Diasporic Insecurity as Constructional Framework for Chinese Political Identity in Colonial Malaya (1826-1957)

Authors

Azlan Tajuddin Ph.D., La Roche College, Pittsburgh, PA, USAFollow

Abstract

The ethnic Chinese in Malaysia have always been a politically conscious minority. Much of this was shaped during Malaysia’s (Malaya) colonial period when the Chinese community began experiencing various social insecurities associated with life as a diaspora. For one, as a migrant minority in a colonial society, the Chinese faced various uncertainties over their ability to maintain their cultural identity in a multiethnic capitalist society. Additionally, their own contradictory ideas about their status in Malaya as well as their segmented experiences along socio-economic lines did not accord them any unity in deciding their own political future. Using theories in political identity-building among minorities, this essay provides a historical overview of how these insecurities have constructed for the Chinese diaspora a general framework for political identity-building in colonial Malaya. It shows that although the Chinese in colonial Malaya shared a common diasporic origin, they were nevertheless differentiated in their social outlooks and political activism.

Recommended Citation

Tajuddin, Azlan Ph.D. (2018) "Diasporic Insecurity as Constructional Framework for Chinese Political Identity in Colonial Malaya (1826-1957)," Journal of International and Global Studies: Vol. 10: No. 1, Article 3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62608/2158-0669.1435
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/jigs/vol10/iss1/3

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