Contested identities : British-Pakistani women in Luton

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with investigating the lives of British-Pakistani women and their agency in constructing and reconstructing their identities. Previous constructions of British-Pakistani women's character have deemed these women 'passive', hence my concerns have been to examine their passivity/agency in relation to identity construction processes. Identities were conceptualised using Avtar Brah's notion of identities, as difference, situational and subjective, in order to understand the nature of identities in relation to British-Pakistani women and to present the women's specificity.

Previous studies ignored British-Pakistani women's agency in their communities, which has meant an absence of literature within the social sciences relating to their experiences in contemporary Britain. The aim of this study was to redress this balance and place these women and their concerns onto the research agenda and to retheorise our understandings of the women, but also the community in which they live.

Research comprising observations, in-depth interviews, was conducted in Luton. Analyses of fieldwork data were interrogated with theory derived from literature by Black and South Asian feminists with biographical insights used to develop a specific approach which allows women a voice to speak of their experiences in order to understand British-Pakistani women's specificity and agency in (re)creating their own and future generations' identities.

The relationship between British-Pakistani women's identity creation and the empirical chapters, 'Community: Site for Negotiating and Renegotiating Identities', 'Negotiated gender relations within family contexts', 'Intergenerational Relations: Contested Identities' was discussed. What emerged was that identities of British-Pakistani women are multidimensional and dynamic, and that women's agency in producing and reproducing these was of importance. British-Pakistani women are the bearers and upholders of traditions, but they are also modifying, changing and challenging elements of their traditions to appropriate these in a contemporary context. This demonstrated that they have fluid identities and use them to negotiate various aspects of their lives in order to maximise control over their lives. The study illuminates the contested nature of identities in this community, implying identity creation is an ongoing process, due to the multifaceted nature of the individuals' identities.

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