R Saini
Biographic Data
| ID | 43760 |
|---|---|
| NAME | R Saini |
| GIVEN NAMES | R |
| FAMILY NAME | Saini |
| SIGNATURE | SAINI R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Middlesex University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2115-1206 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 8 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 76 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 8 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Skinfolk, but Not Kinfolk? Paradoxical Representation Among Ethnic Minority Conservative Political Elites in the UK
As the number of ethnic minority politicians increase across countries like the United Kingdom and the United States, so too have instances in which these officeholders act against the communities they descriptively represent. In this contribution, we introduce the concept of paradoxical representation which we argue functions through neoliberal, post-racial scripts of color-blindness and meritocracy. Similar to research on gender representation …
The 2022 Conservative leadership campaign and post-racial gatekeeping
The UK Conservative Party leadership contest that took place in the summer of 2022 was unprecedented for, among other things, its level of ethnic diversity. This article argues that this does not indicate a sharp, contemporary liberal turn within the party. It argues the opposite, in fact, that recent senior ethnic minority cabinet members and leadership contenders represent some of the party’s most rightwing ideologues in years. Through critical…
The Racialised ‘Second Existence’ of Class: Class Identification and (De-/Re-)construction across the British South Asian Middle Classes
This article maps typologies of class identity for the UK-born South Asian middle classes. Using thematic analysis of interviews with 20 British South Asian professionals, it identifies culturally and socially situated forms of class (dis-)identification. It finds that ‘middle-class’ identity is not uncritically adopted or internalised by socially mobile British South Asians who, on the bases of objective socioeconomic markers, may be classified …
The racialisation of class and the racialisation of the nation: Ethnic minority identity formation across the british south asian middle classes
This paper considers negotiations of social identity across British-born Bangladeshis, Indians and Pakistani professionals who experience racial / ethno-religious marginality alongside relative socioeconomic privilege. Drawing on 20 semi-structured interviews, it finds that beneath the generalised salience of British identity to their sense of self, the racialised limits of national belonging are implicit in discussions of social identity. The wa…
(Pseudo)intellectualism and democratic (il)liberalism: On Aurelien Mondon and Aaron Winter’s “Reactionary democracy”
In “Reactionary Democracy”, Aurelien Mondon and Aaron Winter frame modern liberal democracy as fundamentally exclusionary. Appeals to liberal democratic principles that both institutionalize and normalize political inequality have not only allowed but actively facilitated the rise of the “alt-” and far-right. In the book, the authors expound the “fuzzy” demarcation between “illiberal” and “liberal” racism, the latter encompassing not only an adhe…
Demarcation and Definition: Explicating the Meaning and Scope of ‘Decolonisation’ in the Social and Political Sciences
Decolonisation of the curriculum is a burgeoning yet controversial project of radical change, gaining slow but steady traction in higher education politics departments across the country. This article pins down what decolonisation is and is not, highlighting the barriers and tentative opportunities to effective decolonisation work. This is discussed in the context of the structural constraints that critical scholars of race—particularly those at …
Decolonising the Curriculum
Social science courses are increasingly coming under fire for the over-representation of white male authors and theorists. Campaigns such as ‘Why Is My Curriculum White?’ call into question the ‘Dead White Men’ approach to teaching political theory, where few female and theorists of colour are included on reading lists. The ways in which knowledge is produced, propagated and perpetuated through White, Western perspectives also spawned the related…
Rationalising Racial Inequality: Ideology, Hegemony and Post-Racialism among the Black and South Asian Middle-Classes
Drawing upon 38 qualitative interviews with Black and South Asian middle-class individuals we theorise post-racialism as a hegemonic ideology. While research tends to focus on how racialised people experience racial inequality, some of our participants rationalised such inequality through a post-racial understanding. This post-racial understanding involves commitments to racial progress and transcendence, the view that racism is no longer a socie…
Decolonising the Curriculum
Social science courses are increasingly coming under fire for the over-representation of white male authors and theorists. Campaigns such as ‘Why Is My Curriculum White?’ call into question the ‘Dead White Men’ approach to teaching political theory, where few female and theorists of colour are included on reading lists. The ways in which knowledge is produced, propagated and perpetuated through White, Western perspectives also spawned the related…
Demarcation and Definition: Explicating the Meaning and Scope of ‘Decolonisation’ in the Social and Political Sciences
Decolonisation of the curriculum is a burgeoning yet controversial project of radical change, gaining slow but steady traction in higher education politics departments across the country. This article pins down what decolonisation is and is not, highlighting the barriers and tentative opportunities to effective decolonisation work. This is discussed in the context of the structural constraints that critical scholars of race—particularly those at …
