Matthew Erie's new book, China and Islam, is a tour de force both in the scope of the material covered and the sophistication of its analysis. The book explores the tensions and intersections between localized practices of Islamic law among the Hui Muslim minority in northwest China and the Party-state's secular laws and policies. The book probes the interstitial nodes of the minjian, meaning, literally, "between people," where local practices negotiate with a range of state and non-state actors. Erie defines minjian as "those institutions and norms that have not (necessarily) received the state's imprimatur" (p. 13); in other words, a sort of autonomous, grey zone of activities (shari'a law, ritual actions, religious education and marriage, gift giving and Islamic banking) that are under constant pressure, mediation and compromise with the Party-state and its bureaucratic organs.
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