To “Brown It Up” or to “Bring Down the Brown”: Identity and Strategy in Second-Generation, South Asian-Canadian Youth

Abstract

ABSTRACT There is a growing body of research examining how ethnicity and race are implicated in identity development among ethno-racially diverse youth. The current study explored the complex and dynamic ways that racialized youth describe and use their identities in the various social environments that they participate in. Techniques informed by a grounded theory approach were used to understand the personal, social, and situated identities of 26 young South Asian-Canadian women and men (aged 18–25). Findings suggest that these youth were influenced both by a distinct ethnic/racial history and a personal history grounded in “Canadian” experiences. These identities are multi-dimensional, flexible constructs that are created and re-created as youth interact with others around them. Youth actively negotiate various aspects of their environments and draw on their “identity capital” to make deliberate, strategic choices about whether to “brown it up” or “bring down the brown” within different human interactions. This reflects youths' resiliency in dealing with the potentially oppressive situations that arise when living in ethnically/racially heterogeneous environments. The implications of these findings for social work theory, research, and practice are discussed.