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Paper short abstract:

Hip hop provides a pathway and analytical tool for anthropologists to explore identity politics and advocacy particularly in the context of youth, cultural diversity and migration studies

Paper long abstract:

More than 40 years after its inception, hip hop culture continues to be important in young people's lives regardless of their cultural background or geographic location. It thereby provides a pathway and analytical tool for anthropologists to explore identity politics and advocacy particularly in the context of youth, cultural diversity and migration studies. This paper discusses how anthropologists can use hip hop to explore expressions of self and social identities. It shows how migrant young people in Australia use hip hop as a contact space in which identities are negotiated through self-identification and performances of belonging.

Australia is a multicultural country marked by diverse demographics and behavioural expectations. Depending on a number of factors such as their migration journey, age at arrival and time of residency, people tend to have different experiences and expectations in relation to their settlement in Australia. Some people quickly adapt to 'the Australian way' while others hold on to their cultural background and according behavioural expectations. This can cause fractions between family members and members of the community. Hip hop provides young people caught in-between different behavioural expectations with opportunities to negotiate and express themselves and their experiences if belonging.

Drawing on long-term ethnographic research conducted with Tongan young people and the literature, hip hop will be discussed as an important in-between space that allows young people to negotiate their identities. Consequently, it is argued that hip hop culture continues to be an important analytical tool for anthropologists.