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International Sociology
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Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

Migrants from India in Hong Kong

Caroline Plüss

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, isncbp38{at}netvigator.com

This article explores the relationship between the ethnic identities of migrants from India in Hong Kong and their attempts to attain economic and social goals. It argues that Indians did not just adopt the characteristics of the British and Chinese majorities who controlled important access to resources. Rather, Indians sought to negotiate their positions in networks with majorities through constructing ethnic identities as cultural capital combining characteristics rooted in several regions. This allowed them to advertise knowledge, skills and connections that other members of Hong Kong society did not necessarily share. Constructions of transregional identities are examined with the examples of Parsis, Jain diamond merchants and Sikh policemen. Distinguishing between essential and relational conceptualizations of ethnic identities yields four different scenarios of how ethnic identities were constructed in the context of globalization, taking into account power relations between majorities and minorities. They are: high essential-high relational; high essential-medium relational; high essential-low relational; and medium essential-medium relational formulations.

Key Words: cultural capital • ethnic identity • globalization • networks • transregionalism

International Sociology, Vol. 20, No. 2, 201-224 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0268580905052369
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