The racialised ‘second existence’ of class: class identification and (de- / re-) construction across the British South Asian middle classes
Article
Saini, R. 2023. The racialised ‘second existence’ of class: class identification and (de- / re-) construction across the British South Asian middle classes. Cultural Sociology. 17 (2), pp. 277-296. https://doi.org/10.1177/17499755221076388
Type | Article |
---|---|
Title | The racialised ‘second existence’ of class: class identification and (de- / re-) construction across the British South Asian middle classes |
Authors | Saini, R. |
Abstract | This paper maps typologies of class identity for the UK-born South Asian middle classes. Using thematic analysis of interviews with twenty British South Asian professionals, it identifies culturally and socially situated forms of class (dis-)identification. It finds that ‘middle-class’ identity is not uncritically adopted or internalised by socially mobile British South Asians who, on the bases of objective socioeconomic markers, may be classified as such. Beyond existing research which has long established the dual material and symbolic nature of class, and the corresponding ‘fuzziness’ of class subjectivity, for the population of interest this can be attributed in large part to: (i) the rapid upward intergenerational social mobility of South Asian groups which is seen to defy British-specific forms of stratification and class reproduction and (ii) the racialisation of class where the symbolic power and subjective salience of middle-classness is mediated through Whiteness. In establishing this, this paper argues for further theoretical and analytical reflection on the racialisation of class taking into account the ethnoracial specificities of culturally diverse ethnic minority populations. |
Keywords | British South Asian; class identity; middle class; racialisation; social class; Whiteness |
Publisher | SAGE Publications |
Journal | Cultural Sociology |
ISSN | 1749-9755 |
Electronic | 1749-9763 |
Publication dates | |
Online | 31 May 2022 |
Jun 2023 | |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 31 Jan 2022 |
Accepted | 09 Jan 2022 |
Output status | Published |
Publisher's version | License |
Copyright Statement | © The Author(s) 2022. |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1177/17499755221076388 |
Web of Science identifier | WOS:000806327800001 |
Language | English |
https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/89q74
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