Between sacred and secular knowledge: rationalities and education of a Muslim village in Northwest China by Yanbi HongPublication Date: 2022
This book examines how different social forces, including state ideology and policies, religious culture and ethnic identities, and economic market forces, affect Muslim parents' perceptions and attitudes toward public and religious education. Combining ethnographic fieldwork and a cognitive rationality framework, this book investigates ethnic minorities' educational attainment and its shaping mechanisms. Instead of attributing the undereducation of ethnic minorities solely to structural factors such as economic constraints, cultural conflicts and state policies, this study focuses on the critical role of perceptions and expectations through which many structural factors function.