The Social and Self-Identities of Fijian Indians in Vancouver.

Abstract

A sustained anthropological interest in ethnic relations has developed during the past decade. Despite this, analysis of the mechanisms that generate, support, and modify ethnic identities have received little attention. Neither has there been much concern expressed for how ethnic identities articulate with each other. It is suggested that in order for an actor to perform in a given situation he must minimally understand three socially defined ethnic identities: his group's self-identity, his understanding of his group's social identity in the eyes of others, and his conception of the self-identity of those with whom he interacts. These social identities are not arbitrary, for they must be reconciled with ideas of self and world and with supporting information received from social interaction. Fijian Indian immigrants in Vancouver, British Columbia, are shown to build their understanding of their social worth in this fashion, producing an explanation for why they are subject to prejudice when they believe both themselves and other Canadians to be good and ethical people. Anthropological and sociological approaches to ethnicity have traditionally tended to focus almost exclusively on three basic areas: intergroup structural relationships of power and privilege, the internal sociocultural organization of ethnic minorities, and the description of ethnic stereotypes. Only in the last 10 years has there arisen a sustained interest in interactional ethnic relations and the range of phenomena and processes that are to be found at the interface between groups. Following the early lead of Goffman (1959, 1963, 1967), Fredrik Barth's seminal introduction to Ethnic Groups and Boundaries (1969:9-39) can be credited with almost single-handedly initiating this new anthropological orientation toward ethnic relations.1 Barth and others (Braroe 1975:12-37; Eidheim 1969; Berreman 1 975) have convincingly argued that more traditional approaches have been inadequate to explain the maintenance of ethnicity despite the constant transfer of ideas, people, and things across ethnic

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