Chapter Seventeen. Occupying third space: Hybridity and identity matrices in the multiracial experience

Abstract

Theories of contemporary social life, rooted primarily in critical constructivist, anthropological, feminist, and postcolonial inquiries, offer notable and valuable lenses through which to view and understand social organization, cultural systems, and identity in an era of globalization and empire. Concepts such as "liminality," "hybridity," "border," "creolization," and "mestizaje" have emerged from oppressive struggle to theorize as well as rhetorically acclaim a promising new era of human agency, democratic community, and cultural innovation amidst "hybridized webs of meaning" (Hannerz 1996, cf. Weber). Homi Bhabha's oft-cited statement on identity provides a glimpse into this theoretical regime: The move away from singularities of 'class' or 'gender' as primary conceptual and organizational categories has resulted in an awareness of the subject positions-of race, gender, generation, institutional location, geopolitical locale, sexual orientation-that inhabit any claim to identity in the modern world. What is theoretically innovative, and politically crucial, is the need

Feasting on Culture and Identity: Food Functions in a Multicultural and Transcultural Malaysia

“…The Third Space can be both a location and a process that provides a place for the negotiation of identity constructions, structures and cultural systems of meaning such as race, gender and class (Brunsma & Delgado 2008). In and through this Third Space, individuals and communities have the potential to develop a new understanding and appreciation of hybridised and fluid constructs of identity within multicultural and transcultural contexts.…”

“…(Deep Fried Devils 2008, pp. 50-51) What Lan Jie seems to be outraged about is not that Chinese food is eaten and cooked by non-Chinese people but that the non-Chinese have begun to profit from cooking Chinese food which serves as an identity capital (Brunsma & Delgado, 2008). Lan Jie believes that only the Chinese have the right to use the knowledge of Chinese food and cooking as identity capital to reap the financial and commercial benefits it offers.…”

Beyond Biracial: The Complexity of Identity Construction for Women with One Black and One White Parent

“…Identity construction is clearly a multifaceted process that is experienced in varied ways (Erikson, 1968;Fearon, 1999;Rockquemore & Brunsma, 2002;Rockquemore, Brunsma & Delgado, 2008;Tajfel & Turner, 1986;Tatum, 1997;Turner, 1982). The limited research addressing this process has been conceptual in nature and often based on outdated ideologies (Brunsma & Delgado 2008). Most of the previous research has not The final chapter of a dissertation normally summarizes key findings, interprets the findings and discusses implications for practice and/or policymaking, along with potential implications for future research.…”