Remote Chay #3 - Studying Mosque destructions in China from afar

In 2016, China’s Party-state started a campaign of “Sinification of religions”, targeting, among other things mosques, built in the “Arab style”. In episode 3, Ruslan Yusupov explains how this policy leads to remodeling, at times even destruction, of mosques throughout China and how we can study these processes remotely.

Ruslan is a social anthropologist at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University who has conducted fieldwork in Chinese Muslim (Hui) communities in Yunnan Province.

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Remote Chay

How do you study places you cannot reach? When governments restrict access and surveillance makes traditional research impossible, scholars must find new ways to understand distant realities.

Remote Chay brings together experts to explore two key questions: How can researchers study inaccessible regions? And what can we learn about Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region—one of the world's most heavily surveilled territories?

Our guests share insights on remote ethnography, a methodological approach for researching areas where traditional fieldwork is impossible. From digital anthropology to diaspora interviews, we explore innovative ways to gather knowledge across barriers of distance, politics, and control.

Remote Chay isn't just a podcast—it's an ongoing scholarly dialogue. We invite listeners to engage: comment, share insights, and help refine these approaches for studying the unstudyable.

Remote Chay launched in 2024 as part of the EU-funded project "Remote Ethnography of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region," a collaboration between Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, and Université libre de Bruxelles.

ULB Podcasts, les podcasts de l'Université libre de Bruxelles.

Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.