Exploring a Public Pedagogy of Pride: Chinese Communities in Richmond, Canada

• In Event: 14.044 - Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: 14.044-26 - Parents and Community in Urban Settings

Abstract

Pride is empowerment. Speaking of Chinese pride makes strong claims on Chinese Canadian rights after a long history of struggles for recognition, but it also becomes highly susceptible to new racial tensions, specifically in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond, where ethnic minority Chinese have become the majority. This qualitative study uses affect theory to examine the politics of pride operating in public pedagogical space, through an analysis of Richmond government documents, media texts, as well as life history interviews with ten Chinese community activists. Analyzing the alliances mobilized through Chinese pride and the sophisticated power relations therein, this study hopes to bring the discourse of pride into contemporary politics of democratic participation and community engagement, especially for historically marginalized groups.

Author

• Yao Xiao, The University of British Columbia