The Chinese in Britain, 1800-Present: Economy, Transnationalism, Identity

This study points up the complex and intricate interplay of ethnic and national identities in the lives of Chinese in Britain. A constant thread across two hundred years of Chinese presence has been the vigour of British national identity among migrants' descendants. This study argues that transnational studies reinforce essentialist conceptions of identity and of cultural authenticity in diasporic communities, and thus frustrate the promotion of ethnic co-existence and social cohesion in multi-ethnic societies.