Dynamics of Ethnic Identity: Three Asian American Communities in Philadelphia

by Jae-Hyup Lee

Overview

This comparative study of the Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese American communities in Philadelphia shows that each Asian American community maintains its own internal cultural boundaries, which are used to cultivate differences that become institutionalized over time. Socially constructed boundaries, such as ethnicity, gender, class and generation, intersect within and among ethnic groups. Based on a social anthropological framework, this study describes the mechanism of ethnic and class identity formations, and shows how identities are institutionalized through various organizations. By unraveling the complexity of Asian American communities and their boundary strategies, this study provides a look at the new political processes which Asian Americans are creating in a variety of social settings. Also includes maps. (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1994; revised with new preface, introduction)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781317776710
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/24/2018
Series:	Studies in Asian Americans
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	766 KB

About the Author

Jae-Hyup Lee

Table of Contents

1: Introduction; I: Three Asian American Communities; 2: Ethnicity: Basic Constructions; 3: The Process of Research; 4: Historical Aspects of Asian Americans; 5: The New Asian American Communities; II: The Dynamics of Identity; 6: Capturing Ethnicity; 7: Boundary Maintenance and Reproducing Culture; 8: Ideology and Ethnicity; III: Reassessing Asian American Identity; 9: Conclusion