UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Racial Formation in the Post-September 11 Era: The Paradoxical Positioning of Working Class South Asian American Youth Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8p65v2n7 Author Hampapur, Veena Publication Date 2016 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Racial Formation in the Post-September 11 Era: The Paradoxical Positioning of Working Class South Asian American Youth A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology by Veena Hampapur 2016 © Copyright by Veena Hampapur 2016 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Racial Formation in the Post-September 11 Era: The Paradoxical Positioning of Working Class South Asian American Youth by Veena Hampapur Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology University of California, Los Angeles, 2016 Professor Jessica R. Cattelino, Chair In this dissertation I aim to show that there has been a shift in racial formation in the United States since the terrorist attacks of September 11th. I chart this new racial formation through theorizing from the everyday realities of working class, predominantly Muslim, South Asian and Indo-Caribbean youth in New York City, some of whom were undocumented. By utilizing ethnographic methods, I dissect their seemingly contradictory lived experiences of 1) national belonging stemming from multicultural comfort in a city famous for its diversity and 2) exclusion from cultural citizenship dictated by struggles with modes of racialization, surveillance, and criminalization more commonly associated with Arabs, Blacks, and Latinos. I map out the current racial formation, which explains South Asians’ paradoxical positioning, through examining the intersection of state policies with intersubjective and emotional experiences of race and racism. I find that South Asians' seemingly contradictory ii positioning is produced through three mechanisms of the current racial formation: the emphasis on diversity and pervasiveness of color blind ideology; shifting notions of race that criminalize widening domains of difference, especially religion and immigration status; and national security panics centered on youth, terrorism, and crime. I demonstrate how multicultural belonging, color blind ideology, and racial exclusion — despite their apparent contradictions — shape cultural citizenship and function together as a means of social control in the 21st century. Analyzing the paradoxical position of South Asians, as the country moves toward becoming a majority minority nation, can lead to revelations about race and racism, their connections with cultural citizenship, and their relations to power beyond a single scale. Understanding racial formation after September 11th provides the possibility to learn about race more broadly — including its continued significance and its evolution during times of war, nativism, and coalition building. iii This dissertation of Veena Hampapur is approved. Akhil Gupta Kyeyoung Park Purnima Mankekar Jessica R. Cattelino, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2016 iv In loving memory of my Ajji, Rathnammal Hampapur, who was so proud of the educational achievements of her granddaughters. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................1 PART I: BELONGING IN A MAJORITY MINORITY CITY Chapter One: Multicultural Cultural Citizenship...........................................................................31 PART II: RISK SOCIETY Chapter Two: Racialization in the 21st Century.............................................................................91 Chapter Three: Racial Paranoia...................................................................................................141 PART III: YOUTH CONTROL COMPLEX Chapter Four: Overlapping Racialization....................................................................................192 Chapter Five: Surveillance Schools.............................................................................................241 CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................297 BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................................318 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee for believing in my project and helping me discover my value as an ethnographer. I would like to thank my committee members, Kyeyoung Park, Purnima Mankekar, and Akhil Gupta, for their continued support over the years and for always helping me push to the next level. I would especially like to thank my committee chair, Jessica Cattelino, for being an amazing teacher, role model, mentor, cheerleader, and all around inspiration. This project would not have been possible without her support and guidance, and I am so grateful that I had the honor and privilege to learn from her. I would like to thank my graduate student family: Meher Varma, Misa Dayson, Katja Antoine, Naazneen Diwan, Mzilikazi Kone, Winmar Way, Preeti Sharma, Ashish Vaswani, Cassandra Markoe, and Cynthia Wang. We have grown together and seen each other through so many ups and downs, and I can never thank them enough for their friendship and support. I would especially like to thank Cassandra for being on this journey with me from the beginning to the end, and for always providing me with a fresh perspective, endless support, and lots of laughter. I would also like to particularly acknowledge my “grad sitters.” I would not be where I am today without them – their company, our long talks, and our breaks from pomodoros have meant everything to me over the past few years. They gave me a place to belong. I would like to thank Nicole Fisher and Rimma Osipov for their love and encouragement and for always being willing to adjust their own lives in order to compensate for my hectic graduate student schedule. I would also like to thank my friends Nikhil Cooper and Pravina Cooper for helping me think through my research and encouraging me to keep moving forward. I would like to thank Rajan Dharni for helping me get ready to go into the field. And I would like to thank Shweta Thakur for all her support over the years and for never minding when I took over the dining area and living room with my books and papers! vii I would also like to thank my mom and dad for their continued support and encouragement over the years. Thank you to Indira Aunty and Srivatsan Uncle for helping me get my start in graduate school. I am grateful for the time I got with my sisters and cousins in New York and California, and I would like to thank them for always believing in me and letting me crash in their homes! I would like to thank Prema Hampapur and Mona Hampapur for being my rocks and my biggest cheerleaders. I would especially like to acknowledge Radha Aunty and Ranganayaki Aunty for their endless love and understanding over the years – they are my heroes. I would like to thank Kishan Barot. He helped me dream up this project and has patiently supported me in all my creative and intellectual endeavors. He has tirelessly encouraged and believed in me, even when following my dreams meant working long hours on weekends and being apart for many years. Thank you for always being there for me. This dissertation would not have been possible without the generosity of my research participants in New York, and I am so honored that they let me be a part of their lives. I would like to thank Monami Maulik for providing me with so many wonderful opportunities and for being an amazing role model. I would like to thank the DRUM staff for their kind support and friendship over the years. I will always cherish our time together and hope our paths will cross again. I would also like to thank my friends at SAYA! for letting me be a part of the SAYA! family. And last, but certainly not least, from the bottom of my heart I would like to thank all my young research participants. In sharing with me their experiences growing up, I have grown too. I will never forget their generosity, kindness, senses of humor and the time we got to share together – they are my inspirations. There are no words to describe how much they have all meant to me. Thank you so much for helping me get to where I am today. viii VITA/BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Veena Hampapur EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES Advanced to Candidacy for the Ph.D. in Anthropology November 28, 2012 M.A. Anthropology 2010 M.A. Thesis: “Desis Rising Up & Moving: Youth, Politics, and Belonging in New York City” Center for Ethnocommunications Alumni 2010 Grants: 2013-2014 Anthropology Research Grant; 2012-2013 Anthropology Research Grant; 2012-2013 Institute of American Cultures Research Grant; 2012-2013 Graduate Division Research Travel Grant; 2009-2010 Anthropology Research Grant UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY B.A. Anthropology (Honors with High Distinction); Minor: South Asia Studies Senior Honors Thesis: “Identity Negotiation Among Second Generation Malayalee American Christians” Honors: Phi Beta Kappa Academic Honor Society, Dean’s Honor List, Berkeley Honors Student Society, Golden Key International Honor Society Publications: “Second Generation South Asian American Dating and Identity” (Ethnic Studies Review); “Typical American Guy: Hitesh Tolani's Struggle”