Unruly Speech

"Based on a rigorous, multi-sited ethnography conducted in Xinjiang and within diasporas in Germany and the United States, Unruly Speech is a thorough inquiry into transgressive spaces of testimony and advocacy under digital surveillance in totalitarian regimes. It provides an important contribution to the anthropology of resistance."—Didier Fassin, Institute for Advanced Study and the Collège de France

"Unruly Speech is a compelling multi-sited ethnography of Uyghur communication practices as they are shaped by both oppressive state measures and migratory routes. Addressing the special affordances and hazards of digital media, this book makes a significant and timely contribution to communication research and to the study of globalization through its emphasis on transnational movement and process."—Tamar Katriel, author of Defiant Discourse

"In Unruly Speech, Saskia Witteborn provides a clever ethnography of communication practices and processes in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China and in the Uyghur diasporas in Germany and the United States.... This way, Witteborn builds a conceptual bridge between the material process of displacement and the symbolic dislocation of meaning."—Andrew Fallone, International Affairs

"Unruly Speech is itself a testimonio to the strength and resilience of Uyghur communities who have been enduring severe political, social, and cultural dispossessions over the past two decades. The book bridges anthropology and communication studies through its ethnographic methodology of communication and critical self-reflexivity. It contributes to migration literature, language and social interaction literature, and the study of contemporary China and Uyghur lifeworlds from a global perspective. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in delving into a hopeful world of transgressive possibilities."—Jing Wang, American Ethnologist