Speaker
Description
To what extent do social identities impact the physical activity participation of ethnic minorities? Which social processes prevail and influence self-consciousness and eventually form human behaviour? With the increasing trend of migration and ever-changing dynamics in society, health and physical activity inequalities remain a socially relevant challenge for migrants and marginalised communities. As ‘the most unknown’ ethnic minority in the UK, this ethnographic research investigates the social processes that impact the physical activity behaviour of British Chinese communities. At a cursory glance, the Chinese communities in the UK seem to share a homogenous identity, the ethnicity, but a closer look reveals diverse differences in culture, generations, language and so forth. Thus, the research takes a figurational approach and is particularly guided by the theory of established-outsider. As a community largely consisting of immigrants and descendants, there remains an overlapping identity for the British Chinese, who simultaneously play the role of the established and the outsider due to their interdependent network within the society. The ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a Chinese community centre in Birmingham, UK, has revealed preliminary findings that the we-image of the Chinese themselves create ‘group disgrace’ that affect the self-identity and prevent them from engaging in physical activity with the established British society. The findings of this research contributes to the policy-making and well-being of ethnic minorities in general.
