Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/31524
Title: Becoming BAME: social identities and racialised terminology in the UK
Authors: Malik, S
Gee, M
Lawson, R
Keywords: ‘BAME’;black;Asian;language;racialisation;identity
Issue Date: 6-Oct-2025
Publisher: Routledge (Taylor and Francis Group)
Citation: Malik, S., Gee, M. and Lawson, R. (2025) 'Becoming BAME: social identities and racialised terminology in the UK', Social Identities, 0 (ahead of print), pp. 1 - 21. doi: 10.1080/13504630.2025.2553914.
Abstract: This article examines the politics of racialised terminology through the first sociolinguistic, cultural analysis of the acronym BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) in the UK. Using a mixed methods approach, we present an analysis of how this collective term of ethnic difference is used across parliamentary discourse, news articles, and social media spaces, identifying a rise in the term since 2014, but also evidence of a decline since 2022, together with qualitative interpretations of the mechanisms underpinning discursive (re)constructions of the UK’s Black and Asian communities. More specifically, our analysis situates language as a site of identity struggle where racially minoritised communities can be fixed and administered but also strive for social change. We propose that BAME is a race-making discursive practice where a hierarchical and lateral arrangement between institutions and publics co-exists, since it is a term that is both imposed and aligned with. BAME, as a form of racial categorisation, is thus implicated in the ambivalence of racialised discourse.
Description: Statement of social media use: In accordance with Taylor & Francis guidelines, this article uses anonymised social media data and follows established ethical standards for online research.
URI: https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/31524
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2025.2553914
ISSN: 1350-4630
Other Identifiers: ORCiD: Sarita Malik https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0985-5246
ORCiD: Matt Gee https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4499-5196
ORCiD: Robert Lawson https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1415-517X
Appears in Collections:Dept of Social and Political Sciences Research Papers

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