UC Santa Barbara

South Asian diaspora populations occupy a complicated position inside U.S. racial politics and within Asian American studies. On the one hand, their racialization in the U.S. subjects them to racist hate and discrimination that might motivate participation in social movements (Modi 2018; Prashad 2014). On the other hand, South Asian American communities include some of the richest populations in the country (SAALT 2019), a demographic that is much less likely to participate in social movements, especially left-leaning ones. In addition, precarious immigration categories or citizenship statuses in the United States may also discourage them from political action. Based on interviews and web surveys with 26 South Asian Americans, Joseph argues that South Asian Americans interested in social movements combat two controlling images: one of the politically apathetic South Asian American, and the other of the perfect standard activist. South Asian Americans attracted to activism circumvent these controlling images by forming a self-definition based both on their racial identifications and on their own definitions of activism. They also find community among people they perceive as fellow “weirdos.” This study contributes to the Asian American literature through its examinations of ally-ship, affiliation and accompaniment among aggrieved communities of color, demonstrating how the very category of activist is interpreted, enacted, and resisted differently because of the complexities of the structural positions that South Asians occupy in the United States.