Date of Award

5-2005

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Program

Sociology

Department

Sociology

Major Professor

Mann, Susan

Second Advisor

Jenkins, Pamela

Third Advisor

Baxter, Vern

Abstract

This study uses a postcolonial perspective to examine the construction of cultural identities in second generation South Asian women. It critiques traditional strategies of immigrant incorporation, including assimilation and cultural pluralism, for their androcentric and essentialist tendencies. It was found that the women constructed a cultural hybrid identity, and using Homi Bhabha's notion of third space, I discuss the process of how this hybrid identity is constructed. A phenomenological approach, in which the subjective voices of the participants are privileged, was used to analyze nine interviews for themes relating to the construction of a hybrid identity.

Rights

The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.

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