Interrogating Racecraft: A Critical Analysis of the 'Model Minority' and Sikh Subjectivity in Canada
Date
2024
Authors
Aujla, Saiyah
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Publisher
University of Victoria
Abstract
This project contributes to the scant scholarship on race within Canadian political science, specifically by unpacking the politicization of a minority identity in the context of State-led racecraft. Using auto-ethnographic and critical discourse analysis methods, this study analyzes three prominent Sikh figures in federal Canadian politics as case subjects to interrogate how the ‘model minority’ paradigm is applied to Sikhs in Canada. Looking at social media statements, party statements, Hansard Transcripts and other language attached to each figure, this study builds a comprehensive analysis of the ‘model minority’ paradigm as operating through 3 conjunctive registers. The study concludes that structures of multiculturalism, securitization, and capitalism prescribe a Sikh identity and politics that legitimizes Canadian sovereignty and white supremacy, fosters investments in racial hierarchies, and limits radical solidarities between Sikhs and other marginalized communities. This project also attempts to reinscribe a version of Sikh politics that is more strongly grounded in Sikh history and authentic religious praxis.
Description
Keywords
Sikh, identity, race, Canadian politics, model minority