A sense of place: Sikh identity in Great Britain and Hong Kong
Although evidence points to Sikhs being present on the day that Hong Kong became a British territory, Sikhs in Hong Kong remain a relatively unexamined group. Based on data gathered as part of a wider study of processes of religious transmission among young British Sikhs and on fieldwork carried out among the Sikh community in Hong Kong, this article follows Dusenbery's (2008) studies of Sikhs around the world to focus on a) how Sikhs understand their place in their social world and b) how they respond to being a minority in every country in which they are resident. Examining the literature on Hong Kong Sikhs in relation to their status and position within wider Hong Kong society, I compare the contexts, issues and challenges faced by Sikhs in Hong Kong with those in Great Britain. The article demonstrates that although many Sikhs have links to the Punjab, local context and local imaginings impact on religious identity and citizenship.
Head First: Young British Sikhs, Hair, and the Turban
A number of recent controversies have highlighted the importance of religious symbols in contemporary British society. As one of the most distinctive minority ethnic communities in Britain today, Sikhs are always affected by these controversies, as many maintain an external identity, the most important aspects of which are arguably uncut hair and the turban. This article presents the results of a qualitative study of the perspectives of young British Sikhs (18–32) on hair and the turban. Twenty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted with young Sikhs who treat these articles of faith in different ways. The interviews focused on understanding how young British Sikhs view keeping the hair and turban, what these Sikh symbols mean to them, what issues they face in keeping an external identity, and how keeping these symbols fits with the idea of being British and Sikh. Although the importance of these symbols is unique to each individual, the findings may enhance our understanding of why the maintenance of external religious symbols is still important for many young people today.
Same Same But Different - also in Europe! A New Methodological Approach in Cross-Country Analysis of Communication Structuresapplied to five EU member states
The EU still lacks a truly European public sphere. On this level, there is still a clear lack of integration between individual member states. This means that national public spheres and cultures are still of great importance for European communication and media professionals. Comparative research into the similarities and differences between different nations is therefore valuable for cross-border PR communication activities. This paper lays out the methodological foundation for such research, discussing possible approaches and difficulties associated with comparative research. The author then introduces a potential heuristic framework for comparative analysis: the International Corporate Communication Compass. This framework is applied to five case-study EU countries (Denmark, Germany, France, Poland and the UK), showing the differences and similarities in a range of different contexts that affect public communication in all its forms. The conclusion examines how the results of such studies could be used in order to compare communication identities of different countries. This can potentially help in the development of a European public identity on the long run and in a first step can led towards a better, more adapted communication structure about European citizenship. Ultimately, communication structures within the EU might become more Europeanized than they