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British Journal of Sociology of
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Flexible Identities: Exploring race
and gender issues among a group
of immigrant pupils in an inner-
city comprehensive school
Naz Rassool
Available online: 28 Jun 2010
To cite this article: Naz Rassool (1999): Flexible Identities: Exploring race and gender
issues among a group of immigrant pupils in an inner-city comprehensive school, British
Journal of Sociology of Education, 20:1, 23-36
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British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 20, No. 1, 1999, pp. 23–36
Flexible Identities: exploring race and gender issues among a
group of immigrant pupils in an inner-city comprehensive
school
NAZ RASSOOL, Department of Education Studies and Management, University of Reading,
Reading, UK
ABSTRACT
This paper explores, through the life histories of a group of rst and second generation
immigrant pupils from the ‘Asian’ and ‘African’ di asporas, the complex ways in which ‘black’ identities
have evolved in British society over the past two decades. The phrase ‘black identities’ is used here not
as a racially descriptive term but rather as a signi er of ethnic ‘otherness’; to make distinct (from white
society) and, at the same time, to unify the experiences of disparate groups of ethnic minority groups as
marginals within metropolitan societies. Charting the life histories of a group of students in an inner-city
comprehensive school in their own collective and individual voices, the paper provides a glimpse of their
perceptions of their status as citizens, their views on cult ural identity, and their dreams, aspirations, hopes
and desires as young peopl e growing up in contemporary British society .
Historical Discourses
Racial discourse in Britain has hist orically focused on the image of immi-
grant 5 alien 5 problem to be managed through immigration control, on the one hand,
and social welfare interven tion programmes on the other. Within general educational
discourse, pupils from ethnic minority immigrant groups and, particularly, Afro-
Caribbeans, have been regarded, historically, as underachieving. This has been ascribe d
to, inter alia, language de cits/differe nces, cultural differences, family practices and
problems of adjustment to British soc iety (NFER, 1966; Home Of ce, 1981). These
homogenized views, grounded in cultural determinism and the s ocial-pathology of
immigrant lives, have, at least since the 1960s, provided a potent means by whic h their
social and educational experi ences have been de ned.
Yet these dominant social me anings contrast sharply with the reality of many pupils’
lives. While for some, Britain is t heir country of adoption, for many others, Britai n is
thei r country of birth. That is to say, Britain is the context in which their individual,
group and social consciousness—their concept of ‘self’, their subjectivities, their cultural
0142–5692/99/010023–14 $7.00
Ó
1999 Taylor & Francis Ltd
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24 N. Rassool
and social identities—have been shaped in relation to their experiences within their
commun ities and in wider society.
The Study
The idea for this study developed within the context of previous research that explored
black feminist identities in contemporary British society, in which I focused o n the
complexities, contradictions and ambiguit y in which t hey exist as well as their transfor-
mative power (Rassool, 1995, 1997a). The issues raised within that context, combined
with the awareness that the children born of those who immigrated during the 1960s are
now moving into adulthood to carve out their own personal, professiona l, social and
political spaces, led me to further questions regarding the ways in which children from
ethnic minority groups identify culturally and educationally within British society, their
understandings o f t he social world, and the ways in which they interact with, and
rede ne their social experiences.
For example , are there differences in the per ceptions of rst and second generation
immigrant social and education al experiences, and if so, what are they? In which ways
do they encounter racism and what strategies do they employ in order to survive and
re-de ne themselves? Do they experience cultural/religious con icts and if so, what is the
nature of this con ict, and what strategies do they employ in order to cope? Are the
variables of ethnic identity and cultural differences important to the ways in which they
live their lives—if so, how? What are the main in uences on their lives with regard t o
thei r education and social development? How do they experience schoo ling? What roles
and positions do they envisage for themsel ves as adults in British/European society? In
relation to this, what are their aspirations, expectations; their dreams and desires—and
how do they envisage themselves ful lling the se? How do the se relate to existing social
realities? What are the social constraints on these students fu l l ling their educational,
individual and soc ial potential?
Elmwood Comprehensive School
Elmwood is a mixed comprehensive school within a culturally diverse area on the
borders of inner-London. At least 50% of the students are from ethnic minority groups.
Of these, the majority are children of second-generation immigrant families. There are
also children of rst-generation immigrant families and, more recently, the school has
had a signi cant intake of children from Somali refugee families. The governing body
comprises mostly members from the different ethnic minority groups within the com-
munity. Facilitating equality of opportunit y, valuing the diverse cultures and cr eating the
best learning opportunities for the pupils in the school are seen as central to the school’s
aims.
There has been friction in t he school between pupils from second-generation immi-
grant families and the Somali pupils. The latter group are predominantly Muslim, and
have a more traditional approach to religion—a factor which has marked them out as
‘different’ to the rest of the school population. In order to address this is sue, the sch ool
had earlier in the year celebrated a ‘One World’ Day, which involved parents and other
members in the co mmunity in the organization of the day’s proceedings. This has now
been incorporated into the schools development plan and will be an annual feature in
the school calendar . In addition, a Women’s Action Forum, organized by women from
the wider community, regularly meet s within t he school.
