Family, Identity and Mixedness

For people born to parents from two socially distinctive racial groups, the answer to the question of racial identity can be far from straightforward. Exploring the lived experiences of the ‘mixed-race’ population group in Scotland, a country with distinctive national identity, this book examines how mixed Scots obtain an understanding of self through interacting with others within and beyond their home.

Focusing on the impact of the family on the formation of mixed identities, this book breaks fresh ground, becoming one of the few sociological studies that brings together perspectives from mixed individuals and parents of mixed children. The book pays close attention to how members within ‘mixed-race’ families respond differently to everyday encounters of race and negotiate the greater shaping forces from wider society. Using illustrative cases drawn from in-depth interviews across a two-year period, the author offers a vibrant picture of ‘mixed-race’ experiences in modern Scotland, unravelling the complex interplay of race, social class, and imagined boundaries of Scottishness.

Approaching the question of identity through a lens that combines interactionist and intersectional perspectives, Mengxi Pang invites readers to unravel the process of identity-making and its intricacies.