An Intersectional Exploration of Ethnic Identity, Class, and Inequality in a Multiethnic Context

Abstract

In this article, we examine ethnicity, class/status, (ethnic) identity, and inequality from an intersectional perspective in two organizations in a multi-ethnic developing country. Inequalities and bounded/literal identity categories - such as gender, race/ethnicity, and class/status – and their interlinkages have been widely studied in organizations in the global North. However, how intersecting bounded and symbolic identity categories may (re)produce and legitimise inequalities in organizations in the global South, specifically in multi-ethnic contexts, remain under-researched. From analyzing vignette and interview data through an intersectionalist lens, we introduce a construct, symbolic identity differentiation, and advance two key findings. The suggests that how individuals construct identities in ethnoculturally diverse contexts, ad in effect the ethnocultural landscape, is changing. The second posits that managing diversity and inclusion in organizations in the global South is contingent on how individuals make meaning of inequalities through perceptions of status, and how they experience their identities, symbolically, as well as literally in these settings.