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Flexible Identities 25
Methodology
In collaboration with the Head of Year (HOY), who has responsibility for pastoral care
provision in Year 10, the research project became incorporated into the action plan of
the Year Gro up’s Personal, Social and Mo ral Educ ation programme, and was intro-
duced in tutorial time during the last week of the summer term. Pupils would the n be
evaluating their achievements and attainments in preparation for further target-setting in
thei r records of achievement at the start of Year 11, when they would sit their General
Certi cate in Secondary Education (GCSE) examination. Thus it involved all Year 10
tutors, and was coordinated by the HOY. In volving the teacher s directly in the research
process related to a large extent to the sensitive nature of the work involved. Doing
research into deeply personal areas of people’s lives can make them vulnerable and feel
disempowered; it can also be a traumatic experience in which painful, s ublimated, and
often, f orgotten emo tions c an be re-opened and re-kindled (Rassool, 1997a). This
requires sensitivity among those doing the research and, in this instance, it was felt that
the well-established relationship of trust that already existed between the teachers and
pupils would overcome many of the potential dif culties. It also related to the fact that
the school had identi ed this area as a pastoral development priority and it was,
therefore, imperative for teachers to become sensitized to the exper iences, needs, and the
views of the pupils.
The Task. The teaching activity comprised four s tages: Stage One involved the whole
year group in charting, individually, their life histories; their ‘River of Life’, which could
be represent ed in any way that they c hose, would highlight the milestones in their lives.
The ‘Rivers of Life’ activity provided the context in which the individual could construct
the ‘narrative of the self’ (Giddens, 1991 ) ; building a biography in terms of the shaping
‘past–present’ (Bhabha, 1994), giving an account of their personal and c ultural histories.
This stage focused on having an opportunity to re ect on their lives, harness ing their
personal knowledges and organizing these into a coherent whole. In addition to drawing
on thei r subjective perceptio ns, pupils could also draw on a range of discursive
knowledges, including their e xperiences and understanding of the different social wo rlds
that they inhabit.
Stage Two involved the whole year group in sharing their ‘Rive rs of Life’ within their
tutor groups, in which they were allowed to ask positive questions. The underlying
intention was to treat the pupils as ‘subjects of their experien ces rather than as objects
of research’ (Chase & Bell, 1994, p. 64). By treating them as ‘knowers’ an d agents of
personal change, it was hoped to transform the research process into a constructiv e
learning experience in which all those who participate could become more self-aware of
personal strengths and needs, and also to become aware of, and sensitive to, the
experience, needs and streng ths of others. At Stage Three, the HOY asked for six
volunteers from he r Year Group to participate in individual interviews that were to be
tape-recorded.
Pedagogically, the research approach adopted digressed from established norms, in
that the teachers would become the listeners and learners; learning to know the pupils
as people. In such a learner–teache r relationship, knowledge h ierarchies, the xedness of
normative knowledges are challenged; knowledge is produced in the process of interac-
tion, emerges from and is owned by the pupil. Within this frame work, pedagogy is not
something that is done ‘to’ the pupils; ‘it is a complex interaction of at least three
agencies—th e teacher, the learner and the knowledge th ey produce together’ (Morley,
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26 N. Rassool
1998, p. 16). However, this is not to argue that the power position of the teachers had
been changed completely. As teacher-researchers, they still maintained control over how
long t he interview would last, who could speak and for how long. External constraints
also de ned the context of interaction; for example, the set of questions that framed the
interview and discussion had been determined by the researcher.
Overall, and in a more critical sense, the set of activitie s could p rovide an insigh t into
the ‘categories that students use to construct meaning and to locate themselves in history’
(Aronowitz & Giroux, 1991, p. 107). It could also, potentially, provide them with the
possibility of learning to re ect upon and understand their socially displaced identities
within the broader context of politics, ideology and history—and, to reposition them-
selves as change ag ents in relation to the dominant de nitions that frame their lives.
Conceptualizing ‘Black’ B ritish Identities
In contrast to t he h omogenized view of ethnic minority gro up identity that has p revaile d
in social discours e, immigrant, migrant, political exiles and refugee groups living in
Britain comprise a rich tapestry of cultural, linguistic and historical experiences grounde d
in different diasporas that, in turn, have developed within speci c socio-historic contexts.
Afro-Caribbeans represent the rst major group of immigrants to arrive from former
colonies in the aftermath of mass immigration policies in the 1950s when, durin g a
period of economic boom, workers were recruited to work in the service indus tries. The
identities and subjectivities of this group of people have been shaped very powerfully by
the social dislocatio n effected by slavery, and subsequently, the experience of colonialism
followed by immigration settlement in the UK.
