Behind the Numbers: Talking Politics with Foreign-born Chinese Americans

This paper discusses results of in‐depth follow‐up interviews conducted with selected individuals of Chinese descent residing in Los Angeles and San Francisco who were previously chosen at random to participate in the 2000 and 2001 Pilot National Asian American Political Survey. A total of 15 male and female informants who had migrated from Taiwan, mainland China, and Hong Kong were interviewed in Mandarin Chinese. They were asked to compare the performance of the US Government with that of the government in their respective ethnic homeland. They were also asked to explain their reasons for supporting a certain US political party, ideology, and type of candidate. In addition, they commented on the state of political participation or the lack of it among Chinese Americans. Finally, they explained the complexity of their ethnic self‐identification and experiences of racial discrimination. Their responses were interpreted within the context of the historical formation of the Chinese American community as well as the summary results of the mass opinion survey. The results help dispel myths about Chinese Americans being politically indifferent and irrational. They help illuminate the possible relationships among ethnic identity, homeland politics, and political participation in the host land. They also provide exciting insights into improving the survey instrument for a majority immigrant and non‐Anglophone population.     

“Who Are You?”: The Making of Korean “Illegal Entrants” in Occupied Japan 1945–1952

Recent progress in the study of migration history in Japan has cast new light on the influx of Koreans to Japan just after the end of the Second World War in August 1945. Both the Japanese Government and the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers called this migration illegal entry or smuggling, and tried to suppress it., One important question remains to be solved about this migration; namely; how was it prohibited? Before the Immigration Control Act (1951) was enshrined, and at a time when Koreans in Japan still held Japanese citizenship, how were the authorities able to regard Korean migration to Japan illegal? How did this migration became a political and social problem? Focusing on the legislation process and performance of the law, this article attempts to answer these questions. Politics, legislation, and social interaction all contributed to making the ethnic and legal category of Korean in postwar Japan.     

The Politics of Habitus: Publics,Blackness, and Community Activism in Salvador,Brazil

This paper explores how politics is experienced by actors who mediate neighborhood organizations and formal political institutions in the Northeastern city of Salvador da Bahia, in Brazil. It is based on a series of ethnographic interviews in 2004 among identified community leaders in the city’s poorer neighborhoods, with attention to their politics of habitus—their socially-situated modes of expression of political proclivities. While all of our informants identified themselves as Black and identified racial structures as shaping their lives, their understandings and evaluations of formal politics were divided. Those who only mediated between the neighborhood and formal institutions were critical of the world of politics and its polluting influence. Those who were also involved in mediating publics tended to experience formal politics as unjust but ultimately accessible through legitimate Black political action. This distinction helps account for the difficulty in mobilizing around a reformist political project and adds a local and political dimension to the understanding of race relations in Brazil.     

Reimagining the Homeland: Zainichi Koreans’ Transnational Longing for North Korea

This paper explores the changing relationship of diaspora to the homeland. In particular, this article focuses on the changing relationship of pro-North Korea, Zainichi Koreans (Koreans in Japan) towards North Korea. Many Koreans in Japan continue to identify with North Korea, but the nature of this relationship has changed, due to shifting generational attitudes towards both the host society and North Korea. A dance recital I witnessed in an ethnic Korean high school in Japan exemplifies these changes. I suggest that the symbols highlighted within the recital articulate a particular form of political-ethnic identity that is characterised by a long distance nationalism, but without the desire to return to the homeland. Based on a year of ethnographic fieldwork with members of the pro-North Korea organisation, Ch'ongry?n, this paper explores how diasporic groups construct, negotiate, and reproduce identity in relation to nation states and transnational processes.     

Migrant Mobilization for Homeland Politics: A Social Movement Approach

From the campaign of Chilean exiles all over the world to overthrow the regime of Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s to the contemporary mobilization of the Kurdish diaspora in Western Europe, various cases demonstrate the persistence of homeland ties among migrants, especially those who experienced repression and displacement by the government in their countries of origin. Diverse frameworks and concepts in both the humanities and the social sciences have been deployed to explain the involvement of migrants in politics in their home countries, from “long‐distance nationalism” to “transnational activism.” Each points to different dynamic processes and causal mechanisms. In recent years, scholars have advocated the use of a social movement framework in the analysis of migrant mobilization, despite the marginalization of such studies in theory development. In this article, I examine the concepts put forward by the political process model (PPM) as they apply to the analysis of migrants' involvement in politics in their native land. I propose ways for PPM to be useful in the explanation of the dynamics and processes of homeland‐oriented migrant mobilization.     

