{"id":26378,"date":"2012-11-08T22:27:48","date_gmt":"2012-11-08T22:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mixedracestudies.org\/wordpress\/?p=26378"},"modified":"2015-07-25T03:03:34","modified_gmt":"2015-07-25T03:03:34","slug":"is-race-a-%e2%80%98salient%e2%80%a6%e2%80%99-or-%e2%80%98dominant-identity%e2%80%99-in-the-early-21st-century-the-evidence-of-uk-survey-data-on-respondents%e2%80%99-sense-of-who-they-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mixedracestudies.org\/wp\/?p=26378","title":{"rendered":"Is race a \u2018salient\u2026\u2019 or \u2018dominant identity\u2019 in the early 21st century: The evidence of UK survey data on respondents\u2019 sense of who they are"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is race a \u2018salient\u2026\u2019 or \u2018dominant identity\u2019 in the early 21st century: The evidence of UK survey data on respondents\u2019 sense of who they are<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Social Science Research<\/a>
\nAvailable online 2012-11-07
\nDOI: 10.1016\/j.ssresearch.2012.10.007<\/a><\/p>\n

Peter J. Aspinall<\/strong><\/a>, Emeritus Reader in Population Health
\nCentre for Health Services Studies
\nUniversity of Kent<\/em><\/p>\n

Miri Song<\/a><\/strong>, Professor of Sociology
\nUniversity of Kent<\/em><\/p>\n

The term \u2018master status\u2019, coined by Everett Hughes<\/a> in 1945 with special reference to race, was conceptualised as one which, in most social situations, will dominate all others. Since then race and other collective social identities have become key features of people\u2019s lives, shaping their \u2018life scripts\u2019. But is race still a \u2018master\u2019 or \u2018dominant identity\u2019 and, if not, what has replaced it? Analyses of recent social surveys show that race has lost its position to family, religion (in the South Asian and Black groups) and (amongst young mixed race people) also age\/life-stage and study\/work. However, many of these different identity attributes are consistently selected, suggesting the possibility \u2013 confirmed in in-depth interviews – that they may work through each other via intersectionality. In Britain race appears to have been undermined by the rise of \u2018Muslim\u2019 identity, the increasing importance of \u2018mixed race\u2019, and the fragmentation of identity now increasingly interwoven with other attributes like religion.<\/p>\n

Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n