Constituting 'Asian women': Political representation, identity politics and local discourses of participation

Author: Ray Kathryn  

Publisher: Routledge Ltd

ISSN: 1466-4356

Source: Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol.26, Iss.5, 2003-09, pp. : 854-878

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Abstract

Political representation of ethnicized and other identities is a complex process, whereby identities are constructed and shaped through the competing claims of different collectivities. In the article I explore this process through a case study of a local authority community development project for Asian women. The analysis demonstrates that institutions are not neutral spaces in which contestations over collectivity are played out, but exert a constitutive impact upon the identities produced. Current theories of fluidity and instability in identities mean that collective identities must be staked strategically and contingently, determinant upon the political strategies appropriate within given institutional contexts.