Identity remix

Abstract

This article reports on ethnographic research into processes of cultural continuity and change amongst a group of second-generation Pakistani Scots in Edinburgh. Using the metaphor of remix music, the authors explore constructions of identity in the context of new global and local transformations. Field observations and interviews with young people provide a foundation for analysing the negotiation of tradition, and key themes include the gendered dynamics of lived experience, shifting attitudes to marriage and the consumption of mediated symbolic goods. The authors conclude by conceptualizing the field of study, following Avtar Brah, as a specific diaspora space.