Beyond Belonging

East and Southeast Asian Presence, Identity and Activism in the UK

How do we organise through crisis? How do we move past anti-racism work that operates in isolation among different communities, towards sustainable action and solidarity?

This exciting and ground-breaking work from grassroots organisers, David Kam, Amy Phung and Mai-Anh Vu Peterson, is dedicated to the stories and experiences of East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) communities living in the UK today. Using qualitative methods, such as interviews, anecdotes and existing research, this book provides a critical examination of different aspects of ESEA presence in Britain, including identity, migration, activism and the pitfalls of representation. Through an accessible and grounded approach, this book sheds light on how issues of racism, capitalist structures and the challenges of organising have impeded community-building efforts. It aims to join together the dots across different ESEA communities, past, present and future, in order to work towards a UK-specific discourse that brings ESEA people into a wider discussion on solidarity.