Other signi cant migrations included those from Southern Europe, Cyprus, the Indian
sub-continent as well as the Hong Kong Chinese, working predominantly in the catering
industry. Again, colonialism played a key role in the shaping of these groups’ cultural
identities. This was followed during the late 1960s by the arrival of large groups of
second- and even third-generation ‘Asians’ from East Africa. Among these were refugees
who had been expelled by the Ugandan regime. Here, colonialism an d immigration
settlement in their rst country of adoption were followed by enforced social displace-
ment to what had previously been their colonial mother country. This migration to the
UK was followed by immigrants from the Indian sub-continent and also Vietnamese
refugees. More recently, during the 1970s and 1980s, signi cant numbers of refugees
eeing poverty, war and political instability arrived from countries as v aried as South
America, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Bosnia, Somalia, Eritrea and Zaire.
For many of these people and particularly t hose from form er col onies, their cultural
identities have not developed in a ‘straight unbroken line, from some xed origin ( Hall,
1993, p. 395). Rather, they are marked by discontinuity, differences and social displace-
ment. Hall (1993, p. 394) highlights the complex proces s th rough which cultura l
identities evolve, in his ar gument that:
Cultura l identities come from somewhere, have histories. But, like everything
else which is historical, they undergo constant transformation. Far from being
eternally xed in some essentialist past, they ar e subjec t to the continuous ‘play’
of history, culture and power … cultural identity is a matt er of ‘becoming’ as
well as of ‘being’. It belongs to the future as much as to the past.
Subjectivities thus forged in an ongoing dialogue between past and present (Bhabha,
1994) are contingent; they are always in the process of becoming. In terms of this ‘black’,
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Flexible Identities 27
‘immigrant’, ‘ethnic minority’, ‘migrant’ or ‘refugee’ identities cannot be viewed as xed
states of ‘being’; they are continually being shaped within a nd through everyday
interactions with the social wo rld. These multiple identities further intersect with social
class, gender and generational variables.
Flexible Identities
At least three of the pupils interviewed had been born in Britain to parents who,
although they would be classi ed as being ‘Asian’ in Britain, nevertheless, came from
different geographical regions, ea ch with its own cultural t radition: Arun’s mother was
born in India while his father was born in Kenya; Kassim’s mother was born in Delhi
while his mother was from the Punjab; Maria was born in Colombia and emigrated to
Britain with her mother who subsequentl y married an Afro-Caribbean. These multi-
faceted cultural narratives clearly interrupt the binary of a simplistic ‘past–present’, the
representation of the continuity and stability of a ‘uniform’ tradition, and the poss ibility
for the imagining of a singular ‘homeland’.
In addition to the mapping of a rich cultural tapestry, it also provides examples of
discontinuity, disruption and displacement across time and space. Arun’s identity, for
example, is marked by the experience of colonialism (British Colo nial India) wh ich,
in turn, intersects with that of transportation (indentured labour to the colonies) and
then again with enf orced social dislocation (expulsion from Kenya), and immigration
settlement in the previous ‘mother country’. Kassim’s identity is marked by re gional
differences in terms of both cu stoms and traditions, and the forging of a new
identity i n Britain. While integrating into British society, Maria also seeks to identify
with th e Afro-Caribbean culture o f her stepfather, who is a formative in uence in her
life.
Th e complexity of experiences described here serves to illustrate the fact that
immigrant groups in Britain are marked by historical and cultural differences amo ng one
another, in addition to those that mark t hem as different within the host culture.
Furthermore, different reasons and circumstances underpin their emigration, migration
or ight from their countries of origin. Invariably, these experiences have become
internalized and interwoven into the text of everyday social life within their country
of adoption, and consequently in uence both individual and group subjectivities,
expectations and aspirations.
Conceptualizing Flexible Identities
Rather than being something radically new and speci c to the proj ect of ‘postmodernity’,
the proce ss of re -de ning identities has been part of human experience for as long as
people have migrated from one region to another, from one country to another, from
one continent to another. Adopted in these instances as a basic survival strategy, cultural
hybridity has historically forme d an integral part of the need to adapt to new ways of
living, to devel op a sense of belonging, and to negotiate from the margins, soc ial (as well
as cultural, political and eco nomic) space to inhabit within the country of adoption. This
process of adaptation involves a reworking of the norms, behaviours, beliefs and values
of the culture of origin. This invariably results in the hybridization of cultures over a
period o f time, brin ging with it its own sets of contradictions, ambiguities and con ict fo r
individuals and groups experiencing that process of c hange.
