Identity and Culture: Narratives of Difference and Belonging (Weedon, 2004)

This book overviews belonging in the British context from the perspective of ethnic minorities, exploring identity and agency outside of the protection of whiteness in the post-colonial West. It focuses on differing conceptions of Britishness and belonging, and offers narratives outlining various tensions experienced by members of British minority communities. The book draws on the Althusserian (1971) process of identification by which individuals become ‘knowing subjects,’ or agents of ideological state apparatuses such as religion, education, family, media, law, and culture, while also being subject to them. It explores how identities are often internalized by repeated assumption of them, in daily life, and how identity production could be made more relative and tolerant.

Weedon, C. (2004). Identity and culture: Narratives of difference and belonging. Open University Press.