Applying Grounded Theory to Understand Asian Women’s Motivations to Donate Healthy Breast Tissue

Background: The Komen Tissue Bank (KTB) is a clinical trial and the only global biorepository that collects and stores healthy breast tissue to be used as controls in breast cancer (BC) research. Due to a variety of barriers, there is a lack of participation by racial and ethnic minority women in tissue donation. In order to increase this participation, it is necessary to understand why or why not these populations choose to participate in clinical trials such as the KTB. This study used grounded theory methodology to explore the motivations behind Asian women’s decisions to donate their breast tissue. Methods: Guided by grounded theory, we conducted interviews with previous breast tissue donors who self-identified as Asian (n=20). We then transcribed and coded the interviews to discover common attitudes and motivations for participating in breast tissue donation. Findings: Preliminary findings were obtained from 11 interviews. We identified three common themes that influenced these women’s donations: altruistic behavior, comfort with science, and Asian identity. Identified sub-themes include factors such as personal ties to BC and background in research and clinical trials. It is of note that over half of the women expressed Asian identity and comfort with science as important factors, and all mentioned altruistic tendencies, either towards family or towards research and others. Conclusion and Future Work: We identified common factors for donating healthy breast tissue from using grounded theory to interview previous donors of Asian descent. We will transcribe and code 9 more interviews, as well as use those interviews to confirm theoretical saturation. The findings from this study will be used in the future to inform a framework for developing recruitment strategies to increase overall participation of historically excluded individuals in the KTB. Future work will include exploring the motivations of Latinas regarding donating their healthy breast tissue.

"Thank you, your English is very good also": Asian Panethnicity and its Performance in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand

<p>Existing studies suggest that Asian panethnicity is the political mobilisation of diverse groups of people under a new name, to oppose racism and discrimination. Asian panethnicity is shaped by social forces, including those that exclude. As such, it is inherently political. However, it is limiting to think of it only as a kind of intentional, collective action bent towards achieving a predetermined group goal. This thesis expands this understanding of panethnicity, by considering how “Asiannness” is experienced on an intersubjective level and asks what “Asian” means to and for the Asian individual. Lingering Orientalism perpetuates a sense of Asian people as not quite belonging in the West. Though by now cliché, this narrative of non-belonging continues to determine ideas of Asianness and set the parameters of appropriate Asian behaviour. But, this non-belonging is also the site in and from which Asian actors make their own meanings and seek their own kind of situated belonging. This thesis takes an autoethnographic and ethnographic approach to field sites in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to observe some of the ways Asian identity is formed. It is inevitable that transnational processes contribute to this identity work, but these global processes are also subsumed by localised structures and contexts. Drawing from participant observation with social and community groups, and interviews with creative artists, writers, administrators, community workers and activists addressing the question of what it means to be Asian, I argue that Asian panethnicity is constituted by “doing”. It is made up of different acts, repeated over time, and in different settings. As a product of relationships between externally imposed, in group enforced, and self-made conceptions of “Asianness”, Asian panethnicity is both performative and performed. This thesis presents scenarios in which these performances and presentations of the Asian self take place. In considering some of the possible contexts and conventions that give rise to the performative act/s of being Asian, I argue that being Asian is a creative, collaborative, ongoing endeavour. It is a means by which to accomplish belonging in the world.</p>

"Thank you, your English is very good also": Asian Panethnicity and its Performance in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand

<p>Existing studies suggest that Asian panethnicity is the political mobilisation of diverse groups of people under a new name, to oppose racism and discrimination. Asian panethnicity is shaped by social forces, including those that exclude. As such, it is inherently political. However, it is limiting to think of it only as a kind of intentional, collective action bent towards achieving a predetermined group goal. This thesis expands this understanding of panethnicity, by considering how “Asiannness” is experienced on an intersubjective level and asks what “Asian” means to and for the Asian individual. Lingering Orientalism perpetuates a sense of Asian people as not quite belonging in the West. Though by now cliché, this narrative of non-belonging continues to determine ideas of Asianness and set the parameters of appropriate Asian behaviour. But, this non-belonging is also the site in and from which Asian actors make their own meanings and seek their own kind of situated belonging. This thesis takes an autoethnographic and ethnographic approach to field sites in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to observe some of the ways Asian identity is formed. It is inevitable that transnational processes contribute to this identity work, but these global processes are also subsumed by localised structures and contexts. Drawing from participant observation with social and community groups, and interviews with creative artists, writers, administrators, community workers and activists addressing the question of what it means to be Asian, I argue that Asian panethnicity is constituted by “doing”. It is made up of different acts, repeated over time, and in different settings. As a product of relationships between externally imposed, in group enforced, and self-made conceptions of “Asianness”, Asian panethnicity is both performative and performed. This thesis presents scenarios in which these performances and presentations of the Asian self take place. In considering some of the possible contexts and conventions that give rise to the performative act/s of being Asian, I argue that being Asian is a creative, collaborative, ongoing endeavour. It is a means by which to accomplish belonging in the world.</p>

Becoming British East Asian and Southeast Asian: Anti-racism, Chineseness, and Political Love in the Cultural and Creative Industries

