“I want myself to become Malaysian” : Political Participation and Identity Construction among Chinese Malaysians

Abstract: This thesis centers the concepts of citizenship and identity. It is an ethnographic case study focusing on well- educated, urban Chinese Malaysians with the aim to discover to what extent political participation, utilizing one’s citizenship rights, affects citizenship identity. Identity has been narrowed down into two categories; national and ethnic identity, based on previous research by Kymlicka and Norman (1994) and Habermas (1994). However, differing from much previous research, this is a qualitative study utilizing interviews as main method for data collection. Through this, it becomes possible to gain an understanding of Chinese Malaysians’ own experiences concerning their identities, also in relation to the Malaysian state’s vision of what Malaysian national and ethnic identity should be. The thesis finds that, in line with previous research on citizenship as a type of belonging, individuals who participate in politics identifies with a multiethnic national identity, which is viewed as a type of ideal identity. Ethnic identity connected to politics is perceived as negative, while continuously being reinforced by the Malaysian government, especially in relation to Bumiputera privileges. National identity is formed on an everyday defined level, while ethnic identity is constructed on an authority defined level.