Ethnic Indians in Hong Kong

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Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

Migrants from India in Hong Kong
Caroline Plss
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
abstract: 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 essentialhigh relational; high
essentialmedium relational; high essentiallow relational;
and medium essentialmedium relational formulations.
keywords: cultural capital ethnic identity globalization
networks transregionalism
Theoretical Framework
Globalization dissolves geographical boundaries and joins hitherto
separate cultural processes. One fundamental issue that the current debate
on globalization raises is how it transforms the ways in which people
think of themselves. With globalization, the links between cultures,
people, identities and specific places have become fluid, and identity has
International Sociology June 2005 Vol 20(2): 201224
SAGE (London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi)
DOI: 10.1177/0268580905052369
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International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

taken on a slippery, nonlocalized quality (Appadurai, 1991: 191). The
investigation of globalization therefore calls for new analytical frameworks to understand the processes through which ethnic identities are
constructed. This article examines how migrants use their transregional
characteristics to construct ethnicity as a strategy to accumulate cultural
capital (Bourdieu, 1986: 24158), which they then employ as a means to
gain access to resources.1
The distinction between essential and relational elements in identity
constructions yields four scenarios for forging ethnic identities, providing insight into the characteristics of individuals who have been
thoroughly shaped by the coming together of historically separate
cultures, [and] under circumstances of inequality in center-periphery
structures (Hannerz, 2000: 10), which characterize globalization. Instead
of focusing mainly on inequality, assimilation and precariousness, this
article shows how the marginality of Indians in relation to the characteristics of the British and Chinese majorities yielded features that actually
provided them with access to resources.2 Recent investigation of globalization explains how marginality has become a highly creative space in
which new definitions of identity emerge, although they stress that such
identities found only partial acceptance by majorities and only often in
the interstices of social systems (Hall, 1991: 1939; Trinh, 1991: 6577;
Kearney, 1995: 22643; Young, 1995: 128; Lavie and Swedenburg, 1996:
125; Kurien, 1998: 3770; Papastergiadis, 2000: 10021).
One advantage that migrants may accentuate in comparison with more
sedentary members of a society is their links with co-ethnic groups in
different geographical regions, such as in previous residences, and
possibly with members of their ethnic communities who moved to other
places. Membership in such diasporic networks can be employed as
cultural capital, stressing the symbolic qualifications of their incumbents
in order to secure recognition.3 Deployment of cultural capital serves to
secure belief and acknowledgement, and sometimes even to inspire obligations (Bourdieu, 1986: 2428). Ethnicity may serve as cultural capital if
members can draw on the prestige enshrined in ethnic networks, presenting themselves as the custodians of certain traditions, norms, values, skills
and ways of doing things. Individuals employing ethnicity as cultural
capital to gain access to resources have been named ethnic identity
entrepreneurs (Lal, 1997: 393). The successful deployment of ethnicity
depends on whether those who control access to resources perceive these
constructs as credible and useful so that they may reward the credentials
of ethnic identity entrepreneurs (Lal, 1997: 3934).
Constructing ethnic entrepreneurial identities entails two substantive
processes: (1) asserting essentialized characteristics by arbitrarily selecting certain elements, and most likely modifying them, from the pool of
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Plss Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

characteristics believed to have historically formed ethnic identities, and
(2) asserting relational characteristics by constructing identities according
to the characteristics of the group one wishes to engage with.4 The distinction between essential and relational elements allows discerning how
local, transregional, internal and external dimensions interact in identity
construction. Therefore, these two characteristics provide the contextual
coordinates of situated selves (Guarnizo and Smith, 1999: 21). Strong
essential elements are likely to indicate a high degree of differentiation,
or social closure, of a group towards outsiders. Weak essential elements
often suggest disengagement from ones ethnic tradition. Strong relational
elements in identity constructions indicate processes of assimilation to the
characteristics of another group, whereas weak relational elements
suggest processes of differentiation.
Data Collection
The data for this article were collected between 1999 and 2002. Primary
sources were 36 in-depth interviews,5 and newspaper and archive
research. Secondary sources consisted of historical reports on Hong Kong
and a number of its institutions, in particular the Royal Hong Kong Police
Force, journal articles on Indians; and accounts of Parsis, Jains and Sikhs
in India. The interviews lasted between one and four hours, depending
on the availability of interviewees and the quality of the information
volunteered. Interviews with 27 interviewees were semi-structured,
starting with a number of key questions on the changing identities of
Indians in Hong Kong, including self-presentation, relations with British
and Chinese residents, the strengths and weaknesses of being in Hong
Kong, links with India, membership in associations and social life. These
questions served to initiate open-ended discussion, leaving interviewees
free to formulate their own explanations. The aim was to increase their
willingness to share information (Robbins et al., 1973). Notes were taken
during the interviews. Four informants from the first round of interviews
were interviewed a second time, and one a third time, to obtain followup information. In addition to these 32 interviews, four interviewees were
selected because of their involvement in non-Indian organizations that
had a significant impact upon Indians relations with British and Chinese
majorities.6
Many Indians in Hong Kong are transitory residents, and there are only
a few families who have lived in the territory for several generations.
Interviewing principal officers of associations that Indians founded in
Hong Kong proved an effective strategy to locate longer-term residents
with a knowledge of the Indian community and its ethnic subgroups.
Comparing interviewees accounts and evaluating them in relation to
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written sources served to assess the validity of information about how
characteristics of different ethnic Indian groups changed. Respecting the
wishes of some interviewees not to be named, all interviewees are
identified by their principal organizational involvement, although many
interviewees hold several affiliations.
Archive research was conducted in the Hong Kong Collection of the
University of Hong Kong. The microfilms of the correspondence between
the Colonial Office in London and its representatives in Hong Kong (CO
129) were the principal source of information for the period 18421926,
especially on Sikh policemen. They were searched through an index
retrieval system (Sinn, 1997). The Holy Spirit Study Centre in Hong Kong
offered information on Parsis in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong newspaper
the South China Morning Post was searched for information about Parsis,
Sikhs, Jains and Indians in Hong Kong through the Dialog@CARL
database collection, covering the period 19932004. The Council of Hong
Kong Indian Associations, the Gujarat Samaj, the Incorporated Trustees
of the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hongkong, Canton and Macao, the
Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Khalsa Divan supplied annual
reports and/or members directories, which sometimes included
historical information. Indian individuals provided a number of newspaper clippings and articles on Indians in Hong Kong and India.
High EssentialHigh Relational Identities:

19th-century Parsi Traders
Parsis, adherents of Zoroastrianism from India, opened offices in Hong
Kong from 1841 onwards (Smith, 1995: 390), when Britain occupied the
island as a result of the First Opium War with China, lasting from 1839
to 1842 (Welsh, 1997: 1205). They were prosperous merchants and their
employees, trading in opium, cotton and textiles between India and
China. Parsis already held established positions in networks with the
British. The arrival of foreign traders in India, especially the presence of
the British since the 18th century, provided Parsis with welcome prospects
to improve their economic and social positions. Their name, indicating
that they were originally the residents of Pars, the province in Persia that
gave the country its name (see Framjee, 2003: 2), denotes their status of
being a minority in India. Parsis held a subordinate position in Indian
society. They were not allowed to carry arms or to convert people to
Zoroastrianism. Asserting distinctiveness led to discrimination and constituted negative cultural capital. Parsis constructed low essentialhigh relational identities, assimilating to Indian society. Women wore saris, and
wedding ceremonies, which were performed in the evening when they
were less visible, included sections in Sanskrit (Hong Kong Standard, 5 June
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1987). An interviewee confirmed that Parsis in India have abandoned
many characteristics of their tradition, observing that Parsis did not have
much of their own culture in India, they adopted a lot of Indian customs
and mixed [their blood] with Indians. As an example, she explains that
there is hardly anything Parsi in the houses of Parsis [in India].7
In order to enter British networks, a number of Parsis started emphasizing the similarities between their traditions and the characteristics of
the British, and differentiating themselves from other Indians, stressing
that they were culturally closer to Europe.8 Parsis learnt English and
promoted European culture, especially music.9 In 1884, a young female
member of the Anglicized Parsi elite confirmed a highly relational identity
construction, explaining that not conforming to the rules of English
society . . . means the same as being illiterate and barbaric (Anon., 1884:
12; quoted in Shroff, n.d: 4). These Parsis were classic ethnic identity entrepreneurs, asserting high essentialhigh relational identities by promoting
a construction of ethnicity linked to European culture. Portuguese people
in India promptly classified Parsis as Persians generated from Europe
or as individuals of the white and Arian race (Fernandes, n.d.: 12).
British education and economic cooperation, especially through the East
India Company, promoted many Parsis to become a prosperous elite. A
number of them built dockyards and ships. They were the first Indians
trading with China in the mid-18th century and one of the main groups
participating in the opium trade (Dastoor, 1999: 6970), in which some
ethnic minorities in India, including Sephardic Jews, became specialized.
The colonial administration in Hong Kong described Parsis as very
commercial and useful, . . . [because they were] long since actively
engaged in the trade with China.10 This appraisal provided a solid basis
from which to negotiate positions in networks with the British. The
example of how the authorities dealt with the request of three unidentified Parsi merchants to continue selling imported saltpetre to China shows
the economic power these traders held. The authorities responded that
they wished to meet the views of merchants so respectable and so well
introduced [by Mr J. J. MacKenzie, chairman of the Hong Kong Chamber
of Commerce].11 The best-known traders in 19th-century Hong Kong
were Hirjibhoy Rustomjee, Pestonji Cawasji, Framjee Jamsetjee, Dorabjee
Naorjee and Cowasjee Framjee (Bard, 1993: 867), but the size of the Parsi
community during that time is unknown (Incorporated Trustees of the
Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hongkong, Canton and Macao, 2002: 8).
Significant about these traders identities was that they did not Anglicize their names, but promoted Parsi tradition as cultural capital that
denoted trading skills with co-religionists in India as well as in China
(both countries were key participants in the opium trade). Parsi philanthropy, for example, supported these traders networks in China and, in
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comparison with the British traders, their popularity among Chinese individuals. Dastoor claims that Parsis had established a reputation among
Chinese merchants for being more philanthropic and less commandeering than the British (Dastoor, 1999: 70). The knowledge, skills, resources
and obligations enshrined in Parsi trading networks hence provided
characteristics that the British did not fully possess but valued, and in
order to access them, the British colonial administration and the British
traders were willing to share some of their own resources with the Parsis.
Jamsetjee Jejeebhoys relations with the British empire are an example. He
was not based in Hong Kong, where he owned a dockyard, but in the
nearby southern Chinese city of Canton (Reid, 1982: 17). Having been
instrumental in helping the British firm Jardine, Matheson and Co. to
build its large stake in trade with the Far East, he received numerous
honours from Britain, including a knighthood in 1842 (Vaid, 1972: 12), and
a directorship in the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
(Mama, 1992: 12).
Philanthropic projects of Parsi merchants in Hong Kong brought them
further recognition by its British administration. Since arriving in India
in the eighth century as a minority in search of acceptance, Parsi identity
construction strongly emphasized philanthropy (Taraporevala, 2000: 15).
In Hong Kong, an endowment by Hormusjee Mody that led to the
opening of the University of Hong Kong in 1911 was rewarded with a
knighthood from Britain in 1910 (White, 1995: 29). Philanthropy diminished some of the earlier racial prejudices the British held against the
Parsis. Evidence for these can be found in the Anglo-Chinese Calendar of
1832, which classified Parsis as Asiatic British Subjects (Smith, 1995: 390),
and in an account of Hong Kongs early colonial days, expounding that
the colonial administration admitted Parsis only as long as they knew
their place, . . . which fork was which . . . [and were] admissibly rich
(Welsh, 1997: 380). In contrast to prominent traders, Parsis employed by
British firms in Hong Kong de-emphasized essential identities, undertaking significant name changes. Answering the question of why a
number of English names appeared in the membership registry of the
Hong Kong Parsee Cricket Club at the turn of the 20th century, such as
Master or Cooper, a member of the community explains that they were
not English, but Parsees working for English firms, so they took the name
of the firm as their own name (Hall, 2000: 148). Constructing identities
with lower essential but higher relational elements reflects the fact that
when these Parsis negotiated their positions in British networks, they
possessed fewer of the characteristics the British lacked but valued.
Nevertheless, their employment was accompanied by a degree of
hybridization on the British side. Payment offices in Hong Kong were
called shroff offices, after the Parsi name Shroff.12
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Comparing the merchants with the employees in British firms suggests
that the main factor accounting for the degree to which Parsis advocated
essential identity elements to negotiate their positions in networks with
the British was the amount of transregional expertise the Parsis possessed.
Such expertise consisted of the knowledge, skills and resources enshrined
in their diasporic networks, such as contacts in India that were crucial for
purchasing and shipping opium, their philanthropy, or the links they
fostered through their early entry into trade with China. Parsis for whom
transregional expertise was unimportant for their economic pursuits had
less bargaining power in relation to the colonial power. Therefore, they
placed less emphasis on their distinctiveness and assimilated more
strongly the characteristics of the British.
Constructing high essential and high relational identities reinforced
processes of social closure when Parsis dealt with other communities in
Hong Kong, such as its Chinese residents, or other groups of migrants
from India. Parsi traders remained distant from these two groups,
especially on a cultural level. They constructed stringent religious borders
around their community, keeping non-Zoroastrians outside the confines
of their religious life, the pivotal point of Parsi collective existence.13
During the extended time that Parsis resided in India, the borders of their
community were less thoroughly upheld. Their religious rituals adopted
elements from Hinduism, and vice versa (Fernandes, n.d.: 3).
High EssentialMedium Relational Identities:

20th-Century Parsis
Throughout the 20th century, Parsis gradually, but not unequivocally,
started to redefine essential components of their identities in order to fulfil
their social aspirations. The connections in their identities between ethnicity and economic aspiration/specialization declined for several reasons.
First, Parsis commercial links with India became less important. The
opium trade decreased from the early 20th century onwards and Parsis
in Hong Kong started importing and exporting goods from, and to, a
variety of places. In the 1920s, for example, a number of them were manufacturing embroidered goods in Canton, exporting the goods to multiple
locations.14 Second, Parsi economic activities in Hong Kong became less
dependent on negotiations of positions in networks with the British. The
economic trajectory of the Ruttonjee family is an example. One of the
privileges Parsis enjoyed in the empire was the award of liquor licences
by the British.15 Hormusjee Ruttonjee obtained an import licence for wine
and liquor in 1887, with which he set up his business in Hong Kong (Pavri,
1974: 1). By the early 20th century, however, he became more interested
in investing in property in Hong Kong. This provided him with an
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economic base in the territory that was less dependent upon approval by
the colonial administration. Third, given their prosperity, Parsis felt little
need to construct ethnic entrepreneurial identities in relation to Chinese
residents in Hong Kong, who did not have much political power. They
regarded their Chinese associates as middle-men,16 which suggests that
Parsis felt they were superior. A Parsi trader who migrated with his family
from Shanghai to Hong Kong in 194917 points towards the social distance
between the two groups, confirming that Chinese regarded Parsis as
[business] associates, and as rivals (South China Morning Post, 26
February 2002). Fourth, there was little genealogical and economic continuity between the 19th-century Parsi merchants in Hong Kong and their
co-religionists in the territory in the 20th century. By the early 20th century,
most members of the former group, who were linked to the opium trade,
had either returned to India, or were no longer alive. Their 20th-century
co-religionists were engaged in a wider variety of economic pursuits in
which they no longer occupied a specialized niche. They therefore put
less emphasis on constructing ethnic entrepreneurial identities.
Good relations with the British colonial elite, educational attainments
and English-language skills helped Parsis to enter various professions in
Hong Kong, including teaching, medicine and engineering.18 Since the
second half of the 20th century, the British administration in Hong Kong
had become more inclusive of the characteristics of ethnically different
groups, increasing their influence in its bodies. Indicating their relatively
secure economic positions, there appear to have been no further attempts
to Anglicize Parsi surnames in the latter part of the 20th century. Parsis
with Indian names, such as Pavri or Parekh, kept them.19 Nevertheless,
the first names in long-established Hong Kong Parsi families often
remained Anglicized, such as those of Morris and Austin Ruttonjee.20
Engaging in networks with different segments of Hong Kongs population
meant that relational elements in Parsi identities sometimes came to be
in conflict. Dhun Ruttonjees loyalty to what he perceived to be the
benefits of Hong Kong, rather than of Britain, led to the termination of
his appointment in the Legislative Council, where he served from 1953 to
1968 (Pavri, 1974: 3). He criticized Governor David Trench for not providing Hong Kong with strong enough leadership.21
Such economic and social changes led Parsis to redefine essential and
relational components in their identities. They generalized the former by
emphasizing the fact that integrity and reliability are their historical
characteristics.22 Asserting pride in cultural heritage linked Parsis in Hong
Kong more closely with their co-religionists in India. Typically, a member
of the community today declares that Parsis are first Indians.23 A Hindu
interviewee confirms this identity change, explaining that while Parsis in
the past saw themselves as British, they now see themselves as Indians.24
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These newer identity constructions intertwined transnational identification with the emphasis on maintaining family values and religion.25
One difficulty with asserting such values was in dealing with the
problem of exogamy, namely with the question of whether non-Parsi
spouses, or children of non-Parsi fathers, should be admitted into religious
activities. Differing views among community members on whether or not
race and religion are inseparable are a historical characteristic of Zoroastrians (Writer, 1994). Whereas some of their diasporic communities
engaged in back-and-forth movements about accepting conversions
(Writer, 1994: 1246), 20th-century Parsis in Hong Kong did not accept
them: non-Zoroastrians remain excluded from Parsi religious activities,
including the funerals of spouses.26 However, non-Zoroastrian family
members were included in the social activities of the community. Such an
individual, for example, confirms that Parsis are her closest friends in the
territory.27 Although Parsis in Hong Kong are concerned about the recent
and rapid fall in the number of Zoroastrians worldwide through exogamy,
their spatial proximity to the large Zoroastrian community in Mumbai
(Bombay), consisting of 76,000 individuals in 2000 (Taraporevala, 2000: 9),
as well as the limitations in the degree to which they could integrate themselves into the Chinese population of Hong Kong, kept the number of
exogamous marriages relatively low. The size of the community in the
territory is small, consisting of 8090 individuals in 1952 (Ingrame, 1952:
248) and of 194 individuals in 2002 (Incorporated Trustees of the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hongkong, Canton and Macao, 2002: 13). Nevertheless, a recent estimate of out-marriages is only 57 percent.28
Despite their relatively high degree of prosperity and generous philanthropy, acceptance of Parsis by Britain and China remained limited. For
example, neither nation was prepared to give nationality to Indians in
Hong Kong when it returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 (Das, 1990).29
Such non-acceptance explains why Parsis established stronger links with
the larger Indian community in Hong Kong, and possibly also why they
took greater pride in their group activities. In the words of one interviewee, one cannot be Chinese, an ethnic minority needs to stick together
to survive.30 Since the second half of the 20th century, Parsis have become
increasingly involved in Hong Kong Indian associations, such as the India
Club, the Indian Businessmen Association, the Council of Hong Kong
Indian Associations and the Hong Kong Indian Womens Club.31 Interviewees outline the importance of their group activities to generate a sense
of belonging, which they achieve through sharing meals, a sense of
humour and language; or, in the view of a non-Zoroastrian spouse of a
Parsi, through having a good time.32 Similar to processes of ethnic
identity constructions observed among American Indians, 20th-century
Parsi ethnicity began to serve gradually as cultural capital within the
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Parsis own community, giving meaningful cultural depth to individual
and family life (Kurien, 1998: 61).
High EssentialLow Relational Identities:

Jain Diamond Traders
Jains, adherents of Jainism, a religion with ascetic origins (Folkert, 1993:
90), settled in Hong Kong from the 1950s. Compared to the Sindhis, who
became the largest groups of Indians in Hong Kong towards the end of
the 20th century,33 the Jains had a high degree of economic homogeneity.
This makes them a particularly interesting example in terms of investigating constructions of cultural capital in modern-day Hong Kong. In the
1950s, there were only three interrelated Jain families in Hong Kong
whose members traced their ancestry to Palinpur, a small town in the
State of Gujarat, India.34 Palinpuri Jains restarted the diamond trade in
India at the turn of the 20th century (Westwood, 2000: 75), and maintained
their stronghold in it when the trade expanded in the late 1980s.35 Indian
government controls, however, motivated a number of diamond traders,
including Jains from various places in Gujarat, or from neighbouring
Rajasthan, to set up offices outside India, while the stones were cut and
polished in India. In Hong Kong, the number of Jains increased rapidly
from the late 1980s.36 Today, there are approximately 500 Jains in the
territory.37 They own an estimated 6070 percent of the India-based
diamond firms in Hong Kong.38 Except for Chinese office staff, employees
in these firms are usually relatives from the same native place.39 The
diamond merchants form the large majority of the Jain community in
Hong Kong, in which trade is dominant.
Weber stressed the value Jainism places on honesty and the prohibition
of deceit in business life (Weber, 1962: 200). Jain interviewees readily assert
that trust and honour are key characteristics of their identities. For
example, they emphasize that their religious attitudes provide them with
high moral values and with discipline,40 that their success in diamond
trading is built on their trustworthiness in business,41 or that their
business conduct is honest because otherwise the reputation of their
families would be tarnished.42 A study of Jain diamond traders gives an
example of this latter point, quoting a merchant who explained that:
Among Jains, you know which family you are dealing with and if a trader
doesnt pay then you can contact his father or his uncle, and he does not want
that to happen. (Westwood, 2000: 85)
Family networks within and between diamond firms, as well as the