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28 N. Rassool
For both Arun and Kassim, the unifying factor is provided by religion, which
constitutes the cultural basis of thei r f amily life . But far from it being a rigid identity
variable, Kassim appears to have synthesized the religious-traditio nal into his own
personal identity, remarking that ‘I have traditiona l views as well as modern … I’m
in-between’. Again, this ‘in- between-ness’ disrupts the signi cation of him as culturally
homogenous ‘As ian’ in domin ant discourse. Arun, on the other hand, identi es very
strongly with being a Hindu who prac tices vegetarianism as a religious principle. Manjit,
a female participant, has worked with the religious aspect of he r identity in a more
conscious manner, stating that:
I do value my background (Sikh) because it is pa rt of who I am, where I come
from … my parents … it’s where they come from so it’s de nitely a part of me
… but the so-called family values and tradition … some of it is OK but some
of it is too backward … so you’ve got to give a little and take a little. I’ve taken
a bit of my parents’ background and I’m changing it a little bit because of the
in uences where I live … I don’t think it’s the religion that is const raining, I
think it’s more the tradition, for example, arranged marriages.
Here, then, we have an example of consciou s hybridization as part of the process of
adapting to new in uences within a different cultural terrain. For her, cultural hy bridity
forms part of the process of ‘self-identi cation’. The latter term refers to ‘the cognitive
re-appropriation of the categories of racial ized and genderi zed subjugation, and the
process of encoding these with empowering meanings as part of the struggle to maintain
control over (her) everyday life’ (Rassool, 1997a, p. 191). Drawing on her ‘knowledge-
ablity’ (Giddens, 1984), Manjit, and, to some extent Kassim, were able to engage in the
process of constructing a discursive narrative of the self in which culture is made
malleable as part of the act of social survival —and in the process, carving out a new
cultural space to inhabit. This gives some credence to the view that transferred across
space and time, cultural identities would inevitably become transmuted and there fore
gain in complexity. At the same time, as is evident in her allusion to arran ged marriages,
hybridized cultures existing as minority groups wit hin the normative framework of a
broader dominant culture always exist in con ict , con tradiction and ambiguity.
Cultural hybridity, as part of the project of rede nition can be seen, to a large extent,
as a reactive, sel f-de ning strategy forged within a context circumscribed by un equal
power relations between dominant and subordinate minority cultures within the frame-
work of the me tropolitan nation-state. As such, it is always partial and provisional; it does
not necessarily signify assimilationism. Rather, it works to re-de ne difference in dialogue
with structures and processes that serve to reproduce existing relations, and in the
process, to rework these into a project of possibility.
This process of engagement, of course, differs fundamentally from the notion of
cultural hybridity that inheres in the concept of cosmopolitanism. Within the framework
discussed here, cultural hybridity is forged within the struggle of those often living at th e
outer-edge of society, for survival, social belonging and self-de nition. ‘Self-de niti on’
places emphasis on the affective process through which genderized and racialized
subjects engage in an ongoing process of critique, evaluation, negotiation, self-af rmati on
and validation of themselves in relation to their particular experi ences in everyday life.
The notion of cultural hybridity referred to h ere evolves within a context of unequal
social relations, of privileged voices, of dominant cultural forms and practices. As such,
it constitutes an important contesting variable. Cosmopol itanism, on the other hand,
represents a chic lifesty le choice e xercised by a small international elite group.
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Flexible Identities 29
Fracturing N ational Certainties
Cultura l hybridization is, nevertheless, a two-way process of change. Migration across
space and time brings together dissonant narrat ives, new sets of social relations and new
events to fracture previous certainties (Rassool, 1997b, p. 7). It brings chaos to disrupt
the hegemony of ‘culturally stable nations’. Minority cultures, by their very prese nce,
challenge the homogeneity of national cultures from within by changing expectations,
behaviours and experiences of a nd wit hin everyday life (Massey, 1994). Moreover, over
time ‘they create their own c ultural space within which they can express thei r needs and
suffuse soc iety with a plurality of dissenting political voices, articulating demands that
often con ict with, or challenge the hegemony of ethnic nationalism’ (Rassool, 1997a,
p. 189).
On t he one hand, this often gives rise to a reactive ‘anti-immig rant’ racist response,
as was the case with the rise of the National Front and th e British National Party during
the 1970s in Britain. On the other hand, it also stimulates the emergence of new political
identities actively engaged in counter-struggle, ultimately re-de ning the parameters of
social act ion. In the case of Britain, we can refer to the development of, inter alia, the
Organization of Women of Asian and African Descent (OWAAD) which operated
nationally to c ombat racial, sexist and class discri mination dur ing the 1970s, the feminist
Southall Black Sisters Gro up and the Anti-Nazi League that emer ged to c ombat racism
during the late 1970s. With regard to OWAAD and the S outhall Black Sisters Group,
Brah (1996, p. 107) suggests that:
The devaluation of black cultures by the onslaughts of racism meant that for
some women the priority was to ‘reclaim’ these cultural sites and to situate
themselves ‘as women’ within them … Other women argued that, while
af rmation of cu ltural identity was indeed crucial , it was equally important to
address cultural practices in their oppre ssive forms.
The latter r efers particularly to the problem of male violence, forced mar riages, female
circumcision and the suppression of issues related to homosexuality within some minority
commun ities . Again, a dynamic and complex process of social cha nge is indicated. For
while, on the one han d, t hese were new modes and forms of political organization that
emerged to refract the imagined worlds of culturally cohesive nations , on the other hand,
they were also consciously aimed at fracturing historically derived patriarchal and
oppressive religious–cul tural practices.