Ethnic identity politics in Nepal: liberation from,or restoration of,elite interest?

The ethnic issue has dominated Nepal’s political landscapes since the birth of the Republic of Nepal in 2007. For decades, Nepal witnessed a series of peasant rebellions against the state and landed aristocrats. Ethnic peasants were at the forefront, demanding autonomy, dignity, and an end to state violence. Since the 1980s, however, the ‘ethnic question’ has become a development issue and the developmental idea of indigeneity has consolidated both ethnic elites and peasants. Recently, identity politics has become a dominant ideological force, rapidly unraveling the course of radical political developments in the country. Interestingly, this political movement emerged in a particular historical conjuncture where Nepali politics has been extensively shaped by the recent Maoist revolution and a long history of international development. This paper explores various aspects of ethnic peasantry and argues that the notions of indigeneity and identity politics have reinforced elite domination by depoliticizing ethnic peasant politics in Nepal.     

Recovering Heritage and Homeland: Ethnic Revival Among Fourth‐Generation Japanese Americans

In recent years, fourth‐generation Japanese American youth have been attempting to recover their ethnic heritage and reconnect with their ancestral homeland. This ethnic revival is a response to their continued racialization as “Japanese,” which has caused them to become concerned about their overassimilation to American society in an era of multiculturalism where cultural heritage and homeland have come to be positively valued. As a result, they are studying Japanese, majoring in Asian studies, living in Japan as college exchange students, and participating in Japanese taiko drum ensembles in local ethnic communities. Although this return to ethnic roots is a more serious commitment than the symbolic ethnicity observed among white ethnics in the past, it indicates that ethnicity remains involuntary for racial minorities, even after four generations. The case of later‐generation Japanese Americans demonstrates that cultural assimilation does not preclude the continuation and active production of ethnic difference.     

Ethnic Stratification and Inter-Generational Differences in Japan: A Comparative Study of Korean and Japanese Status Attainment

Abstract: There are plenty of stereotypical discourses concerning the Korean minority in Japan that are widely accepted, not because of their plausibility, but because of the lack of basic empirical data. In order to fill this intellectual vacuum, I conducted a social stratification and mobility survey focusing on resident Korean men in 1995, comparable with the Japanese sample. The purpose of this article is exploratory rather than aimed at hypothesis testing, given the extreme paucity of the earlier empirical data for the ana‐lysis of Korean minority status attainment. The results show that:  

• 1 For the Korean minority in Japan, class resources translate into educational attainment to a much lower extent than for the Japanese.
• 2 Korean status attainment patterns deviate from those of their Japanese counterparts. For the Japanese, the crucial status attainment path is secured through educational attainment, which is not the case among Koreans.
• 3 Despite being denied access to such mainstream status attainment paths, major status indicators for Koreans are not significantly different than those of Japanese, and regarding this equality of outcomes, one of the possible explanations is that Korean ethnic disadvantages in the status attainment process may have been overcome by mobilizing informal bilateral ethnic networks.

     

How to do or not do things with words: The case of Koreans in Japan

In this article, I explore the ways in which ethnic identity is expressed by following the formulaic socio-linguistic norm, the very method of which defies the authenticity of identity itself, thereby asserting the identity's multi-facetedness as sustained in performative linguistic practice. I look at multi-sited socio-linguistic interactions among Koreans in Japan, who claim their primary identity to be that of North Korea's overseas citizens even though none of them have North Korean passport or nationality. Their identity, in other words, is based on ideological commitment, which is in reality supported by their ongoing linguistic practice. A close look at their socio-linguistic life reveals their ethnicity's dual or multiple ontology, which challenges among other things the currently dominant assertion of Japanese self in the western academic discourse.     

Places of socialization and (sub)ethnic identities among Asian immigrants in the US: evidence from the 2007 Chinese American Homeland Politics Survey

This research provides an empirical assessment of the relationship between places of socialization and ethnic self-identity preferences among Asian immigrants in the US from separate parts of a politically divided homeland. Does place of socialization influence the (sub)ethnic self-identity of Chinese Americans raised in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong? How do socialization context and transnational political concerns, among other factors, help structure the relationship? Benefiting from recent advancements in targeted ethnic sampling and telephone survey methodology, this paper examines results of the 2007 Chinese American Homeland Politics Survey to study the contour and sources of ethnic identity preferences among Chinese in the US from separate homeland origins. The usefulness of a theoretical framework that contrasts primordial ties with transnational political ties in understanding the structuring of identity preferences at the subethnic level is tested.     