Rationalising Racial Inequality: Ideology, Hegemony and Post-Racialism among the Black and South Asian Middle-Classes
Drawing upon 38 qualitative interviews with Black and South Asian middle-class individuals we theorise post-racialism as a hegemonic ideology. While research tends to focus on how racialised people experience racial inequality, some of our participants rationalised such inequality through a post-racial understanding. This post-racial understanding involves commitments to racial progress and transcendence, the view that racism is no longer a socie…
Skinfolk, but Not Kinfolk? Paradoxical Representation Among Ethnic Minority Conservative Political Elites in the UK
As the number of ethnic minority politicians increase across countries like the United Kingdom and the United States, so too have instances in which these officeholders act against the communities they descriptively represent. In this contribution, we introduce the concept of paradoxical representation which we argue functions through neoliberal, post-racial scripts of color-blindness and meritocracy. Similar to research on gender representation …
Rationalising Racial Inequality: Ideology, Hegemony and Post-Racialism among the Black and South Asian Middle-Classes
Drawing upon 38 qualitative interviews with Black and South Asian middle-class individuals we theorise post-racialism as a hegemonic ideology. While research tends to focus on how racialised people experience racial inequality, some of our participants rationalised such inequality through a post-racial understanding. This post-racial understanding involves commitments to racial progress and transcendence, the view that racism is no longer a socie…
Decolonising the Curriculum
Social science courses are increasingly coming under fire for the over-representation of white male authors and theorists. Campaigns such as ‘Why Is My Curriculum White?’ call into question the ‘Dead White Men’ approach to teaching political theory, where few female and theorists of colour are included on reading lists. The ways in which knowledge is produced, propagated and perpetuated through White, Western perspectives also spawned the related…
Demarcation and Definition: Explicating the Meaning and Scope of ‘Decolonisation’ in the Social and Political Sciences
Decolonisation of the curriculum is a burgeoning yet controversial project of radical change, gaining slow but steady traction in higher education politics departments across the country. This article pins down what decolonisation is and is not, highlighting the barriers and tentative opportunities to effective decolonisation work. This is discussed in the context of the structural constraints that critical scholars of race—particularly those at …
(Pseudo)intellectualism and democratic (il)liberalism: On Aurelien Mondon and Aaron Winter’s “Reactionary democracy”
In “Reactionary Democracy”, Aurelien Mondon and Aaron Winter frame modern liberal democracy as fundamentally exclusionary. Appeals to liberal democratic principles that both institutionalize and normalize political inequality have not only allowed but actively facilitated the rise of the “alt-” and far-right. In the book, the authors expound the “fuzzy” demarcation between “illiberal” and “liberal” racism, the latter encompassing not only an adhe…
The racialisation of class and the racialisation of the nation: Ethnic minority identity formation across the british south asian middle classes
This paper considers negotiations of social identity across British-born Bangladeshis, Indians and Pakistani professionals who experience racial / ethno-religious marginality alongside relative socioeconomic privilege. Drawing on 20 semi-structured interviews, it finds that beneath the generalised salience of British identity to their sense of self, the racialised limits of national belonging are implicit in discussions of social identity. The wa…
The 2022 Conservative leadership campaign and post-racial gatekeeping
The UK Conservative Party leadership contest that took place in the summer of 2022 was unprecedented for, among other things, its level of ethnic diversity. This article argues that this does not indicate a sharp, contemporary liberal turn within the party. It argues the opposite, in fact, that recent senior ethnic minority cabinet members and leadership contenders represent some of the party’s most rightwing ideologues in years. Through critical…
The Racialised ‘Second Existence’ of Class: Class Identification and (De-/Re-)construction across the British South Asian Middle Classes
This article maps typologies of class identity for the UK-born South Asian middle classes. Using thematic analysis of interviews with 20 British South Asian professionals, it identifies culturally and socially situated forms of class (dis-)identification. It finds that ‘middle-class’ identity is not uncritically adopted or internalised by socially mobile British South Asians who, on the bases of objective socioeconomic markers, may be classified …
Skinfolk, but Not Kinfolk? Paradoxical Representation Among Ethnic Minority Conservative Political Elites in the UK
As the number of ethnic minority politicians increase across countries like the United Kingdom and the United States, so too have instances in which these officeholders act against the communities they descriptively represent. In this contribution, we introduce the concept of paradoxical representation which we argue functions through neoliberal, post-racial scripts of color-blindness and meritocracy. Similar to research on gender representation …
Political science (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Gender Studies (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Politics (6 works) · Ethnic group (4 works) · Hegemony (3 works) · Migration, Refugees, and Integration (3 works) · Political economy (3 works) · Social science (3 works)