Abstract
Dominant state-led discourses on the topic of Asians in Canada celebrate the group’s socioeconomic successes. These discourses provide more often-occurring and visible representation to particular types of ethnic Asian groups and provide further credence to the idea that the state-led ideology of multiculturalism effectively manages types of social difference, such as race.
This chapter means to critique and prove false the idea of the pervasive and privileged Asian subject, in part constructed by the direct actions and indifference of the Canadian state. Through articulating interrelated discursive, historical, contemporary, and affective realities faced by Asians in Canada – it unequivocally evidences the need for antiracist research and activism for the group. It makes clear that while certain Asians may be elevated by the contemporary state, how racism structures all Asian lives in Canada provides no reason to celebrate. Action-oriented, transformative antiracist intellectual strategies are of crucial importance.
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Huynh, K. (2014). To Speak, Know, Live and Feel ‘Asian’: For an Anti-racist Approach on the Study of Asians in Canada. In: Dei, G.J.S., McDermott, M. (eds) Politics of Anti-Racism Education: In Search of Strategies for Transformative Learning. Explorations of Educational Purpose, vol 27. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7627-2_11
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