Toward transnational identity? The reconstruction of Hakka identity in Thailand

The Hakka people (Hakkas) are a global cultural ethnic group. This article explored the experiences of the Hakkas in Thailand. One major ethnic minority in Thailand is the Chinese people (14 percent of the total population) who engage in businesses and commerce throughout the country. Fifty-six percent of the Chinese are Chaozhounese, and 16 percent are Hakkas. This article argued that the Thai-Hakka identity is a transnational construction mobilized by multiple agencies at the local, national, and global levels. This identity is a result of the negotiation from the common motherland (China) in the past, the new modern Hakka discourse and the multicultural policy (Taiwan), and the complex ethnic experiences and interactions in everyday life (Thailand). Compared to the traditional diaspora viewpoint (pluri-locally distributed, with a strong identity to the motherland), the Thai-Hakka identity has gravitated towards a new path of transnational identity (pluri-locally distributed, without a clear centre–periphery relation).     

Constructing border ethnic identities along the frontier of Central and Eastern Europe

The analysis is based on an empirical sociological study (interplay of European, National and Regional Identities: nations between states along the new eastern borders of the European Union Project) aimed at exploring the various aspects of people’s diaspora affiliations and their ethnic and national identity on the Eastern borderland of Europe. We surveyed ethnic minority groups in eight countries along the frontier of Central Eastern Europe. With the ethnic minorities having a similar ethnic status along the border, we demonstrated how ethnic minorities ‘deal’ with their minority status in their ‘host’ country. The analysis reconstructs the image of the ethnic minority at the societal level. We model personal and collective ethnic identities as a stock of knowledge based on cognitive and affective components, and test them along the different ethnic dyads. The paper shows how successive generations are able to transfer the pattern of ethnic identity within the family, and also how language use practices and personal networks play a role in preserving personal ethnic identity.     

‘A ondi queras’: Ranchero identity construction by U.S. born Mexicans on Facebook

This study describes how transnational second‐generation Mexican bilinguals use a stigmatized variety of Mexican Spanish to communicate on Facebook and construct an identity. The stereotyped features of this variety index a ranchero identity. Historically, ranchero is an ambivalent identity for Mexican society in general. On the one hand, ranchero culture is a positive reminiscence of Mexico's agrarian past, while on the other, rancheros, along with indigenous Mexicans, are at the bottom of the hierarchy in Mexican society. A discourse‐centered, ethnographic analysis of digitally mediated conversations demonstrates how language use allows participants to reminisce about their collective past, maintain Mexican identities tied to their ancestors, fit their identities to contemporary U.S. Mexican culture, and distance themselves from the stigma associated with the ranchero background.     

Taiwan's identity in formation: in reaction to a democratizing Taiwan and a rising China

The formation of Taiwanese identity is a good example to make sense of the theoretical debate between primordialism and constructivism. Based on the two-level multinomial logit results, this paper proves that primordial ethnicity in Taiwan becomes less salient; rather, changing sociopolitical contexts turn out to be the dominant factor in shaping ethnic identity. Specifically, it indicates how the democratic transition has brought about various types of mechanisms, which smoothly disenchant the dominant Chinese identity. As the Taiwanese renaissance emerges to take a leading role in Taiwan's political platform, ethnic identity might be reshaped in accordance with this mainstream Taiwanese ideology. This study also shows that reformation of ethnic identity in Taiwan relies as much on cognition of state boundaries as on the evaluation of political-economic conditions on both sides of the Taiwan straits.     

If you look like me,I'll talk to you: a preliminary study of ethnic identity and inter‐ethnic interaction among women in Singapore

In Singapore, government policy is for equal but separate development of the four major ethnic groups—Chinese, Malay, Indian and other. In this study, I attempt to gain some preliminary views of how strongly women identify with their own ethnic group and how freely they are prepared to interact with people from other ethnic groups in non‐work‐related situations. I confine my study to females for two reasons. One is that traditional ethnic dress is common among females in Singapore but much rarer among men, and this makes a strong non‐verbal statement of identity. The second reason is to avoid differences between males and females, which I did not wish to pursue within the limits of this exploratory study. The findings of my pilot investigation indicate that intra‐ethnic spontaneous interaction is more likely to occur among women who display a strong national identity. Moreover, younger women, who were exposed during their school years to the government's recent drive to nurture ethnic and cultural differences, are less open to inter‐ethnic interaction than are women in their 30s and older, who grew up when the government drive was towards creating one common national identity for the people of Singapore.     