degree of trust enshrined in them, are crucial to sustain the creditworthiness of a diamond trader. Relatives take on the role of guarantors for one
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another, back each other with credit, or lend diamonds to cater to fluctuating market demands. Diamond wholesaling is a business based on
credit and trust, whereby a trader, backed by guarantors, takes on a credit
to buy diamonds. He then must sell the stones within a given time period
to return the money.43 Trust among traders, therefore, is crucial to risk
management in the diamond trade (Westwood, 2000: 756). An interviewee explains the relations between blood relations and business
alliances, emphasizing the closer [they are], the better.44 However, these
traders like to keep these alliances secret in order to preventing rival firms
from undercutting one anothers prices, or from outmanoeuvring the
policies of competitors.45
In Jain constructions of ethnic identity, emphasis on religious ideals,
business conduct and family links are thus closely interrelated. For
example, an interviewee with Palinpuri ancestry proudly explains that
the record of Jains with banks in Hong Kong is very good because there
were few debts the Jains could not pay back in time. He volunteered that
interrelated Jains in Hong Kong have taken on debts lasting for 3040
years in order to maintain the good reputations of their co-religionists
with the banks.46 However, pressure among Jain diamond traders to avoid
tarnishing the reputation of their guarantors and to pay their debts can
be considerable (White, 1995: 159). The fluctuations in the price of
diamonds in the last 20 years, however, have motivated some change in
these highly essential identities. Although Jains believe that declaring
bankruptcy is still shameful,47 doing so and starting up a new business
does not necessarily prevent other diamond traders from working with
the newly established business.48
It is significant that Jains in Hong Kong established a structure to
sustain their ethnic identities when they became more diversified as to
their places of origin. When the first diamond traders settled in Hong
Kong in the 1950s, they did not have a temple. These Palinpuri Jains
visited the Sikh temple, and then the Hindu temple.49 Family and business
links closely connected them to the same place in India, and they practised Jainism in a similar way to how it is practised among Jain communities in India, that is, with open boundaries towards polytheistic religions
(Banks, 1992: 223; Laidlaw, 1995: 95). However, from the late 1980s, the
Palinpuri Jains in Hong Kong were joined by a larger number of coreligionists with other places of origin in India. It was 15 members of this
latter group who founded the Jain temple, the Shree Hong Kong Jain
Sangh, in 1996.50 The temple was established not only at a time when the
community grew, or when finances became available, but far more significantly by Jains who did not share regions of origin. Being frequented daily
by around 100 community members,51 the temple reaffirms closely intertwined relations between religion, family and economic pursuits. An
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administrator of the temple explains that when there was no temple in
Hong Kong, parents did not wish to come to visit family members doing
business in Hong Kong. He adds that since the temple opened, relatives
visit Hong Kong, and explains that the display of family backing in the
temple is important to assure a good reputation among traders, whom he
sees as very competitive.52
Eating habits indicate, to some degree, how Jains have modified their
religious identities to adapt to Hong Kong surroundings. Jainism asks its
practitioners to be vegetarians, not to eat eggs and to refrain from eating
vegetables that grow under the soil. Many Jains in Hong Kong employ
cooks from India, and some of them do not eat in restaurants at all. One
long-term Jain resident admits that long residence in the territory led some
community members to modify their eating habits, for instance by eating
vegetables that grow under the soil, such as garlic and onions, when
eating in Chinese vegetarian restaurants.53 More recently settled Jains,
however, explain the degree of strictness towards food rather as an
essential than a relational identity element. In the opinion of such an interviewee, Jains attitudes are transmitted by their parents, with members
of conservative families being strict about keeping dietary restrictions.54
Jains relations with Chinese residents in the territory, who form a
substantial number of their clients, are distant. Marriages are usually
arranged by parents in India, and they may or may not serve as business
alliances.55 Yet they are nearly exclusively among Jains, often among
families with similar socioeconomic backgrounds.56 Business relations
with Chinese clients, in the eyes of a community member who had been
in the territory for a long time, and who speaks Cantonese, are all right.
He emphasizes that socially, Jains do not interact with Chinese residents.57
A more recent settler confirms this, explaining, albeit paradoxically, that
for Jains business is business and family is family.58
Being able to protect their economic niche and prosperity allows Jains
to be critical and outspoken when they perceive that they are discriminated against by Chinese residents. For example, they emphasize that
Jains in Hong Kong have more connections with their co-religionists in
India than other Jain communities in the world [have],59 that Hong Kong
people still have some way to go to become world-class citizens,60 that
Jains are treated better in the US,61 or that Chinese residents are resentful of their economic pursuits.62 They stress the need for their own
community life to redress social isolation. A young mother recounts:
My children are international, but there is no international identity [among
Chinese residents]. They do not read Chinese, they do not look Chinese, the
Chinese do not accept them, they are a generation of being neither here nor
there [in India] . . . [going to the Jain temple] gives them a sense of belonging
to their own culture, it is a nice feeling to know one belongs . . . to have a sense
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of belonging in front of discrimination. Here [in the temple] there is community
and a support system.63
Community activities provided a context for validating Jain distinctiveness, which due to racial and cultural differences does not find much
acceptance from Chinese residents. Asserting distinction, on the one hand,
supports the Jains economic position in the territory but it also accentuates their social isolation in relation to the Chinese residents.
Medium EssentialMedium Relational Identities:

Sikh Policemen
Sikhs were brought to Hong Kong by the British police and army in the
19th century. Sikh soldiers were transitory residents in Hong Kong, given
their deployment to various destinations, and they had little to do with
civil life in the territory (Weiss, 1991: 427). Motivated by the satisfaction
of British military forces in China with Sikh soldiers,64 and the recognition
Sikhs obtained from the British in India for protective police work,65 the
Hong Kong police wished to recruit Sikhs into its services. Previous
attempts with building a police force with Chinese constables had failed.
One hundred Sikh policemen arrived in Hong Kong in 1867,66 and by
1868 the police employed 222 Sikhs.67 The Sikhs readily accepted employment in the Far East, as this provided higher incomes than working in
the Punjab (Tatla, 1999: 445). However, a smaller number of these police
constables wished to return to India, feeling discriminated against by their
British employers and Chinese colleagues.68 For example, they were
forbidden from marrying Chinese women, and most of them were not
allowed to take their families with them from India to Hong Kong (Weiss,
1991: 431). Ease of recruitment and considerable cultural gaps between
Sikh, European and Chinese constables, who are described as having
despised one another (Sinclair, 1994: 30), placed Sikhs in the second half
of the 19th century in a disadvantaged position when negotiating the
terms of their employment. This prevented the successful use of their
ethnic entrepreneurial identities, despite the fact that Sikhs possessed
strong cultural capital to support their work as protectors. They stressed
that one of the main reasons why Sikhism was founded was to defend
Hindus from northern Muslim invaders.69 The British administration of
Hong Kong, as recorded in the Colonial Office records, did not mention
any links between Sikhism and the ability to perform security work. It
identified Sikhs with reference to their home province in India, the
Punjab.70 Confusion in the British administrations correspondence over
the terms Sikhs, Muslims and Indians certainly does not indicate that
Sikhs successfully advocated their ethnic entrepreneurial identities. In a
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number of instances, for example, the British mistook Mahomedans for
Sikhs.71
By the end of the 19th century, dissatisfaction with their remuneration,
which was lower than that of European constables, nearly led to a mutiny
among the Indian contingent of the police force (Sinclair, 1994: 35). In
addition, a number of Sikhs perceived their British employers as inaccessible, if not incomprehensible, which was possibly also due to the
Sikhs lack of proficiency in English. When three co-religionists were
imprisoned for suspected sedition in Hong Kong in 1945, a number of
Sikhs reportedly resolved that the Government had gone mad and that
steps must be taken to rescue these three prisoners.72 Dissatisfaction with
their employment explains why, during the second half of the 20th
century, an unknown number of Sikhs sought dismissal from the police
force so that they could take up protection work for other European
employers in the foreign concessions in China.73 In addition to the established image of Sikhs as being recognizably tall guardians with turbans
and beards, the policing skills that these Sikhs acquired from the British
provided them with desirable attributes to negotiate entry into employment by German, Russian or French authorities in China. Britain reacted
promptly, albeit unsuccessfully, to this threat to its security, trying to
repatriate Sikhs who had left the police force to India.74
The bargaining position of Sikhs in Hong Kongs police force did not
improve significantly in the 20th century. By that time, the police force
experienced fewer difficulties with training Chinese constables and after
the Second World War, the police became increasingly localized. Sikh
policemen and security personnel are not very popular among Chinese
residents in Hong Kong, who often associate them with the policing of
Chinese residents on behalf of the British, and some Chinese residents are
in fact quite fearful of them.75 Asserting loyalty to the British, such as
emphasizing the Second World War casualties among Sikhs who helped
to defend Hong Kong, had only limited cultural capital because it could
not show that Sikhs were irreplaceable carriers of the networks, skills and
knowledge that their employers valued but could not find elsewhere.
Disapproval and complaints about unfavourable terms, such as the lack
of promotion, continued until the end of the 20th century. The case of
Yaqub M. Khan, although he was a Muslim and not a Sikh, is an illustrative example. Muslims were also recruited into the police force in order
to counterbalance a possible domination of the Sikhs (Weiss, 1991: 430).
Khan was promoted to the position of superintendent in 1968, becoming
the highest ranking Indian police officer Hong Kong had ever had.
However, he was dismissed from the police in 1978 and then accused the
force of racial discrimination. He explains that:
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This promotion, which should have been the start of something for my family
to be proud of, was the start of a nightmare. Many in the force felt that our
role in the force was intended as a watchman class. . . . It was the colonial way.
By becoming a superintendent I had a position of real authority. A lot of English
officers really resented that.76
Very few Sikhs were kept in the police force after the return of Hong
Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 (Batra, 1999: 41, 49). Sikhs who
stayed in Hong Kong often became security workers or restaurant owners.
Limited education and lack of proficiency in English and written Chinese
did not favour their entry into the business world (White, 1995: 91), or
the entry of their children into Hong Kong universities. Although a small
number of Sikhs have come to Hong Kong in recent years to set up businesses, the economic status of the community is generally low. This has
led to exclusion from the richer Indian business communities in Hong
Kong, and to disapproval from the Chinese majority, who are not very
accepting of poorer ethnic minorities. The approximately 7500 Sikhs who
reside in the territory (Batra, 1999: 42) seek to rearticulate Sikh identity in
a way that brings them more acceptance from Chinese residents, and
alleviates tensions between the two groups. To achieve this, Sikhs recently
outlined characteristics of their religion by stressing elements that
segments of Hong Kong society currently aspire to. This includes its nondiscriminatory nature, especially towards women, and its recommendation of Sikhs acceptance of all ethical work.77 However, the likelihood
of Sikhs improving their economic and social positions remains low. One
major difficulty is that that the public education system in Hong Kong,
which reverted to teaching in Chinese after 1997, puts children of ethnic
minorities at a disadvantage, given their difficulty in performing in the
Chinese language. To improve this situation, the Sikh temple in Hong
Kong, the Khalsa Divan, is offering some educational facilities for Sikh
children, however without the means of improving their written Chineselanguage skills.
Conclusions
This article examines four scenarios for constructing ethnic entrepreneurial identities. Such scenarios reveal how Indians combined characteristics rooted in different cultures and regions while adapting to, and
differentiating themselves from, British and Chinese residents in Hong
Kong so that they could realize their social and economic aspirations. The
distinction between relational and essential elements serves to illustrate
power differentials between minorities and majorities in identity
constructions. It also explains how people shape their identities in a transregional context, where their interactions do not take place in any one
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place and culture alone but exist between and beyond them. As ethnic
identity entrepreneurs, Indians tactically intersected facets of one culture
with those of another in a globalizing context, through processes that are
neither bipolar, nor unidirectional, but multi-polar, with complex
flows among the poles (Kearney, 1995: 228). This created an ad hoc sociality (Kearney, 1995: 232), a transnational unit of culture (Gilroy, 1993), a
semi-autonomous third space consisting of ongoing negotiations of
positions of majorities and minorities (Lavie and Swedenburg, 1996: 20).
The minorities not only negotiated their identities in relation to the
changing characteristics of the British political and Chinese numerical
majorities in Hong Kong, but also used their embeddedness within wider
diasporic communities in order to respond to the challenges they faced
in Hong Kong. Their identity constructions, therefore, were simultaneously linked to several regions, with the migrants making reference
to several regions at the same time while constructing them.
Nineteenth-century Parsi traders combined their own cultural characteristics with British ones, which not only supported mutual needs for
economic collaboration but also connected essential elements in their identities with transregional cultural capital that the majorities did not possess
but wanted. This provided the Parsis with some autonomy from the control
of the majorities. Once Parsis held established economic positions in the
territory, which many of them did in the 20th century, they were more
inclined to assert essential identities that supported social aspirations that
focused on maintaining their own community. In many ways, the transregional linkages of Sikh policemen paralleled connections that the British
also possessed, and thus did not favour the use by Sikhs of cultural capital
to negotiate their position in networks with the British. The Sikhs could,
however, advertise their cultural capital, which had been constructed by
merging skills from their own tradition with those acquired by the British,
to enter networks with other ethnic groups that did not have the networks
of the Hong Kong police. The recent efforts by Sikhs to construct both
essential and relational identities in order to further their acceptance by
the Chinese majority have not been successful. These identities lack unique
characteristics that the majority does not possess, and are therefore
unlikely to serve as independent factors to negotiate positions in networks
with the majority.
The Jains unwillingness to combine their identities with the characteristics of Chinese residents furthers their social isolation. However, this
unwillingness and the Jains articulation of strong essential identities
protect their economic niche, given the close connections between Jain
religious values, family links and economic pursuits. Jains relations with
Chinese residents are not based on the degree to which they adopt
characteristics from Chinese culture, rather they are based on the Jains
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economic characteristics, that is, their access to resources that are not
primarily controlled by Chinese residents. Asserting highly essential identities not only promotes pride, self-justification and group building among
the Jains, it also supports characteristics that are important to their trade.
The example of the three ethnic minorities discussed shows that their
ability to negotiate positions in networks with the majorities did not
primarily depend on the degree to which the minorities adapted to, or
resisted assimilating to, the characteristics of the majorities. Rather, it
depended on the degree to which transregional cultural capital could be
fruitfully embedded in essential identities. Doing so denoted not only that
these minorities possessed access to resources that were not controlled by
the majorities, but also that they combined characteristics rooted in different geographical regions in order to situate their aspirations within transnational spaces.
Appendix: Interviews
Interview 1
Interview 2
Interview 3
Interview 4
Interview 5
Interview 6
Interview 7
Interview 8
Interview 9
Interview 10
Interview 11
Interview 12
Interview 13
02 Feb. 2000 Male, Hong Kong resident since 1971, member

