This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1980.
Bonacich and Modell explore class and ethnic behavior as reflected in the history of Japanese Americans in the Unites States. They demonstrate that involvement in certain types of self-consciously ethnic business structures supports the development and maintenance of Japanese American ethnic solidarity. The authors question the idea of ethnicity as a natural or primordial bond; they accept that ethnicity reflects social and political decisions; ethnic solidarity and antagonisms are socially constructed. Moreover, economic factors play a great role in maintenance or dissolution of ethnic bonds, and ethnic groups often function as economic-interest groups; when they no longer do so, they dissolve. Participation in wider society and professions diminishes such ethnicity. The middleman-minority thesis is used to interpret the experience of pre- and post-war Japanese Americans. The model comprises three traits: social and economic characteristics and society reactions. This study emphasizes the importance of a concentration in trade for creation and perpetuation of ethnicity. The middleman-minority model applies best to the first (Issei) generation of Japanese Americans. This generation had a peculiar economic position consisting of family-centered, non-contractual oriented firms doing business (primarily agricultural related) in the midst of a capitalist economy. Owners of these ethnic firms faced open hostility and discrimination, which drove them to develop and preserve their own distinctive ethnic associations and outlook. Characteristic features of Japanese American small businesses are identified. Using the structural framework of the "middleman minority," the authors explain the decreasing ethnic identity among second generation Japanese Americans in terms of the decreasing importance of small business as an economic base for the group, as members of this generation tended to move out into the professions. Using data from the Japanese American Research Project, the researcj examines the postwar development of this ethnic group to see to what degree pre-war economic forms have been reestablished among the second generation of Japanese Americans and the implications for their internal social organization and integration with the outside community. The pre-war ethnic economy was most revived by the oldest Japanese Americans. A division was found in the second (Nisei) generation, who are divided in economic orientation between small business and the professions. Degree of Nisei ethnicity and education are strongly related to birth date. The more educated Nisei moved into professions. Three important aspects of ethnic community are examined for the mid-1960s. Close family and kin relationships, and strong formal and informal ethnic associations, support and are supported by the middleman-minority ethnic economy. There is only a weak, but positive relationship between participation in small business and ethnic socialization and values; the relation is stronger for religion. The Sansei (children of the Nisei) show an even greater shift toward the professions than their parents. The study strongly departs from the "success story" or "model minority" approach of other ethnic research. Concludes that ethnic solidarity is a historical phenomenon; when ethnic minorities become like the majority economically, preserving their distinctiveness is difficult. (TNM).
Generations of immigrants have relied on small family businesses in their pursuit of the American dream. This entrepreneurial tradition remains highly visible among Korean immigrants in New York City, who have carved out a thriving business niche for themselves operating many of the city's small grocery stores and produce markets. But this success has come at a price, leading to dramatic, highly publicized conflicts between Koreans and other ethnic groups. In Ethnic Solidarity for Economic Survival, Pyong Gap Min takes Korean produce retailers as a case study to explore how involvement in ethnic businesses—especially where it collides with the economic interests of other ethnic groups—powerfully shapes the social, cultural, and economic unity of immigrant groups. Korean produce merchants, caught between white distributors, black customers, Hispanic employees, and assertive labor unions, provide a unique opportunity to study the formation of group solidarity in the face of inter-group conflicts. Ethnic Solidarity for Economic Survival draws on census and survey data, interviews with community leaders and merchants, and a review of ethnic newspaper articles to trace the growth and evolution of Korean collective action in response to challenges produce merchants received from both white suppliers and black customers. When Korean produce merchants first attempted to gain a foothold in the city's economy, they encountered pervasive discrimination from white wholesale suppliers at Hunts Point Market in the Bronx. In response, Korean merchants formed the Korean Produce Association (KPA), a business organization that gradually evolved into a powerful engine for promoting Korean interests. The KPA used boycotts, pickets, and group purchasing to effect enduring improvements in supplier-merchant relations. Pyong Gap Min returns to the racially charged events surrounding black boycotts of Korean stores in the 1990s, which were fueled by frustration among African Americans at a perceived economic invasion of their neighborhoods. The Korean community responded with rallies, political negotiations, and publicity campaigns of their own. The disappearance of such disputes in recent years has been accompanied by a corresponding reduction in Korean collective action, suggesting that ethnic unity is not inevitable but rather emerges, often as a form of self-defense, under certain contentious conditions. Solidarity, Min argues, is situational. This important new book charts a novel course in immigrant research by demonstrating how business conflicts can give rise to demonstrations of group solidarity. Ethnic Solidarity for Economic Survival is at once a sophisticated empirical analysis and a riveting collection of stories—about immigration, race, work, and the American dream.