Making Hakka Spaces: Resisting Multicultural Nationalism in Taiwan

Projects of official nationalism have long been understood as state-sponsored attempts at enforcing cultural uniformity within the borders of the national territory. Contemporary nationalisms tend to compartmentalize minority cultural groups in a way that marginalizes those who are not seen as belonging to the core of the “modern” nation. Contemporary official Taiwanese nationalism promotes the “ethnic Taiwanese” (Hokkien) majority as the modern center of an otherwise diverse nation, primarily through the funding and ‘preservation’ of non-Hokkien cultural traditions. Though these programs that celebrate local cultures are more inclusive than earlier nationalisms in Taiwan, the terms of inclusion nonetheless function as a form of neoliberal state control of minorities, such as the Hakka (kejia ren). This article examines how Hakka “culture workers” (wenhua gongzuozhe) resist state attempts at spatial and symbolic marginalization. From producing ethnographies that create a Hakka neighborhood to organizing a parade route that symbolically links that neighborhood to Taipei's government and financial centers, Hakka culture workers resist multicultural nationalism by making Hakka spaces that are resistant to state attempts to marginalize them. I argue that their work is a prime example of how communities and individuals can successfully negotiate the cultural and spatial politics of the neoliberal state.     

The Transformative Impact of Cultural Portals on the Ethnic Identity Development of Second-Generation Filipino-American Emerging Adults

This study considers why second-generation Filipino-Americans (SGFAs) may experience unique challenges regarding family socialization, ethnic identity formation, and a history of colonial mentality. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 SGFA emerging adults. An indigenous perspective and life story interview was used to underscore social, political, and historical contexts of participants. Despite experiencing colonial mentality, assimilation, and constrained enculturation, SGFAs displayed areas of resilience through cultural portals, or access points to their own heritage and culture, which allowed them to explore and develop their own ethnic identity in a transformative way.     

National Minority, National Mentality, and Communal Ethnicity: Changes in Ethnic Identity of Former Soviet Union Jewish Emigrants on the Israeli Kibbutz

In this paper we examine and compare the ethnic identity of the Jews in the former Soviet Union (FSU) and the process of change in ethnic identity among the new immigrants from the FSU. This analysis considers the role of the kibbutz as the first experience of Jewish community in their lives, as well as the location of the first phase of their process of absorption and resocialization into new and unfamiliar surroundings. The data are drawn through a longitudinal research design, with a pre‐ and post‐analysis of changes in the ethnicity of migrants studied from their arrival on the Israeli kibbutz until the completion of the five‐month kibbutz programme. We found that pre‐migration Soviet Jews defined their ethnicity as a discriminated national minority with a weak symbolic ethnicity content. The ambivalent nature of the ethnicity of Jews while in the FSU was expressed in the fact that although a majority were deculturized from traditional dimensions of Jewish life, they nevertheless felt they belonged to a specific ethnic group. Post‐migration ethnicity was found to be remarkably altered; the former ambivalence was dissolved. On the macro‐level, membership in the economically and politically successful Russian‐speaking group of Israeli society is a source of self esteem, rather than a sign of shameful otherness. On the micro‐level of ethnicity, the encounter in the initial phase of absorption in Israel, within the kibbutz Jewish community, often demands a re‐examination of their private concept of Jewishness, serving as a first step in resolving their ambivalent ethnic identity. Consequently, their new ethnic identity may now well have weaker boundaries, but a more positive (non‐alienating) content than that left behind.     

