Skinfolk, but Not Kinfolk? Paradoxical Representation Among Ethnic Minority Conservative Political Elites in the UK

Begum, Neema; Bankole, Michael; Briscoe-Palmer, Shardia; Godshaw, Dan; Saini, Rima

Abstract

As the number of ethnic minority politicians increase across countries like the United Kingdom and the United States, so too have instances in which these officeholders act against the communities they descriptively represent. In this contribution, we introduce the concept of paradoxical representation which we argue functions through neoliberal, post-racial scripts of color-blindness and meritocracy. Similar to research on gender representation which calls into question assumptions that substantive representation will follow unproblematically from women’s descriptive representation (Celis and Childs 2012), we argue that ethnic minority representatives can act as “post-racial gatekeepers.” This means paradoxically working against rather than for marginalized ethnic minority groups (Saini, Bankole, and Begum 2023). Through political discourse and policymaking, these representatives construct and “gatekeep” hegemonic ideas around race, racism, gender, and migration.

Citation

Begum, N., Bankole, M., Briscoe-Palmer, S., Godshaw, D., & Saini, R. (2024). Skinfolk, but Not Kinfolk? Paradoxical Representation Among Ethnic Minority Conservative Political Elites in the UK. Politics and Gender, 20(3), 745 - 750. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1743923x24000278

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 12, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Dec 10, 2024
• Publication Date: Dec 10, 2024
• Deposit Date: Dec 10, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 2, 2025
• Journal: Politics and Gender
• Print ISSN: 1743-923X
• Electronic ISSN: 1743-9248
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 745 - 750
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s1743923x24000278
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/42833528
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/politics-and-gender/article/skinfolk-but-not-kinfolk-paradoxical-representation-among-ethnic-minority-conservative-political-elites-in-the-uk/F2FEC516F0ACD4754DDAEDA5B8403D2E