"We Want Justice!”: Transnational Political Activism Among Second Generation Tamil Youth And Identity (Re) Construction Within Transnational Social Spaces
Drawing on the experiences of the 2009 transnational political activism of second generation Tamil youth, this study explores transnationalism among the second generation in Canada and identity construction within transnational social spaces. It also engages in discussions on the importance of recognizing the existence of transnationalism as not just a phenomenon of the first generation. Based on a sample of nine second generation Tamil youths, findings suggest that the second generation is selective in its transnational practices, while expanded forms of transnationalism exists and fluctuates over the life course. Both Tamil and Canadian identities were found to be hybrid, fluid, shifting and situational, marked by a sense of belonging to both Canada and Sri Lanka. The second generation are thus situated between various and opposing ideas and information flows in which they are able to traverse and stimulate transnational engagement, when and if they wish to do so.