South Asian Politics and the Politics of Being South Asian: (Re)Conceptualizing South Asian Diasporic Organizing in the U.S.
Date
2012
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Advisor
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Swarthmore College. Dept. of Sociology & Anthropology
Type
Thesis (B.A.)
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
Language
en_US
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Full copyright to this work is retained by the student author. It may only be used for non-commercial, research, and educational purposes. All other uses are restricted.
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Terms of Use
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
This simple question: "so, why are you going?" makes visible two of the key themes from which this project was imagined. The first is a question of South Asian identity – what does it mean to identify as South Asian? Is South Asian merely a racial category in the U.S.? The second is a question of politics. How is South Asian tied to politics? Is South Asian a term invested with political meaning? What kinds of organizing happen under and through this term?
Through this thesis, the author argues that South Asian identity in the U.S. cannot simply be understood as a racial category, but rather is a term with multiple meanings. This paper interrogates South Asian as a racial and political construct through the lens of self-identified progressive South Asian organizers-largely young, queer, non-male, and 1.5 and 2nd generation-and organizations. This thesis focuses on what it means for these organizers to belong-or to not belong-to South Asian spaces, as well as on the modalities of organizing that are engaged in these spaces.