, and Field Notes.- Chapter 5: Surveys, In-depth Interviews, and Focus Group Interviews.- Chapter 6: Novel theoretical insights into China's repression within and beyond its borders.- Chapter 7: Conclusion.
Lacin Idil Oztig is Professor at Yildiz Technical University, Turkey.
Abdurresit Karluk is Professor at Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University, Turkey.
The volume is a timely account of how Uyghurs are suffering from the condition of being lab rats in a broader experimentation of mechanisms and techniques of surveillance which are becoming so sophisticated as to turn the controlled into becoming his/her/their own controller, erasing any remaining trace of humanity, sense of community, and self-connection. (Alessandra Cappelletti. China Information, Vol. 39 (2), July, 2025)
