Muslim Mandarins in Chinese courts: dispute resolution, Islamic law, and the secular state in northwest China

Many sociolegal studies have investigated the relationship between state law and informal law, examining alternative dispute resolution and popular justice as intersections between such types of law. However, such questions have received little attention in East Asian authoritarian states. I use the...

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Main Author: Erie, MS
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015
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author Erie, MS
author_facet Erie, MS
author_sort Erie, MS
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description Many sociolegal studies have investigated the relationship between state law and informal law, examining alternative dispute resolution and popular justice as intersections between such types of law. However, such questions have received little attention in East Asian authoritarian states. I use the case of dispute resolution among Chinese Muslim minorities (the Hui) to reexamine the relationship between state law and Islamic law. Based on nineteen months of fieldwork in Northwest China, I argue that the Hui case shows codependence between the types of law. Law is deeply embedded in social relationships between the Hui and the party-state. An analysis of personalistic relationships shows the ways in which religious and secular authorities access each other, transforming each other's law to augment their own legitimacy, but not without the potential for violence. The China case illuminates dynamics between Muslim communities and states that are prevalent elsewhere in the post-9/11 period.
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spelling oxford-uuid:0a12a2c6-48cf-4868-b8e4-3f808ddbc9142024-02-02T09:04:17ZMuslim Mandarins in Chinese courts: dispute resolution, Islamic law, and the secular state in northwest ChinaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:0a12a2c6-48cf-4868-b8e4-3f808ddbc914EnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordWiley2015Erie, MSMany sociolegal studies have investigated the relationship between state law and informal law, examining alternative dispute resolution and popular justice as intersections between such types of law. However, such questions have received little attention in East Asian authoritarian states. I use the case of dispute resolution among Chinese Muslim minorities (the Hui) to reexamine the relationship between state law and Islamic law. Based on nineteen months of fieldwork in Northwest China, I argue that the Hui case shows codependence between the types of law. Law is deeply embedded in social relationships between the Hui and the party-state. An analysis of personalistic relationships shows the ways in which religious and secular authorities access each other, transforming each other's law to augment their own legitimacy, but not without the potential for violence. The China case illuminates dynamics between Muslim communities and states that are prevalent elsewhere in the post-9/11 period.
spellingShingle Erie, MS
Muslim Mandarins in Chinese courts: dispute resolution, Islamic law, and the secular state in northwest China
title Muslim Mandarins in Chinese courts: dispute resolution, Islamic law, and the secular state in northwest China
title_full Muslim Mandarins in Chinese courts: dispute resolution, Islamic law, and the secular state in northwest China
title_fullStr Muslim Mandarins in Chinese courts: dispute resolution, Islamic law, and the secular state in northwest China
title_full_unstemmed Muslim Mandarins in Chinese courts: dispute resolution, Islamic law, and the secular state in northwest China
title_short Muslim Mandarins in Chinese courts: dispute resolution, Islamic law, and the secular state in northwest China
title_sort muslim mandarins in chinese courts dispute resolution islamic law and the secular state in northwest china
work_keys_str_mv AT eriems muslimmandarinsinchinesecourtsdisputeresolutionislamiclawandthesecularstateinnorthwestchina