of the Indian Businessmens Association
11 Feb. 2000 Female, resident since 1982, member of the
Gujarat Samaj (Gujarat Association)
14 Feb. 2000 Male, born in Hong Kong in 1968, member
of the Indian Resources Group
15 Feb. 2000 Male, resident since the 1980s, member of the
Non-Resident Association of HK Ltd.
16 Feb. 2000 Male, resident since 1999, member of the
Khalsa Divan (Sikh temple)
03 May 2000 Male, resident since the 1970s, member of the
Yau Tsim Mong District Council
05 May 2000 Male, resident since 1968, founder of the
former weekly Indian Variety radio programme on RTHK
08 May 2000 Male, resident since the 1930s, member of the
Council of Hong Kong Indian Associations
12 May 2000 Male, resident since 1992, member of the
Hindu Temple in Happy Valley
17 May 2000 Male, resident since the late 1950s, member
of the Council of Hong Kong Indian Associations
24 May 2000 Male, resident since 1990, member of the Jain
temple (Shree Hong Kong Jain Sangh)
Council of Hong Kong Indian Associations
26 May 2000 Male, born in Hong Kong in 1934, member
of the Council of Hong Kong Indian Associations
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Interview 14
Interview 15
Interview 16
Interview 17
Interview 18
Interview 19
Interview 20
Interview 21
Interview 22
Interview 23
Interview 24
Interview 25
Interview 26
Interview 27
Interview 28
Interview 29
Interview 30
Interview 31
Interview 32
Interview 33
Interview 34
Interview 35
Interview 36
30 May 2000 Male, resident of unknown duration, member

