Sociology 1–17 © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0038038513518850 soc.sagepub.com Talking Like a Generation: The ‘Documentary’ Meaning of Ethnicity for Aging Minority Britons Jennifer Elrick University of Toronto, Canada Erik Schneiderhan University of Toronto, Canada Shamus Khan Columbia University, USA Abstract This article contributes to the ‘cognitive turn’ in the study of ethnicity and national identity, which focuses on how individuals construct ethnic identity categories pertinent to social cohesion. Using Mannheim as a methodological and analytical guide, we show how examining ethnicity as a relational enactment devoid of a priori categorisations allows situational identities that intersect with classical sociological concepts other than ethnicity – namely generation, class, and citizenship – to emerge within and across typical ethnic categorisations. We draw on an analysis of micro- level interactions among 40 aging ‘Black and minority ethnics’ (BMEs) engaging in small-group discussions and a large deliberative assembly held in London in 2011. Keywords citizenship, class, deliberation, documentary meaning, enactment, ethnicity, generation, immigration, national identity, United Kingdom There is a long-standing concern about the feasibility of social cohesion in multicultural Britain, particularly around tendencies towards inclusion and exclusion associated with various ethnic, religious, and national identities (Demireva, 2011). Part of understanding Corresponding author: Jennifer Elrick, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, 725 Spadina Ave, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2J4, Canada. Email: jennifer.elrick@mail.utoronto.ca 518850SOC 0 0 10.1177/0038038513518850SociologyElrick et al. research-article 2014 Article