Natural Resources and the New Frontier: Constructing Modern China's Borderlands
Judd C. Kinzley
Abstract
This work offers a new resource-centered history of modern Xinjiang. The region, located on China's farthest western border, was shaped in the 20th century by not only Chinese officials, but also foreign powers, international markets, and autonomous local officials, each of whom were eager to stake their own claim to Xinjiang's rich resource wealth. Hoping to quickly and inexpensively exploit these resources, these various actors frequently built atop the efforts of their predecessors. This work reveals a new, transnational "layered" model of state formation that can be applied beyond Xinjiang ... More
This work offers a new resource-centered history of modern Xinjiang. The region, located on China's farthest western border, was shaped in the 20th century by not only Chinese officials, but also foreign powers, international markets, and autonomous local officials, each of whom were eager to stake their own claim to Xinjiang's rich resource wealth. Hoping to quickly and inexpensively exploit these resources, these various actors frequently built atop the efforts of their predecessors. This work reveals a new, transnational "layered" model of state formation that can be applied beyond Xinjiang to various Chinese border regions, including Manchuria, Taiwan, and Tibet. The larger framework can also apply beyond China, to contested, resource-rich border regions across the global south.
Keywords:
Xinjiang,
natural resources,
modern China,
materiality,
borders,
state building,
infrastructure,
oil,
Russian Empire,
Soviet Union
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2018 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226492155 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: January 2019 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226492322.001.0001 |
