The social construction of racism: the case of second generation Bangladeshis<FN>The first author of this paper is the primary researcher. Therefore, where the paper is written in the first person, this is to emphasize the fact that the theoretical and analytic concerns are those of the primary researcher. </FN>

This paper examines the ways in which a group of middle class second generation Bangladeshi adults construct and account for their experiences of racism. Using a discursive analysis of tape recorded conversations, the study shows how various discursive practices construct racism in participant's descriptions of racist experiences, and how these constructions serve particular functions. For instance, the discourses of an ‘improved present’ and ‘racism as present but hidden’ are identified. In these discourses, I argue, racism is constructed as a problem of the past and therefore only a comparatively minor problem at present, or as present phenomenon, but manifesting itself in more subtle covert forms. I argue that these discourses may be considered as problematic in that they can be seen as potentially sustaining and perpetuating particular kinds of social relations. What I also wish to argue is that this kind of analysis demonstrates the need for a theorization of the subject. In this case, the need for racism to be understood from the perspective of these middle class second generation Bangladeshis. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]