The social worlds and identities of young British Sikhs and Hindus in London

<p>This thesis is centred on exploring the identity options and orientations of young British Indians, from Sikh and Hindu backgrounds, who are British born and living in the London area. Recent socio-political debates have assumed a lack of Britishness amongst these young people, an assumptio...

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Main Author: Bhambra, M
Other Authors: Heath, A
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
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author Bhambra, M
author2 Heath, A
author_facet Heath, A
Bhambra, M
author_sort Bhambra, M
collection OXFORD
description <p>This thesis is centred on exploring the identity options and orientations of young British Indians, from Sikh and Hindu backgrounds, who are British born and living in the London area. Recent socio-political debates have assumed a lack of Britishness amongst these young people, an assumption that is rooted in the belief that high bonding capital within ethnic minorities has led to a lack of bridging capital. This thesis argues that such statements are an essentialisation of the reality of these young people. In fact, their sources of belonging are far more complex, and far less threatening than we may be led to believe. Through the utilisation of eighty in-depth interviews, this thesis presents the intricate social worlds of these young people and the range of orientations (positive and negative) they feel towards component parts of their social worlds, as well as examining the strength and permeability of boundaries that demarcate these social worlds. The final substantive chapter deals with Britishness, and uncovers and presents the different perceptions and understandings that these young people have about British national identity and the ways in which it is accommodated (or not) alongside other important sources of belonging. It is found that a multi-dimensional approach to identity and belonging is best suited to understand the diverse and highly individualistic trajectories of these young people and that 'diverse-dual identities' are the most common pattern of belonging in this particular empirical case.</p> <p>This thesis make a significant contribution to the existing theoretical frameworks on identity and assimilation as well as the current socio-political debates on Britishness and the cultural integration of ethnic minorities in Britain, by presenting data on an under-researched group, British Indians, and highlighting the range of experiences within this group and the sources of this diversity.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:320867c1-95bf-4e1e-a6cd-15e456ff63472024-12-07T12:08:20ZThe social worlds and identities of young British Sikhs and Hindus in LondonThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:320867c1-95bf-4e1e-a6cd-15e456ff6347Social SciencesEthnic minorities and ethnicityNational identitySociologyEnglishOxford University Research Archive - Valet2015Bhambra, MHeath, A<p>This thesis is centred on exploring the identity options and orientations of young British Indians, from Sikh and Hindu backgrounds, who are British born and living in the London area. Recent socio-political debates have assumed a lack of Britishness amongst these young people, an assumption that is rooted in the belief that high bonding capital within ethnic minorities has led to a lack of bridging capital. This thesis argues that such statements are an essentialisation of the reality of these young people. In fact, their sources of belonging are far more complex, and far less threatening than we may be led to believe. Through the utilisation of eighty in-depth interviews, this thesis presents the intricate social worlds of these young people and the range of orientations (positive and negative) they feel towards component parts of their social worlds, as well as examining the strength and permeability of boundaries that demarcate these social worlds. The final substantive chapter deals with Britishness, and uncovers and presents the different perceptions and understandings that these young people have about British national identity and the ways in which it is accommodated (or not) alongside other important sources of belonging. It is found that a multi-dimensional approach to identity and belonging is best suited to understand the diverse and highly individualistic trajectories of these young people and that 'diverse-dual identities' are the most common pattern of belonging in this particular empirical case.</p> <p>This thesis make a significant contribution to the existing theoretical frameworks on identity and assimilation as well as the current socio-political debates on Britishness and the cultural integration of ethnic minorities in Britain, by presenting data on an under-researched group, British Indians, and highlighting the range of experiences within this group and the sources of this diversity.</p>
spellingShingle Social Sciences
Ethnic minorities and ethnicity
National identity
Sociology
Bhambra, M
The social worlds and identities of young British Sikhs and Hindus in London
title The social worlds and identities of young British Sikhs and Hindus in London
title_full The social worlds and identities of young British Sikhs and Hindus in London
title_fullStr The social worlds and identities of young British Sikhs and Hindus in London
title_full_unstemmed The social worlds and identities of young British Sikhs and Hindus in London
title_short The social worlds and identities of young British Sikhs and Hindus in London
title_sort social worlds and identities of young british sikhs and hindus in london
topic Social Sciences
Ethnic minorities and ethnicity
National identity
Sociology
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