| dc.description.abstract | It has been argued that western models of citizenship and identity could not fit
easily into the Asian world. Western models tend to place an emphasis more on
rights traditions, whereas most Asian countries focus on communitarian traditions
that propose community values over individual rights. Western multiculturalism
and minority rights have had an influence in many Asian countries, promoted by
western academics, governments and international organizations. Western models
have often not been well understood in the region, and may not suit the specific
historical, cultural, demographic, and geopolitical circumstances of the Asian
region. Malaysia is one of the countries which has its own citizenship concept and
experiences. Malaysia has adopted its own version of an 'ethnically differentiated
model of citizenship' which ensures cultural and political superiority of the more
populous but economically less powerful Malays, but strives for a unified notion of
citizenship and a Malaysian national identity. This study aims to investigate the
citizenship constructs and experiences of multi-ethnic Malaysian student teachers at a
major university. In the spirit of ethnographic design, twenty-eight mixed age and gender
multi-ethnic student teachers, who were enrolled on a citizenship and citizenship
education course, participated. The data was analysed using a thematic analysis
methodology. The current study suggested that citizenship and identity
experiences in multi-ethnic Malaysia could be viewed from the perspectives of
identity and belonging. At a context level, I used two social reality identity
approaches to capture identity experiences from above (macro policy) and from
below (lived experiences). Within the paradigm of the Malaysian national vision
(belonging, identity and rights responsibilities), in depth interviews, observation
and focus group were used to elicit the multiple and shifting ways in which the
experiences of belonging and the politics of belonging were configured in student
teachers' everyday citizenship experiences. Using the framework of belonging and
the politics of belonging, the findings showed that student teachers' lived
citizenship was found to reflect both an emotional attachment to place and a sense
of 'belongingness', and also to reinforce socio-spatial boundaries between majority
and minority groups. Within the belonging framework, student teachers' identity
narratives suggested that they belonged to manifold social locations (cultural,
religion and age) which have an impact on rights, responsibilities and re-imagined
communities' experiences. These social locations could be viewed within an
intersection approach that promotes both a sense of 'belongingness' and
'unbelonging' to the Malaysian nation. This study suggested that a
multidimensional approach to citizenship, identity and belonging was crucial to
understand the complexities of citizenship and identity discourse in Malaysia. | en |
