Beyond Chinese groupism: Chinese Australians between assimilation, multiculturalism and diaspora

This essay argues that the tension between 'ethnic' and 'national' identity is not contingent, but structurally embedded in the workings of the contemporary nation state. Through an analysis of 'the Chinese' in 'Australia' it aims to demonstrate that seemingly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ethnic and racial studies 2014-06, Vol.37 (7), p.1184-1196
Main Author: Ang, Ien
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assimilation
Australia
China
Chinese
Cultural identity
Cultural Pluralism
Diaspora
Ethnicity
groupism
Homogeneity
Identification
Minority & ethnic groups
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Nation state
National Identity
Social life
State
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Summary:This essay argues that the tension between 'ethnic' and 'national' identity is not contingent, but structurally embedded in the workings of the contemporary nation state. Through an analysis of 'the Chinese' in 'Australia' it aims to demonstrate that seemingly unambiguous concepts such as assimilation (the ethnic is absorbed by the national), multiculturalism (the ethnic coexists with the national) and diaspora (the ethnic transcends the national) cannot capture the diverse difficulties, ambivalences and failures of identification, belonging and political agency experienced by Chinese Australians. A more satisfactory analysis requires a questioning of the groupness of 'the Chinese' (as well as 'the Australians') and overcoming conceptual groupism (Brubaker): the tendency to take discrete, sharply differentiated, internally homogeneous and externally bounded groups as basic constituents of social life. Instead a more processual and flexible understanding is proposed, where the relationship between 'ethnic' and 'national' identity is one of constant evolution and mutual entanglement.
ISSN:0141-9870
1466-4356
DOI:10.1080/01419870.2014.859287