Becoming British East Asian and Southeast Asian: Anti-racism, Chineseness, and Political Love in the Cultural and Creative Industries

Abstract

This article advances work on the ‘British Chinese’ by reconfiguring the boundaries of the field and expanding it beyond the cultural and linguistic transformations of an ‘ethnic community’. Instead, I examine new pan-Asian political formations and situate them within wider anti-racist organising in Britain. First, I examine the birth of ‘British East and Southeast Asianness’ as an emphatically political identity that contests racialised notions of ‘the Chinese’ as a passive model minority and repositions us as political agents of change. Second, I examine the crafting of a political community, in which a pan-Asian identity emerges as a contestation of the borders of ‘Chineseness’ and its policing, while maintaining a Chinese hegemony. Third, I identify distinct political repertoires of anti-racism within this ‘community’, a more radical and a more integrationist approach, which highlights the challenges of political mobilisation, and is shaped by a continued abject status. Finally, I examine the role of political love and care as a means of mobilisation, through which a radical politics of affirmation and refusal is crafted. In doing so, I re-envision the political horizons of the so-called ‘British Chinese’, while shedding light on the current complexities, transformations and solidarities of communities within and beyond Chineseness.

‘We are not the virus’ – Experiences of racism among East & Southeast Asian heritage young people in London during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Multiple such networks emerged in 2020 and 2021 (50), some of which now provide mental health and counselling services for ESEAs affected by racism (51). Our findings highlight the different faces of online media, both as sources of disinformation and racism and as places of community and sharing of difficult experiences (52,53,54). Indeed, the idea of a pan-ESEA identity in the UK initially emerged as a social identity to support the mobilisation of political community (54).…”

“…Our findings highlight the different faces of online media, both as sources of disinformation and racism and as places of community and sharing of difficult experiences (52,53,54). Indeed, the very idea of a pan-ESEA identity in the UK initially emerged as a social identity to support the mobilisation of political community (54). These forms of community building may mitigate the damage wrought by COVID-19 and contribute to community mental health competencies (55).…”

‘We are not the virus’–Experiences of racism among East & Southeast Asian heritage young people in London during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Multiple such networks emerged in 2020 and 2021 [ 52 ], some of which now provide mental health and counselling services for ESEAs affected by racism [ 53 ]. Our findings highlight the different faces of online media, both as sources of disinformation and racism and as places of community and sharing of difficult experiences [ 54 – 56 ]. Indeed, the very idea of a pan-ESEA identity in the UK initially emerged as a social identity to support the mobilisation of political community [ 56 ].…”

“…Our findings highlight the different faces of online media, both as sources of disinformation and racism and as places of community and sharing of difficult experiences [ 54 – 56 ]. Indeed, the very idea of a pan-ESEA identity in the UK initially emerged as a social identity to support the mobilisation of political community [ 56 ]. These forms of community building may mitigate the damage wrought by COVID-19 and contribute to community mental health competencies [ 57 ].…”

British Chinese or British ESEA? Articulating Creativity and Care across Scales and Disciplines

“…Recent calls to turn scholarly attention to the newly invigorated category of British ESEA (for instance, Yeh, 2021) have responded proactively to the rise in prominence of this category for identification by focusing on it, as the best scholarship should. There are of course strong reasons for supporting calls for developing wider solidarities and forms of intersectional ally-ship, such as across Chinese, East, and Southeast Asian communities, which we wholeheartedly support.…”