THREE READINGS OF THE TURBAN: SIKH IDENTITY IN GREATER VANCOUVER

Abstract

The ways that ethnic identities are constructed socially and spatially in the city are central to understanding contemporary landscapes. However, though we are able to theoretically reveal the constructed nature of identities, everyday identities are still politically, socially, and spatially essentialized. If researchers are to make any contribution to a consideration of ethnicity in the urban landscape, they must acknowledge and challenge this gap between essentialized and socially constructed identities. To achieve this, a social constructionist approach provides critical tools, but these are limited when it comes to actually entering “the field.” In the case of male Sikhs in Vancouver, the constructed nature of identities are complex and multiple. To outline these complexities, I relate three “readings” of one signifier of Sikhism—the turban. The first is a reading emanating from Euro-Canadians in response to the acceptance/exclusion of orthodox Sikhs into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Royal Canadian Legion. The second is from Indo-Canadian entrepreneurs in regard to local conflicts over the turban and its associated meanings. The final reading is from a real estate agent, whose strategic use of the turban for commercial recognition and marketing reveals the importance of comprehending how signifiers of the “other” are multiple and unstable, providing both positive and negative references for the communities concerned.