Development of Ethnic Identity in Young Adults from Immigrant Families: “I Want to Hold Onto My Roots,but I Also Want to Experience New Routes”

This article explores ethnic identity development among young adults from immigrant families from diverse countries of origin. Based on in-depth interviews with young women and men, the authors examined the formation of ethnic identity through childhood, adolescence, and into young adulthood. Analysis of the participants’ narratives revealed that, compared with fluent bilinguals, limited bilinguals reported weaker connections to their heritage culture. Most participants progressed through the model of ethnic identity formation, which was influenced by their family socialization and community context, and reported integrated or bicultural ethnic identities. Practitioners may use the experiences shared by our participants to inform their work with second-generation immigrant youth in varying stages of ethnic identity development.     

Bilingual children’s literature as a tool reflecting non-reconciled and reconciled identities in the Ethiopian community in Israel

This study investigates the manner in which new and veteran Ethiopian immigrant students in Israel perceive their identity by investigating their attitudes towards children’s books written in both Hebrew and Amharic. Two major types of identity were revealed: (1) a non-reconciled identity that seeks to minimise the visibility of one’s ethnic group. (2) A reconciled identity that incorporates the original ethnic identity and tries to reconcile it with the majority culture by experiencing both the Israeli and the Ethiopian identities.     

Causal Modeling Predicting Psychological Adjustment of Korean-Born Adolescent Adoptees

Summary

Self-concept theory and ethnic identity theory imply causal relations among positive parent-child relationship, ethnic pride, and psychological adjustment of children who were intercountry adopted. This study used linear measurement and structural equation models to test the plausibility of the causal model dealing with the relations among indexes of parent's support of ethnic background, positive parent-child relationship, collective self-esteem, and psychological adjustment in a sample of 241 Korean-born adolescent adoptees. Consistent with the expectations of the self-concept theory and the ethnic identity development theory, the findings show that a more positive parent-child relationship, in which the parents support their children's ethnic identity development and share ethnic socialization experiences, predicts better psychological adjustment of the adopted children. Policy and practice implications of the findings are discussed.     

The Familial Socialization of Culturally Related Values in Mexican American Families

Research has documented a relation between parents' ethnic socialization and youth's ethnic identity, yet there has been little research examining the transmission of cultural values from parents to their children through ethnic socialization and ethnic identity. This study examines a prospective model in which mothers' and fathers' Mexican American values and ethnic socialization efforts are linked to their children's ethnic identity and Mexican American values, in a sample of 750 families (including 467 two-parent families) from an ongoing longitudinal study of Mexican American families (Roosa, Liu, Torres, Gonzales, Knight, & Saenz, 2008). Findings indicated that the socialization of Mexican American values was primarily a function of mothers' Mexican American values and ethnic socialization, and that mothers' Mexican American values were longitudinally related to children's Mexican American values. Finally, these associations were consistent across gender and nativity groups.     

Communicative Correlates of Satisfaction,Family Identity,and Group Salience in Multiracial/Ethnic Families

Guided by the Common Ingroup Identity Model ( S. L. Gaertner & J. F. Dovidio, 2000 ) and Communication Accommodation Theory ( C. Shepard, H. Giles, & B. A. LePoire, 2001 ), we examined the role of identity accommodation, supportive communication, and self‐disclosure in predicting relational satisfaction, shared family identity, and group salience in multiracial/ethnic families. Additionally, we analyzed the association between group salience and relational outcomes as well as the moderating roles of multiracial/ethnic identity and marital status. Individuals who have parents from different racial/ethnic groups were invited to complete questionnaires on their family experiences. Participants (N = 139) answered questions about relationships with mothers, fathers, and grandparents. The results of the multilevel modeling analyses are discussed in terms of implications for understanding multiracial/ethnic families and family functioning.     

Dimensions of ethnic identity as protective factors for substance use and sexual risk behaviors in African American college students

Objective: To examine ethnic identity and ethnic socialization as potential protective factors for risk behaviors among US college students. Participants: Participants were 398 African American and Afro-Caribbean students recruited from 30 colleges and universities during September 2008–October 2009. Methods: Data on hazardous alcohol use, substance use, sexual behaviors, ethnic identity, and ethnic/racial socialization were collected. Hierarchical linear and negative binomial regression analyses were conducted to determine the degree to which ethnic identity and ethnic/racial socialization predicted the risk behaviors. Results: Ethnic Identity affirmation, belonging, and commitment (EI-ABC) significantly predicted lower substance use and hazardous alcohol use. Ethnic/racial socialization was not a significant predictor of substance use or sexual risk behaviors. Conclusions: Components of ethnic identity are potentially protective against alcohol and substance use behaviors. Additional research is recommended to determine effective intervention strategies.     