Countering genderized identities. T he girls participating in the study have learned to
self-identify as women living in a different culture, and all have found it a liberating
experience. According to Maria, when she re turned for a visit to Colombia,
although I enjoyed it, I did not like the way girls are treated … just staying at
home, cleaning and cooking. They were not allowed to go out … when I used
to go out they used to call me a tomboy or that I was not a ‘proper’ g irl, they
thought I was very different .
Socialized gendered subjectivities, then, are not the preserve only of ‘Asian’ cultures.
Manjit’s family, on the other hand, had been traumatized after her older sister had run
awa y from home because of an arranged marriage. Since that time, her family has
changed its approach and, as a result, seeking a future life-part ner is more of a
collaborative affair in which the girls would also have a say. She is not opposed in
principle to the idea of having an arranged marriage, as long as her views a re taken into
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30 N. Rassool
account in making the choice. For Azra, he r family’s will ingness for her to participate
fully in a broad social life has meant that she has relative control ove r what she wears
and does, not an option that she wo uld have in Pakistan, ‘I would have to cover myself
up, not wear any jewellery or mak e-up and stay at home everyday cooking … Here I’m
not that restricted’. Again, this highlights the extent to which her parents have modi ed
and adapted to the norms of Western society.
Heimat and Heimweh. In response to feeling excluded from mainstream society, many
second-generat ion immigrant youths often revert to traditional cultur al practices as part
of the psychological and geographical pilgrimage to the ‘homeland’. Accordin g to Maira
(1996), this shift stems from many layers of experience, many of them imbued with
emotional signi cance, that give rise to wishes to learn more about family history or to
feel a sense of belonging. In Azra’s case, after a di f cult period in Middle Schoo l, she
visited Pakistan , ‘I got to meet my relatives for the rst time and learned about my
background’. This was important to place herself in a wider context of cultural and
familial origin, to ‘learn more about my parents’ past, and why certain things are
important t o them’.
For many second-generation youths, returning to their cultural and religious roots has
formed an important part of dis- identifying with the dominant culture, a means of
rejecting the culture of those who reject and marginalize them as ‘other’. Thus, it is a
consciously reactive response to societal racism and social exclusion. On the other hand,
some use religion as a self-de ning process during moments of personal dif culty. Azra,
for example, resorted to religion during a period of adolescent crisis:
then I discovered my religion, I went to madressa after school, I prayed everyday
and that made me think about responsibility and about the future … religion
has made me more sensible, makes me think more about the future and …
stop mucking about.
Rather than a retrogr essive, simplistic adoption of religi on, she uses it re exively as a
self-identifying variable. This contrasts somewhat with generalizations regarding the
inherently oppressive nature of the Muslim religion, especially as this relates to women.
It may not always be something that is imposed on them, sometimes they may choose
to enter that world as a space for re ection, for a period of time. Indeed, Azra explained
that although h er parents are religious, they do not impose their traditional views on her
‘I can wear what I like, my parents are OK. My parents don’t want me to look different
to ot her people, they want me to be part of this community (British) as we ll.’ Again, this
conscious hybridization as part of the process of adapting to n ew or different social mores
and expectations withi n the ‘host society’, to blend in, to be long by t he parents, is being
reworked by Azra as a means of de ning herself as par t of the proce ss of growing up.
This contrasts somewhat with the stereotype of the authoritarian and conservative ‘Asian’
family, which is seen as existing in a constant state of inter-genera tional con ict .
Th e emphasis on religion as an identity variable in the ‘Asian’ community contrasts
with the experience of Maria, who, although she de nes her family as being Christian,
stated that the issue of religion do es not in uence greatly the way in wh ich she identi es
herself in Britain, ‘because I’m in a Christian country’ . Seemingly th en, religion
represents a stronger identity variable f or those religious–cultural roots that lie outside
the Christian–Judaic tradition, which constitutes a de ning principle of Western
‘civilized’ society.
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Flexible Identities 31
Community, racism, culture and belonging. Living in a culturall y div erse community provided
a sense of security and belonging to all those interviewed. This was expressed in different
ways. Kassim argued that the multicultural community that he lived in:
plays a big part in what I am, because if I lived in another area such as Acton
or Northh olt (less culturally mixe d areas) I would not be like I am … I would
feel different. I f eel comfortable about my culture and my religion and I have
many friends … I h ang out … we go to bhangra disco … I can do normal
things that interest me.
Re-mixed bhangra dance music and bhangra culture which consist of a fusion of Eastern
and Western music and culture, represent a recreation and renewal of cultural t raditions
among many s econd-generatio n ‘Asian’ youths. This provides a good example of the
evolution of new hybridized forms of culture, serving an important role in integrating
aspects of the different cultures that frame their lives while, simultaneously, serving as a
powerful means of disident ifying with mainstream youth ‘pop’ c ulture.
