Inclusion, Participation and the Emergence of British Chinese Websites

Abstract

A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.For more information, please contact eprints@nottingham.ac.uk In previous work we have drawn attention to the relative absence of British Chinese voices in public culture (Parker 1995;Song 1999). No one is more aware of this invisibility than British-born Chinese people themselves. Since 2000 the emergence of Internet discussion sites produced by British Chinese young people has provided an important forum for many British-born Chinese to grapple with questions concerning their identities, experiences, and status in Britain.In this paper we explore the ways in which Internet usage by British-born Chinese people has facilitated a) forms of self-expression and forms of collective identity production; and b) forms of social and political action.i This examination of British Chinese websites raises important questions about inclusion and exclusion, citizenship, participation and the development of a sense of belonging in Britain. These issues are usually overlooked in relation to a group which appears to be well integrated and successful in higher education.Unlike the South Asian and African Caribbean populations in Britain, whose cultural and political presence is undeniably felt in Britain, there are hardly any references to British Chinese people in mainstream cultural and political life. One reason for this is that the British Chinese are a numerically smaller group. Estimates of the Chinese population in Britain vary. According to the Office of National Statistics, the Chinese comprise 0.4% of the total population -about 247,000 (ONS 2005), of whom 38% are aged 16-34 (ONS 2002). The true figure is likely to be considerably higher, because many recent migrants from mainland China are undocumented and work in the Chinese informal economy. One Chinese organization, Min Quan, suggests that the total population is more likely to be around 400,000.The dominant image of Chinese people in Britain stems from their long-standing presence in most cities and neighbourhoods running restaurants and take-away businesses. New Chinese migrants have also recently received attention as vulnerable and exploited undocumented workers, in the aftermath of the 58 Chinese people suffocated in a truck in Dover in 2000 and the death of 23 Chinese cockle pickers at Morecambe Bay in 2004.While many Chinese people still run such ethnic catering businesses (especially new Chinese migrants to the UK), this image of the Chinese is increasingly dated, given the increasing diversification of the British Chinese population as a whole. Research suggests that many second generation British Chinese are now young adults, are highly regarded by their teachers (Francis and Archer 2005), and have entered into higher education and ...

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“…Nevertheless, the use of Internet platforms to express ethnic identity and build online communities, as do many second-generation groups (Brower 2006), is relatively limited among Albanians. While research shows websites to be a space for self-expression and cultivating a collective identity (on the Chinese second generation in Britain, see Parker and Song 2007), secondgeneration Albanians are far more passive and individual in this regard.…”

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