Intersectional Approach to the Political Engagement of “Asian Women” in France. A Typology of Trajectories Toward Race and Gender Awareness

Drawing on the life stories of college-educated women of East and Southeast Asian descent, collected as part of the REACTAsie survey, this article examines how these individuals became aware of the intertwined social dynamics of race and gender and engaged in fighting these interlocking forms of minoritization. The aim is to enrich the intersectional analysis of the politicization of racialized individuals by integrating two dimensions understudied in France until now: social position in both the country of origin and destination (upward social mobility or social reproduction) and generation of migration (first-generation migrants or migrant descendants). By highlighting the importance of national spaces of socialization and the timeframe for gaining awareness of various social dynamics of domination, the authors develop a typology comprising three main trajectories that lead these socially privileged women who identify as “Asian” to become politicized around social relations of race and gender.