Kassim’s refere nce to the fact that his experience of everyday life would have been
different in a less culturally diverse community, provides an example of the ways in
which ethnic minority groups have internalized the ubiquity of societal racism. It
highlight s his tacit knowledge about the realities of everyday life as an immigrant in
Britain—the ever-present possibility of being excluded on the basis of his skin colour and
‘ethnicity’—of not ‘belonging’. Living in a culturally divers e area means that he can feel
con dent about expressing himself i n terms of his religion and culture.
For Azra’s family, it was a consciou s decision to live in the borough because it is a
multicultural community’. For her, Elmwood provides insulation agains t the wider world
which she perceives and has experienced as being ra cist ‘… I feel uncomfortable with
white people … not in Elmwood but outside. I feel very scared in case something
happens … I don’t want to leave Elmwood.’ Having had similar experiences, Manjit
views the problem in a different way. She argued that ‘living in Elmwood you nd that
you’re quite isolated from everything else that is happening . Because it’s multi cultural,
you learn a lot from each other … but when you go out (of Elmwood), it is very
different.’ In contrast to Azra, she wo uld like t o leave the area to travel and ‘ hopefully
(to) learn more about England’. It could be argued th at Azra’s lack of con dence to enter
the world outside Elmwood relates to the comfort that the warm, insulating environme nt
of a ‘ghettoized’ culture (which developed in response to the racism that exists within
society as a whole) can bring, while not preparing them for participating more fully in
everyday life, and to address the realities of societal racism.
To the question of how they de ne themselves culturally, Arun described himself as
a member of the ‘Asian community’, and Az ra describes her family as ‘Pakistanis living
in England’; others felt that they would describe themselves as British citizens but not ‘as
British’ culturally. There was strong feeling among the group about the fact that the
pejorative term ‘Paki’ is used as an insult against all ‘Asian’ people, and also the inverted
racism within their own communities, some of whom use ‘the white stereotype to put
people into boxes … to le t out frustration, and because of con ict between religious
groups’. These forms of inverted racism and other forms of internalized oppressions
highlight the fact that the black British experience is fundamentally constituted in
difference and, moreover, that it is riven with inner contradiction s, ‘racial’ tensions and
inter-ethnic group discrimination.
Maria clearly sees herself as being ‘different’ to the ‘Asian’ students. At the same time,
she has reworked her understanding of living as a membe r of a b roader community, and
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32 N. Rassool
has managed to de velop an in formed and mature pe rspective on societal racism. She
argued that:
if I had lived in another area, I might have been racist, but because I live in
Elmwood, you learn that although people live in different cultures, as people,
they are basically the same. I think that I’ve learned a lot of things … th at the
world is only that big … and racist people do not know much about the world.
Maria felt very strongly about the fact that she had experienced racism from one of her
teachers who had referred to Colombia as ‘a country full of crime and drugs … and that
children of drug dealers ar e dumb’. This highlights the ubiquity of racist cultural/
national stereotypes that still prevail and illustrates the casual way in which children are
exposed to it on an ever yday basis, and sometimes by those who teach them. What
strategies do children have to combat such personal violations? Maria’s response to this
cultural stereot ype was to study har d—obtaining a Star ‘A’ in Spanish a t GCSE
level—on e year ahead of her Year Group. As such, she used this racist encoun ter as a
self-de ning principle. After a dif cult period initially, because she did not speak Engl ish,
she de cided to change her views:
I want to prove that I can do things, that I can be someone … I just decided
that Elmwood is full of people from different communities and that they were
all struggling to show other people that they’re not stupid just because they
come from another country … and I felt the same. I think that living in
Elmwood has helped me a lot … if I’d lived in an other area, I would have
continued to blame the other (white) culture, instead of working with myself.
Again, it shows evide nce of re exivity, to re-de ne herself as a person in the face of the
racist practices that seek to silence and make invisible those who are culturally/ethnica lly
de ne d as the ‘other’.
Although their perspectives differed, all those interviewed were united in the belief that
they learned and bene ted from living in a multicultural community. Yet for all of them,
there is still a n ‘other’ world out there which is potentially hos tile, unwelcoming and
exclusionary. Nevertheless, they all have high ambitions educationally and the profes-
sions that the y want to pursue (e.g. architect, medica l doctor), and see education as
providing them with the opportunity to participate effectively in the wider world.
Similarly, all found their families highly supporti ve of their studies without putting too
much pressure on them . Manjit, for example, recounted her Dad telling her early on that
‘life is very short and you have to go out and make it for yourself’. The need to ‘get on’
with their lives featured very strongly in the discussions with the students in the interview
sample. The strong support tha t ‘black’ parents give to their children’s education has
been well-docu mented (Stone, 1981; Mirza, 1992). The dissatisfaction among parents
about equity, social justic e and quality meted out in the education system, has led to the
sustained rise in supplementary educational provision among black immigrant groups.
