Performing ethnicity: performance, gender, body and belief in the construction and signalling of identity

Abstract

It is widely accepted that the notions of ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ are socially constructed: they refer in other words to culturally shaped conceptions of identity that may or may not have any specific relationship to underlying genetic or visible phenotypical characteristics of the individuals or groups in question. While this has allowed manifestations of racism to be identified for what they are – malignant myths – an over-sociological conception of race and ethnicity can easily overlook other significant, and fluid, forms of identity formation and transformation. This editorial suggests some of these forms and posits ways in which they might inform thinking about race and ethnicity in fresh ways, especially drawing on recent advances in performance theory.