American Studies in East Asia

Abstract

American Studies as practised in China, Japan, and Korea has some features of its own and reflects the specific conditions and needs of each country. Chinese Americanists have shown keen interest in US economy, politics, and China policy. Japanese Americanists are interested in ethnic studies and contemporary international issues involving the USA, while Korean Americanists are attracted to ethnic writers and politicians. Unlike their colleagues elsewhere, some East Asian Americanists have tended to study the USA in order to find the source of American strength through social sciences more than the American national ethos reflected in American culture, literature, and history.     

The politics of "disregarding": addressing Zainichi issues within the lesbian community in Japan

This article discusses the difference in positionality between Japanese lesbians and Zainichi (literally, "resident in Japan") Korean lesbians. The author first presents a narrative written by a Zainichi Korean lesbian, in which she expresses her anger toward Japanese lesbians. Setting her narrative as a starting point, the author retraces the controversial incident that occurred during the second Asian Lesbian Network (ALN) conference that was held in Japan in 1992. Through a re-reading of a series of narratives with regard to the second conference, the author demonstrates how the unequal power relations between Japanese lesbians and Zainichi Korean lesbians operate in what she calls the politics of "disregarding," where Zainichi Korean lesbians are continuously omitted from the consciousness of Japanese lesbians. doi:10.1300/ J155v10n03_05.     

Transnational women’s activism in Japan and Korea:the unresolved issue of military sexual slavery

This article is about the transnational links formed between the Korean and Japanese women‘s movements in their campaign on behalf of the victims of ‘military sexual slavery’ during the Second World War. There is a growing literature that examines such networks. Yet, a deeper understanding of the emergence and activities of transnational advocacy networks is needed, particularly in the context of political opportunity structures. Social scientists who have developed the concept of political opportunity structures have, however, not provided a gender‐specific analysis of these. Of particular interest is the exploration of the role played by gender in an international human rights discourse as a political opportunity structure for women’s groups in Korea and Japan. This article, thus, explores the ways in which the feminist movements in Korea and Japan have made use of transnational legal means in politicizing and popularizing the issue of ‘military sexual slavery’ at both regional and global scales.     

East Asian and US educators' reflections on how stigmatization affects their relationships with parents whose children have disabilities: Challenges and solutions

Stigmatization is a culturally widespread social justice challenge with broad implications for the development of children. This study examines the reflections of elementary school educators in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the US on how stigma affects their relationships with parents whose children have disabilities and how they respond to these challenges. We conducted cross-cultural analyses of individual, audio recorded interviews with 26 Japanese, 43 Korean, 16 Taiwanese and 18 US educators, including school social workers. Educators from all four cultural groups characterized the development of collaborative relationships with parents as critical to supporting the school success of children with disabilities. They also described challenges posed by stigmatization to those relationships, and solutions to those challenges. Japanese educators watched over, carefully guided, and expressed empathy to parents responding to stigmatization. South Korean educators avoided openly indicating children's struggles to parents, but provided them with education about disabilities to counter misperceptions. Taiwanese educators exercised patience with parents who expressed distress due to stigmatization, and concealed their own negative emotional responses to such displays. US educators engaged parents through fact-oriented, solution-focused responses to children's struggles. The perspectives of educators from diverse contexts can be used to identify cultural blind spots, and develop effective culture- and stigma-sensitive strategies to build relationships with parents to better support children with disabilities.     

Fo(u)nts of etymology: abstraction and the absolute in Derrida’s 'Faith and Knowledge…'

The political philosopher Hannah Arendt actively engaged in the problem of a Jewish homeland and the politics of Zionism in the years 1941–1948. She advocated a Binational solution to Palestine – a single political commonwealth with two national identities, Jewish and Arab, integrated in a federation with other countries in the region. In the crucial period leading up to the establishment of the State of Israel, Arendt became increasingly disillusioned with the Jewish Agency and the Zionist movement for failing to organize a Jewish response to Nazism (a Jewish Army) and rejecting the Palestinian right to a homeland.     