Mirza found that black parents attach a high value to education and subscribe very
powerfully to the meritocratic ideal; they strongly identify with credentialism. This is
borne out in the high expectations and aspirations that these families and their children
have with regard to education. Again, the belief in educ ation as a means of ac cess to
power and empowerment has been a rich and recurring theme among i mmigrant
commun ities throughout the world. It provides an important means of self-identi cation,
of reworkin g the ‘self’ in relation to the realities of the social worlds that they inhabit.
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Flexible Identities 33
‘Flexible’ Identities and G lobalization
The conceptu alization of cultural identity as this relates to various ethnic minority groups
within the con nes of the pluralist nation-state, has been made even more complex by
broader developments during the past two decades. During a period in which societal
meanings are in ux in consequence to social change effected by globalizing processes
including technology, migration and the emergence of para-national political ensembles
such as the European Union, new perspectives nee d to dev elop to take account of the
changing cultural landscape. This includes consideration of:
(1) the dynamic reconstitution of gr oup and individual identities in temporary migrant/
refugee, or more permanent immigration settlements;
(2) the emergence of transnational identities and communities shaped around common
interests and global concerns in computer mediated textual environments such as the
e-mail and Internet (Rassool, 1998).
Bhabha (1994, p. 1) argues that within an increasingly globalized cultural economy ‘we
nd ourselves in the moment of transit where space and time cross to produce complex
gures of difference and identity, past and present, inside and outside, inclusion and
exclusion’. Clearly then, a re-conceptualized framework needs to extend beyond the
parochialism of linear ethnic ide ntities de ned within the rigid con nes of the nation-
state, t o exa mine the complexity of multiple and multifaceted identities emerging in the
world today. According to Bhabha (19 94, p. 1):
(w)hat is theoretically innovative, and politically crucial, is the need to think
beyond n arratives of originary and initial subjectivities and to focus on those
moments or processes that are produced in the articulation o f cultural diffe r-
ences. These ‘ in-between’ spaces provide the terrain for elaborating strategies
of s elfhood—singular or communal—that initiate new signs of identity, and
innovative sites of collaboration, and contestation, in the act of de ning the
idea of society itself.
Bhabha’s perspective supports the opening up of possibilities in which multiple
and exible ident ities, articulated in a plurality of narratives and voices, can be
explored. Thus, we cannot adopt a deterministic view of racialized subjectivities or
an essentialized view of cultural identity that rati es stereotypic gender roles within
particular communities.
At the sa me time, within a context in which the concepts of equity and justice are
being challenged in a very unique way on a global basis, it is crucial that we consider
the ways in which class, community, gender and ethnicity intersect with social and
political identities. Bhabha’s view has to be ba lanced against the emergence of new forms
of racial ethnic absolutism in consequence to the systemic ra cialization of ethnic or
cultural identity and the subsequent fractionalization of previously cohesive nation-states
such as Rwanda and Burundi, and the disintegration of the previous power blocs such
as the former Yugoslavia. Societal racism is ultimately materially grounded in cultural,
political and economic systems, is imbued with ideology, and is given voice in social
discourse, where i t serves to exclude those who do not ‘belong’.
Conclusion
This paper focused on the individual speaking subject, and desc ribed them in terms of
thei r own articulations of the social world. Thus, it positioned students as relatively
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34 N. Rassool
coherent participants engaged in a con stant process of negotiating meaning in the social
world. Underlying thi s was the view that the consciou s positioning of social actors in
relation to the social world, and encouraging the questioning of constructed norms and
inequalities, would allow them to produce theories about the worl d in which they
live—and, ultimately, to ac t on them (Rassool, 1998). The limited nature of the study
leaves questions about how successfully this was achieved.
In placing the individual speaking subject at the centre of my analysis, I wanted to
concentrate on the children themselves—to hear them speak thei r lives in their own
voices. I wanted them to hav e the opportuni ty in an educational context, to articulate
thei r understandings of how they perceive the social world, and operate in the multiple
worlds that they inhabit. Central to this methodological approach is the view derived
from oral historians, who argue that ‘people are not stamped into place by history and
culture, but patch together a place for themselves … (and that) in personal statements
we see the power of the individual to compose the terms of (her) life’ (Modell, 1983,
p. 1 1, information in parenth eses added). Placing emphasis on cognitive awareness,
personal knowledges and re exivity, I wanted to explore also the range of strategies that
they use to chart their own lives, to negotiate a space which would later, as adults, help
them to occupy a place as active citizens within British/European society. In making
them aware of themselves as thinking people abl e to re ect on their lives and social
experience, it was hoped to examine the ways in which they make their internalized
oppressions transparent through the processes of self-de nition and self-identi cation.
