Darren Byler is an American anthropologist and author. He is an associate professor of International Studies at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Byler specializes in the

Uyghurs The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...

in China and has written about the ongoing oppression of the ethnic group in China, such as through the

Xinjiang internment camps The Xinjiang internment camps, officially called vocational education and training centers by the government of the People's Republic of China, are internment camps operated by the government of Xinjiang and the Chinese Communist Party P ...

. Byler has a BA in History & Visual Journalism from

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

, an MA in East Asian Studies from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and a PhD in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. Prior to joining Simon Fraser University, he conducted postdoctoral research at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

. Byler has worked as an advisor with faculty members and researchers at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University to build the

Xinjiang Documentation Project Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

, a project that documents the

persecution of Uyghurs Since 2014, the government of the People's Republic of China has committed a series of ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities in Xinjiang which has often been characterized as persecution or as ...

in Xinjiang. His research has been supported by Columbia University's Global Reports series and a Luce Foundation and

American Council of Learned Societies The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a private, nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations in the humanities and related social sciences founded in 1919. It is best known for its fellowship competitions which provide a ra ...

Early Career Fellowship. Byler has been frequently attacked by

Chinese state media The mass media in the People's Republic of China primarily consists of television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. Since the start of the 21st century, the Internet has also emerged as an important form of mass media and is under the direct ...

, who have accused him of being an agent of the United States government, which Byler has denied. The ''

Global Times The ''Global Times'' is a daily Chinese Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the ''People's Daily'', commenting on international issues from a Chinese nationalistic pers ...

'', a newspaper run by the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP), has accused Byler of being an "anti-China figure" who makes "fabricated" allegations about "genocide and crimes against humanity" in Xinjiang.

Books

*''Terror Capitalism: Uyghur Dispossession and Masculinity in a Chinese City'' (Duke University Press, 2021) *''In the Camps: China's High-Tech Penal Colony'' (Columbia University Global Reports, 2021) * ''Xinjiang Year Zero'', co-edited with Ivan Franceschini and Nicholas Loubere (ANU Press, 2022)

External links

Art of Life in Chinese Central Asia
a blog by Byler where he has published many of his analyses of Central Asian, Chinese, and Uyghur life and politics
The China Project
where Byler has frequently contributed

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byler, Darren 21st-century American anthropologists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Academic staff of Simon Fraser University Central Asian studies scholars Uyghur human rights activists Xinjiang experts