This article advances work on the ‘British Chinese’ by reconfiguring the boundaries of the field and expanding it beyond the cultural and linguistic transformations of an ‘ethnic community’. Instead, I examine new pan-Asian political formations and situate them within wider anti-racist organising in Britain. First, I examine the birth of ‘British East and Southeast Asianness’ as an emphatically political identity that contests racialised notions of ‘the Chinese’ as a passive model minority and repositions us as political agents of change. Second, I examine the crafting of a political community, in which a pan-Asian identity emerges as a contestation of the borders of ‘Chineseness’ and its policing, while maintaining a Chinese hegemony. Third, I identify distinct political repertoires of anti-racism within this ‘community’, a more radical and a more integrationist approach, which highlights the challenges of political mobilisation, and is shaped by a continued abject status. Finally, I examine the role of political love and care as a means of mobilisation, through which a radical politics of affirmation and refusal is crafted. In doing so, I re-envision the political horizons of the so-called ‘British Chinese’, while shedding light on the current complexities, transformations and solidarities of communities within and beyond Chineseness.

Introduction

In the twenty-first century, Asian American studies has turned increasingly toward diasporic and transnational frameworks, even as some scholars have raised concerns about the loss of an Asian American identity and politics grounded in cultural nationalism. Drawing in part on the work of Paul Gilroy, I propose a new theory of “Asian diaspora” in which “Asian” identity emerges from a dialectic of national and transnational forces. Since the 1970s, this category of Asian identification has circulated among the United States, Canada, and Australia, white settler colonies with histories of Asian immigration and exclusion. The work of Asian poets in these locations registers, in content and form, the history of diaspora that gives rise to Asian identity.

Conclusion

The conclusion will propose that the Asian American, Asian Canadian, and Asian Australian writers discussed represent different modes of an Asian diasporic poetics; linked by a shared history of exclusion and racialization, their poems express formally the intersection of national and transnational forces that give a political meaning to “Asian” identity. A brief discussion of the Facebook group subtle asian traits illustrates the way diasporic Asian cultures are emerging online. The group, founded by young Asian Australians and now including over a million members from around the world, explores the images, tropes, and languages that can be used to express diasporic “Asianness,” while facing continual reminders of the political nature of what is often seen as a purely cultural identity.

‘Transnational Identities of the Global South Asian Diaspora in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, and South Africa, 1900s-1940s’

This article addresses two key research questions: 1. Was the rhetoric about the equality of all British subjects adopted by South Asian migrants in the British Empire’s self-governing Dominions in the first half of the twentieth century? and 2. Did the experience of living in predominantly white countries encourage migrants from the Punjab and other regions in South Asia to adopt a common pan-South Asian identity? It explores these two research questions with each of the four countries of the focus of this article in turn, before making some comparisons.

Renaming Practices: An Autoethnography of South Asian Names, Identity, and Belonging

Names have been linked to various aspects of identity including ethnicity and language, and family. Studies have shown that the proper use of children’s names can reinforce and validate their identity. Research on renaming throughout Canadian history shows how these practices have the ability to dismantle and remove or alter identity. South Asians represent a large portion of Ontario’s population. However when their names do not conform to the dominant western culture, South Asians can be marginalized through racist microaggressions that contribute to their renaming. This paper is guided by critical race theory and Desi critical theory and explores the significance of my use of different names and why I chose and continue to choose these names. Using an autoethnographic approach I reflect on my name alteration experiences from my childhood and youth to explore how renaming practices can and do further marginalize minority children. Keywords: renaming practices; naming; South Asian; identity; belonging; childhood; autoethnography

"Too White": Model Minority counter-stories in Canadian institute of higher education

The Model Minority Myth (MMM) is a discursive trait of Asianness in the North American context. It defines East Asian identity as a hardworking and a resilient group despite experiencing discrimination. Marginality in a positive stereotype seems like an oxymoron, however when the MMM is the only representation of the Asian community, it robs individuality of Asians who are excluded from this representation. Historically, the monolithic representation of the Asian diaspora with the MMM was used as a hegemonic tool to oppress racialized groups, including other Asians to legitimize whiteness. In this MRP, narratives of three participants provided counter stories to erode monolithic stories of Asians. Furthermore, it provided the discursive space to have conversations about Asianness with the participants. Keywords : model minority, Asianness, race, gender, narrative approach, counter-story

"Too White": Model Minority counter-stories in Canadian institute of higher education

The Model Minority Myth (MMM) is a discursive trait of Asianness in the North American context. It defines East Asian identity as a hardworking and a resilient group despite experiencing discrimination. Marginality in a positive stereotype seems like an oxymoron, however when the MMM is the only representation of the Asian community, it robs individuality of Asians who are excluded from this representation. Historically, the monolithic representation of the Asian diaspora with the MMM was used as a hegemonic tool to oppress racialized groups, including other Asians to legitimize whiteness. In this MRP, narratives of three participants provided counter stories to erode monolithic stories of Asians. Furthermore, it provided the discursive space to have conversations about Asianness with the participants. Keywords : model minority, Asianness, race, gender, narrative approach, counter-story