Starting from t he particular and the everyday provided the opportunity to ‘critically
appropriate the voices of those who had been silenced and to help move the voices of
those who have been located within narratives that are monolithic and totalizing—
beyond i ndifference—to emancipat ory practice’ (Giroux, 1992, p. 76). Thus, the study
formed par t of a broader project grounded in critical pedagogy; in this instance,
providing pupi ls the opportunity to explore their ‘border lives’ (Bhabha, 199 4) , and in the
process, to develop critical and re exive self-awareness. In raising their awar eness about
themselves in relation to a broader social world, it is hoped that partic ipating in the
activities c ontributed, albeit in a limited way, to their awareness of themselves as young
people growing up in Britain.
Although they acknowledged dif culties where these existed, al l expressed positive
feelings about their cultures. They felt con de nt about who they were and had a vision
of how they would like to develop as adults. All have drawn signi cantly on their
cultures, community a nd family for suppor t in their development. Other than Maria, this
was also the case with re ligion. They al l possess a rich language and cultural repertoire
and are exible in their ability to switch and make adjustments suited to the context in
which they nd themselves. They could articulate complex feelings and experiences with
clarity and displayed a developed sense of understanding of the multiple social worlds
that they inhabit.
Although they have all experienced some form of racist prejudice, they have developed
different strategies t o deal with it when it arises. They are dynamic an d positive an d,
despite the fears expressed by Azra, all are focused on the task of becoming integrated
members of the society in which they live. Brah (1996, p. 47) describing politicized black
identities, argues that in the case of the second generation:
they lay claim to th e localities i n which they live as th eir ‘home’ . An d, however
much they may be constructed as ‘outsiders’, they contest these psychological
and geogra phical spaces from the position of ‘insiders’. Ev en when they
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Flexible Identities 35
describe themselv es as ‘Asian’, this is n ot a re aching back to some ‘primordial
Asian’ identity. What they are speaking of is a modality of ‘British Asian-ness’.
These homegrown Asian-British identities inaugurate a fundamental generational
change.
Using the ‘Rivers of Life’ activity and focus group discussion provided useful opportuni-
ties to explore complexities. The activities were integrally linked with engendering
re exivity, a consciou s evaluation of the past and a projection towards the future,
allowing them t o c hart the building blocks that are in place towards a self-actualization.
In thi s sense, the concept of identity became transposed to that of ‘self-identi cation’.
They are not a homogeneous group culturally, nor do they live their live s in terms of
cultural stereotype; there have been major generational transformations. The interviews
have illustrated Brah’s (1996) view that although inter-generational differences do exist,
they do not necessarily represent con ict. Indeed, the parents of most of these pupils
have been instrumental in charting and supporting the process of change and adaptation.
These pupils feel that they belong in Brita in and want to participate as citizens; they have
learned the skills of living what Bhabha (1994) refers to as ‘border lives’. Clearly, these
issues of cultural hybridiza tion, adaptation and re-de nition need to inform the teaching
process as part of the wider aim of maxi mizing the educational potential of children from
‘ethnic minority’ groups.
Moreover, it highlights the need for education, especially in the later Secondary
School years, to take on board t he issue of providing pupils with the necessary skills
to operate in a world that, to a signi cant ext ent, is still exclusionary. The dif culties
faced by these pupils do not re late to their living between ‘two cultures’, or ‘ethnic
identity’, as is often presumed. The intervie ws have s hown that they are quite com-
fortable with their multiple and multifaceted identities; that often despite damaging
experiences of racism, they are able to work re e xively in constituting themselves as
fully integrated people in British society. This bears out the argument that oppressive
or exclusionary meanings, structured in a variety of discourses, including policy, are
not necessarily assimilated in an unproblematic way by those who have been
subjecti ed.
Rather, the major problems that they will hav e to face l ater in l ife are the syst emic
ones that, potentially, may rende r them ‘invisible’, disempowered, disillusioned and
unful lled. One of the i ssues pertinent to them as young people growing up in modern
Britain, i s the fact that the problem of representation of black pe ople in the media still
remains more than 30 years after the rst major arrival of ‘black’ immigrants. ‘Black’
people are, on the whole, largely absent—and where they do feature, they often have
negative and stereotypic roles, or ‘novelty’/token positions. These pupils need to see
evidence of positive and dynamic role models in public life that they can identify with,
to give them a sense of what can be possible and what they can approximate. At a deeper
level, they need the means of being able to cope with the systemic aspects of societal
racism, that are re ected in organizational cultures, and the s tructural ba rriers that will
exclude them from full and eq ual participation in everyday life. Here we can refer to
endemic racism within organization al cultures and their impact on recruitment, quality
of training and mentoring, retention and promotion possibilities, the power of individual
gatekeepers, job ghettoization, career entrapment and pay differentials (Davidson, 1997).
Together, these systemic variables constitute the ‘con crete’ ceiling that may prevent them
ultimately from ful lling their hopes, aspirations, dreams and desires as citizens in British
society.
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36 N. Rassool
Correspondence: Naz Rassool, Department of Education Studies and Management,
University of Read ing, Bulmershe Court, Reading, Berkshire RG6 1HY, UK.
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