Examines the historical patterns of ethnicity and the ways in which a national political culture has evolved to accommodate ethnic diversity. Compares the experiences of immigrant ethnic groups, African- Americans, and native Americans to each other and in relation to the national culture.
In this unflinching exploration of one of the most politically charged topics of our time, Pyong Gap Min investigates the racial dynamics that exist between Korean merchants, the African American community, and white society in general. Focusing on hostility toward Korean merchants in New York and Los Angeles, Min explains how the "middleman" economic role Koreans often occupy—between low-income, minority customers on the one hand and large corporate suppliers on the other—leads to conflicts with other groups. Further, Min shows how ethnic conflicts strengthen ties within Korean communities as Koreans organize to protect themselves and their businesses. Min scrutinizes the targeting of Korean businesses during the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1990 African American boycotts of Korean stores in Brooklyn. He explores Korean merchants' relationships with each other as well as with Latin American employees, Jewish suppliers and landlords, and government agencies. In each case, his nuanced analysis reveals how Korean communities respond to general scapegoating through collective action, political mobilization, and other strategies. Fluent in Korean, Min draws from previously unutilized sources, including Korean American newspapers and in-depth interviews with immigrants. His findings belie the media's sensationalistic coverage of African American-Korean conflicts. Instead, Caught in the Middle yields a sophisticated and clear-sighted understanding of the lives and challenges of immigrant merchants in America.
International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Second Edition, Fourteen Volume Set embraces diversity by design and captures the ways in which humans share places and view differences based on gender, race, nationality, location and other factors—in other words, the things that make people and places different. Questions of, for example, politics, economics, race relations and migration are introduced and discussed through a geographical lens. This updated edition will assist readers in their research by providing factual information, historical perspectives, theoretical approaches, reviews of literature, and provocative topical discussions that will stimulate creative thinking. Presents the most up-to-date and comprehensive coverage on the topic of human geography Contains extensive scope and depth of coverage Emphasizes how geographers interact with, understand and contribute to problem-solving in the contemporary world Places an emphasis on how geography is relevant in a social and interdisciplinary context
In the late l9th and early 20th century, labor issues fanned the flames of anti-Asian sentiment, as they continue to do to this day. These essays explore the topics of immigration and work, ethnic economics and enclaves, the role of middlemen minorities, Southeast Asian refugee employment, and issues of class, hierarchy, immigrant recruitment, intra-community exploitation, and poverty in Asian American communities.
Traditional economics is built on the assumption of self-interested individuals seeking to maximize personal gain, but that is far from the whole story. Sharing, caring, and a desire to uphold the collective good are also powerful motives. In a world wracked by inequality, social divisions, and ecological destruction, can we build an alternative economics based on cooperation? In this book Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor invite us to imagine a new sort of solidarity economics – an approach grounded in our instincts for connection and community – and in so doing, actually build a more robust and sustainable economy. They argue that our current economy is already deeply dependent on mutuality, but that the inequality and fragmentation created by the status quo undermine this mutuality and with it our economic well-being. They outline the theoretical framing, policy agenda, and social movements that we need to revive solidarity and apply it to whole societies. Solidarity Economics is an essential read for anyone who longs for a fairer economy that can generate prosperity and preserve the planet.
Throughout the world, certain ethnic groups have made a living through trade and have found a place for themselves in their societies' middle strata. At times, these 'middlemen minorities' have aroused the envy of their neighbors and been subjected to a variety of persecutions. In this book, Walter P. Zenner examines explanations for this phenomenon and analyzes such groups as the Jews, the Chinese, the Scots, and the South Asians abroad.