of the Indian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong
Indian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong
01 June 2000 Male, resident since 1987, member of the Jain
Centre
02 June 2000 Female, resident since 1982, member of the
Jain Centre and the Jain temple
08 June 2000 Male, resident since 1949, member of the
Incorporated Trustees of the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of
Hongkong, Canton and Macao
26 June 2000 Female, resident since 1969, member of the
Sikh Association
28 June 2000 Female, resident of unknown duration,
member of the Hong Kong Indian Womens Club
09 Oct. 2000 Same person as in interview 3
27 Oct. 2000 Same person as in interview 3
08 Dec. 2000 Male, resident of unknown duration, former
aide-de-camp to the last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten
13 May 2001 Female, resident since 1926, member of the
Parsi association in Hong Kong
13 May 2001 Female, resident since 1932, affiliated with
Hong Kong Parsi
16 May 2001 Female, born in Hong Kong in 1972, member
of HARD (Hong Kong Against Race Discrimination)
17 May 2001 Female, resident since 1965, member of the
Parsee association in Hong Kong
23 May 2001 Same person as in interview 25
28 May 2001 Male non-Indian advisor to the last Governor
of Hong Kong, Christopher Patten
12 June 2001 Same person as in interview 24
15 April 2002 Male, resident since 1983, member of the
Khalsa Divan
15 April 2002 Male, resident of unknown duration, member
of the Khalsa Divan
31 May 2004 Male, resident since 1957, Jain diamond
trader
04 June 2004 Male, resident since 1987, Jain diamond
trader and committee member of the Jain temple
04 June 2004 Male, resident since 1991, Jain diamond
trader and committee member of the Jain temple
10 June 2004 Same person as in interview 34
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Notes
A grant from the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust in Hong Kong contributed to the
research on which this article is based. An earlier version of this article was
presented at the Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Sociological Association,
Brisbane, 47 July 2002, and the World Congress of the International Sociological
Association, Brisbane, 713 July 2002. Thanks to the anonymous reviewers of
International Sociology for their helpful suggestions and comments, as well as to
the individuals who made time and resources available to this research.
1. I have used Bourdieus understanding of cultural capital in an article on transnational identities of Indians in Hong Kong (Plss, 2000: 2).
2. This article refers to Indians as being individuals of Indian ethnic origins, independent of their nationality. It includes Parsis, since they settled in India in
the eighth century (Fernandez, n.d.: 3).
3. Bourdieu (1986) distinguishes between economic, social and cultural capital.
These three forms of capital are closely interrelated and under certain
conditions convertible into each other. Economic capital is the access to purely
material resources and is directly convertible into money. Social capital has
more non-material characteristics. It consists of opportunities, as well as
constraints and obligations, determining the interaction with other members
in networks to access potential resources. The main characteristics of cultural
capital are outlined in the text.
4. Thanks to Chan Kwok Bun for suggesting the distinction between expressive
and instrumental identities (Kiong and Chan, 2001: 13). A similar conceptualization of essential identities has been formulated by Chan (2002: 193).
5. See Appendix.
6. These were a district councillor for the Yau Tsim Mong constituency, in which
the largest number of Indians work and/or live; an aide-de-camp to the last
Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten; a member of HARD, an anti-race
discrimination association, and a non-Indian advisor to the last Governor of
Hong Kong, Christopher Patten.
7. Interview 27.
8. Interviews 18 and 20.
9. Interview 24.
10. CO 129/12: 288. Letter of 10 July 1845 from a Mr Davis, who held an unknown
position in the colonial administration of Hong Kong, to an unidentified
recipient.
11. CO 129/92: 311. Letter of 18 June 1863 from a Mr Mercer of the colonial
administration to the Duke of Newcastle.
12. Interview 18. The interviewee explained that forefathers of the Shroff families
in Hong Kong were village bankers in India. It is possible that the name Shroff
is derived from the Hindi word saraf, meaning a trader and money lender
(interview 33).
13. Interview 28.
14. Interview 30.
15. Interview 23.
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16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
Interview 30.
Interview 18.
Interview 20.
Interview 30.
Interview 20.
Interview 25.
Interview 24.
Interview 20.
Interview 21.
Interviews 18 and 27.
Interview 28.
Interview 25.
Interview 30.
Examples of newspaper accounts on the question of nationality are: Hong
Kongs Forgotten Few Look to Future in Full Hope, South China Morning Post,
16 December 1996: 10; and 90 in Passport Limbo, South China Morning Post,
16 February 1997: 2.
Interview 27.
Interviews 1, 8 and 10.
Interview 28.
Interview 11.
Interview 33.
Interview 33.
Interview 33.
Interview 35.
Interview 34.
Interview 11.
Interview 2.
Interview 34.
Interview 33.
Interview 33.
Interview 11.
Interview 35. While an interviewee was very willing to explain the Jains
religious characteristics and their life in Hong Kong, he was hesitant to
volunteer information about the organization of the diamond trade among
relatives and co-religionists both in Hong Kong and in India (Interview 11).
Interview 33.
Interview 34.
Interview 33.
Interview 33.
Interview 34.
Interview 35.
Interview 33.
Interview 35.
Interview 34.
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57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
Interview 33.
Interview 11.
Interview 17.
Interview 17.
Interview 11.
Interview 34.
Interview 17.
CO 129/127: 580. Memorandum of 26 December 1866 by Major G. Hutchinson, Inspector General of Police, Punjab.
CO 129/127: 583. Letter of 7 January 1867 from E. C. Bayley, Secretary to the
Government of India, to the Colonial Secretary, Hong Kong.
CO 129/131: 633. Letter of 28 October 1867 from C. Smith, Acting Colonial
Secretary Hong Kong, to E. C. Bayley, Secretary to the Government of India.
They consisted of 206 constables, six officers, eight attendants and two interpreters; CO 129/131: 354. Letter of 21 July 1868 from Governor Sir Richard
Graves MacDonnel to the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, Her Majestys
Principal Secretary of State.
CO 129/23: 77. Letter of 12 January 1848 from the Colonial Secretary [signature
illegible] to C. B. Hillier, Chief Magistrate.
The emphasis that Sikhs were a warrior class [caste] to protect India from
Muslim invaders (Interview 19) was a recurrent theme in interviews (i.e. Interviews 5, 19, 32) and still features prominently in websites on Sikhism (i.e.
www. Sikhs.org/).
CO 129/134: 633. Letter of 28 October 1867 from C. Smith, Acting Colonial
Secretary in Hong Kong, to E. C. Bayley, Secretary to the Government of India.
In 1902, 189 Sikhs and 173 Muslims served in the police force. CO 129/313:
429. Letter of 9 December 1902 from Henry A. Blake, Governor of Hong Kong,
to the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
CO 129/423: 496. Letter of 13 August 1915 from illegible signatory from the
Government House in Hong Kong to A. Bonar Law, Secretary of State for the
Colonies.
CO 129/314: 404. Letter of 8 September 1902 by Francis Bertie from the Foreign
Office to the Under Secretary of State, Colonial Office.
CO 129/346: 2201. Letter of 11 February 1908 from Sir Frederick Lugard,
Governor of Hong Kong, to the Earl of Elgin.
Personal observations of disputes between Chinese and Sikh residents in
Hong Kong, including a dispute over parking space and standing arrangements in a bus.
Thanks to Tracy Sokolowsky for providing this example. More information
on his case was found at (admiralty.pacific.net.hk/~ymkhan/index.htm).
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Westwood, S. (2000) Diamonds are Forever: Ethnicity, Economy and the Indian
Diamond Trade, in S. Westwood and A. Phizacklea (eds) Transnationalism and
the Politics of Belonging, pp. 7094. London and New York: Routledge.
White, B. S. (1995) Turbans and Traders: Hong Kongs Indian Communities. Hong
Kong: Oxford University Press.
Writer, R. (1994) Contemporary Zoroastrians: An Unstructured Nation. Lanham, MD:
University Press of America.
Young, R. J. C. (1995) Hybridity and Diaspora, in Colonial Desire: Hybridity, Theory,
Culture and Race, pp. 128. London: Routledge.
Biographical Note: Caroline Plss is currently an adjunct assistant professor in

the Department of History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she
is teaching and researching on ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, sociological
theory and methodology. Her interests are in identity, transnationalism,
globalization, ethnicity, race and religion. She recently published Hong Kong
Muslim Organisations: Creating and Expressing Collective Identities (A Carnival
of Gods: Studies of Religions in Hong Kong; Oxford University Press, 2002),
Assimilation or Asserting Tradition? Strategic Constructions of Sephardic Identities (Jewish Culture and History, 2002), and is working on an article analysing
the reterritorialization of Muslim identities in Hong Kong.
Address: Department of History, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin
NT, Hong Kong SAR. [email: isncbp38@netvigator.com]
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05 Plss R (bc-t)

Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

Plss Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

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International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

High EssentialHigh Relational Identities:

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

Plss Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

Plss Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

High EssentialMedium Relational Identities:

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

Plss Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

High EssentialLow Relational Identities:

Family networks within and between diamond firms, as well as the

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

Plss Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

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International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

Plss Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

Medium EssentialMedium Relational Identities:

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

Plss Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

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International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

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Plss Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

02 Feb. 2000 Male, Hong Kong resident since 1971, member

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International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

30 May 2000 Male, resident of unknown duration, member

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

Plss Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

Plss Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

Plss Constructing Globalized Ethnicity

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

International Sociology Vol. 20 No. 2

Biographical Note: Caroline Plss is currently an adjunct assistant professor in

Downloaded from iss.sagepub.com at Regents University London on February 9, 2015

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