A Study On The Urban Adaptation Of Contemporary Uyghur Women Migrating To Towns

This research concerns acclimation problems faced by Uyghur transient female populations after moving to urban areas. The subjects of this research are female Uyghur's from all areas of Xinjiang, but especially those from southern Xinjiang villages who have come to Urumqi.Accompanying globalization, transient populations are a type of global phenomenon, and transient population studies have already become an important field in the academic world of contemporary interdisciplinary research. Among these, socio-cultural anthropology research about transient populations lays emphasis on a transient population's social, economic, and cultural motivations; the strategies transient populations employ in order to adapt to a strange new environment and integrate into urban life after moving; and how urban dwellers handle and accept transient populations etc. Anthropology and sociology have become the most important disciplines in the study of transient populations'social and cultural dimensions.In recent years, following the rapid progression of urbanization, cities have surpassed rural areas demographically, especially since rural populations have rapidly been moving into cities– this has already become a global phenomenon. Take Urumqi as an example: with the increasingly fast process of modernization the speed of urban population increase has already met the global standard. Urumqi is a multi-ethnic city, and transient populations have multi-ethnic characteristics. Amongst transient populations, the unceasing increase of minority populations is an important social reality. For transient population studies, it is necessary to research minority transient populations.Among the minority transient population who come to Urumqi from all over Xinjiang, the ratio of the Uyghur transient population is highest, and among that figure, the number of Uyghur females from rural areas increases yearly. Due to huge differences in social environment and cultural background, transient populations adapting to city life have definite characteristic traits. The position and role of Uyghur women as formed by rural village society is influenced by tradition and religion, and manifests in societal gender traits. Therefore, researching how they adapt to city life from the perspective of socio-cultural anthropology's societal gender [theory] has an important academic significance.This paper utilizes ethnological, socio-cultural anthropological and other related anthropological theories in conjunction with fieldwork engaging female Uyghur transients in Urumqi. The fieldwork included participant observation, extensive interviews, questionnaire surveys, and textual analysis to study this group's reasons for transience, how they adapt to the city, how they form adaptive strategies based on traditional Uyghur culture, and the problems they face during the adaptation process. In summary, this paper is about Uyghur transient female populations, concentrating on cultural elements, cultural traits, and cultural changes during the process of transience as well as cultural strategies for adapting to city life.