Civic,ethnic, hybrid and atomised identities in Central and Eastern Europe

While the topic of identity of ethnic minorities abounds in theoretical insights, most discussion is still clustered around the civic–ethnic divide while assuming conclusions with limited empirical evidence. By contrast, this article uses a four-category typology of identity that considers both in-group and out-group attachments to address hypotheses about competing identities and about factors influencing minorities to adopt one identity type over others. Based on unique data evidence of 12 ethnic minorities in Central and Eastern Europe, this study concludes that the ‘hybrid’ identity, rather than the literature-assumed ‘ethnic’ identity, tops the identification preference of minorities, although there are differences in levels and patterns when controlling for various covariates. The choice of identity depends on the socialisation process, the economic status, the perceived discrimination and intergroup tensions, reflecting variations in the system of values common to a region with complex ethnic dynamics.     

Ethnic Identity as a Protective Factor for Looked After and Adopted Children From Ethnic Minority Groups: A Critical Review of the Literature

The development of a strong ethnic identity has been considered to relate to psychological well-being. The aim of this article is to critically review the literature relating to ethnic identity and positive outcomes in looked after and adopted children from ethnic minority groups. A literature search of SCOPUS, PsycINFO, and Medline databases from 2000 to 2010 was conducted to identify qualifying published studies. Studies that pertained to ethnic identity development in children in relation to positive outcomes, adjustment, self-esteem, and psychological well-being were reviewed. Overall, evidence from the studies was mixed, with strong ethnic identity not always found to be indicative of improved psychological adjustment. Methodological limitations of the reviewed studies are discussed, and clinical implications and recommendations for future research are presented.     

Grieving for mestizaje: alternative approaches to Maya identity in Yucatan,Mexico

This article takes as its point of departure the highly contested theoretical terrain of ‘Maya’ identity in Yucatan, Mexico. Set in the physical terrain of a state psychiatric hospital, this article uses a framework of identity culled from the narrative of a young woman, ‘Claudina’, committed to its wards, to argue that being ‘in-between’ categories of ethnic identity, an experience she characterises as a painful sense of ambiguous loss, can be fruitfully analysed using an analytical framework of ethnic identity introduced by Claudina herself. Specifically, I argue that categories of identity culled from Claudina's story – mestizaje and elegancia – represent a valuable opportunity to think about how power dynamics and relationships operate in situations of ambivalent identities and social suffering. To this end, I use Claudina's language as a point of departure for understanding the lived experience of everyday life in Yucatan today.     

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.     

“I was discriminated against because I was seen as PRC-Chinese”: The negotiation between ethnicity and nationalism among Taiwanese migrants in Australia

Research on race and ethnicity has focused on conditions under which solidarity will be developed to consolidate collective benefits. For example, facing racial discrimination can bring large-scale affiliations (e.g., people of color, Latinos, or Asians) to fight against racial injustice. Focusing on the negotiation and struggle between ethnicity and nationalism among Taiwanese migrants in Australia—a politicizing context associated with a prior definition of Chinese category, despite inherent differences within it, this article shows the complexity of ethnicity when ethnic identity/solidarity intersects with nationalism and racial discrimination. I argue that Taiwanese migrants attach specific meanings to the ethnic (Chinese) category and constantly connect to and shift its boundaries in different contexts. Meanwhile, they also make a distinction between racial discrimination from white Australians and political hostility from PRC-Chinese. This article proposes a procedural and contextual understanding of ethnic identity, solidarity, nationalism, and boundary making/unmaking within the Chinese category as it is enacted in Taiwanese migrants' everyday lives. It also examines situational variability in the salience of ethnic identifications, racialization of the ethnic category, and people's interpretation of ethnic and national identity when facing racial discrimination.