South Asian women in Britain: Finding a voice, 40 years on

“If we remember our rich collective past, we will find ourselves stronger in the battles ahead” Gouri Sharma talks with journalist and activist Amrit Wilson, forty years after her influential feminist book Finding a Voice: Asian Women in Britain. Featured photo: Amrit Wilson speaking on behalf of Awaz at International Campaign for Abortion Rights rally, Trafalgar Square,… Read More

“The scout told me they don’t take on Asian players” – where are the South Asian footballers?

With South Asian players conspicuous by their absence at all levels of professional football, cultural reasons are often cited as a major factor. However, as Basit Mahmood reports, there are often barriers that have more to do with the prejudice of football’s gatekeepers Only 12 out of over 3,700 professional football players in England and… Read More

Too Asian, Not Asian Enough

by Kavita Bhanot First published in Asia Literary Review Over the last two decades, in part due to the success of a small number of novels, plays, films, music albums and television shows, the term ‘British Asian’ has emerged as an identity marker associated with the cultural practices of second-generation South Asian immigrants, born and/or… Read More

Part 2: Britain: A history of shopkeeping, empire and racial tensions

Space, smells and cosmopolitanism in the British Asian corner shop by Sita Balani In my last post I sketched out a history of the corner shop as a key and mundane site of English nation building, subverted and reconfigured by post-war migration and the movement of colonial others into the heart of this national institution.… Read More

Veiled out of discourse #AllWhitePage3

Racism and sexism, a double whammy for the Brown girl. by Amna Germanotta Riaz I have been following the #nomorepage3 campaign and am happy to see the progress made over the past few months. The campaigners quote The Independent on their About Us page: ‘THE PAGE 3 IMAGE IS THERE FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN… Read More