A Techno-Docility Approach to the Repression and Surveillance of Uyghurs

Abstract

A significant body of research examines the Chinese government’s mass atrocities against Uyghurs and various forms of state repression in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. However, scholars do not clearly address the interplay of traditional and technological repertoires of repression in the region. This article presents a focused, well-documented treatment of how traditional and technological repression interact in the Chinese government’s policies toward Uyghurs. Using a novel techno-docility approach, it shows that the government adopts a complex, pervasive, and all-encompassing form of repression to create obedient citizens and a unitary society. The article also highlights the increasingly dangerous and intricate nature of repression, which crosscuts multiple disciplines and hence is best addressed through interdisciplinary efforts.