Newcomer Migrant Workers in the Underclass: A Yokohama, Japan Case Study

Abstract  This paper will investigate how some undocumented migrant workers survive in Kotobuki, Yokohama known as the urban underclass. Since the latter half of the 1990s, Kotobuki itself has undergone structural changes. Once a center of day laborers it is now a center of older ex-laborers, mostly surviving on welfare. However, Kotobuki holds positive associations for many Korean and Pilipino migrants, many of whom arrived at the end of the 1980s. They regard the area as a place to earn high wages and as a center for building ethnic networks. Migrants tend to help their ethnic fellows find jobs and exchange information that they may otherwise be unable to acquire given that undocumented migrants are ineligible for public services in Japan. Additionally, ethnic-related self-help activities as well as NGOs play a valuable role in sustaining the livelihood of such migrants who are denied access to public services and assistance. This paper will illustrate the role of self-help among ethnic minority migrant workers. It also aims to demonstrate that contrary to prevailing assumptions, their social status as underclass is not lower than that of their Japanese counterparts.     

Korean,Chinese, or what? Identity transformations of Chosŏnjok (Korean Chinese) migrant brides in South Korea

Chos?njok migrant brides are Korean Chinese women who married South Korean men (hereafter Korean men). The number of Chos?njok migrant brides increased rapidly until recently due to the attempts of the central and local governments of Korea to resolve bride shortages in rural areas in the early 1990s and the Koreans' preference for ethnic Korean brides over non-Korean foreign brides. Currently there are more than 26,000 Chos?njok migrant brides in Korea. Due to the drastic changes to their post-migration lives in their ethnic homeland of Korea, most Chos?njok migrant brides experience changes in their ethno-national identity(ies). This paper investigates this process and the underlying reasons for these post-ethnic return migration identity changes. It also looks at the types of identity changes that occur through in-depth interviews with 22 Chos?njok migrant brides in Korea.     

Resettlement and Border Crossing: A Comparative Study on the Life and Ethnicity of Vietnamese in Australia and Japan

Abstract: This paper deals with the life world and ethnic identity of Vietnamese residents who entered and settled in Australia and Japan as refugees after the end of the Vietnam War. It focuses on how social and cultural conditions in the host countries and global influences affect the lives of overseas Vietnamese and consequently transform their ethnic identities. Through this comparative research study conducted in Australia and Japan, I have focussed on Vietnamese religion, social networks, perceptions of the homeland and the host country, notions of Vietnamese identity between generations, and images of Vietnamese in the media of the host country. I explore the features of each host society in accepting refugees and also the commonalities and differences in how the overseas Vietnamese construct their life world and ethnic identity. I also discuss the “location of Vietnamese identities” in Australia and Japan. I will also rethink the meaning of “settlement” and “crossing borders” related to the politics of Vietnamese identities that confirm the importance of investigating the effects of displacement on the life of the Vietnamese diaspora in contemporary world context.     

Historical meaning of post-Fukushima social movements: Crisis in hegemony in postwar Japan and prefigurative politics in the 2010s

Since the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 and the nuclear power plant accident, a number of movements have emerged in Japanese society, including the anti-nuclear power movement and others with a variety of agendas. The social movements of the 2010s in Japan have expanded along with the spread of social networking services and have brought together a new class of people who are different from those of the established movements. This article will compare and examine the social movements of the 2010s with those of the past, as well as the function they played in the social structure. In the early 2020s, a structural crisis in the political and economic foundations of postwar Japan has become apparent. The Japanese social movements of the 2010s were movements that pressed for the transformation of the old social system as well as the transformation of the old anti-system movements. Thus, this movement had the distinction of prefiguring a fundamental shift in the confrontational frame of reference between conservatism and progressivism that had shaped postwar Japan. This article will discuss the historical significance of the Japanese social movements of the 2010s in light of the structural factors behind the decline of the social base of both conservative and progressive forces.     

INSTITUTIONALIZING SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: The Dual Strategy of the Korean Women's Movement

Since the 1990s, scholars have paid attention to the role of social movements traversing the official terrain of politics by blending a “contention” strategy with an “engagement” strategy. The literature often highlights the contribution of institutionalized social movements to policymaking and sociopolitical change, but rarely addresses why and how specific social movement organizations gain routine access to formal politics. Using the Korean women's movement as a case study, I analyze the conditions for movement institutionalization. As I perceive it as the consequence both of social movements' decision to participate in government and of the state's desire to integrate such movements into its decision‐making process, movement institutionalization appears when the three factors are combined: (1) pressure from international organizations, (2) democratizing political structures, and (3) cognitive shifts by movement activists toward the role of the state.