ABOUT THIS BOOK

Based on ethnographic research by an interdisciplinary team of scholars and activists, Religion at the Corner of Bliss and Nirvana illuminates the role that religion plays in the civic and political experiences of new migrants in the United States. By bringing innovative questions and theoretical frameworks to bear on the experiences of Chinese, Filipino, Mexican, Salvadoran, and Vietnamese migrants, the contributors demonstrate how groups and individuals negotiate multiple religious, cultural, and national identities, and how religious faiths are transformed through migration. Taken together, their essays show that migrants’ religious lives are much more than replications of home in a new land. They reflect a process of adaptation to new physical and cultural environments, and an ongoing synthesis of cultural elements from the migrants’ countries of origin and the United States.

As they conducted research, the contributors not only visited churches and temples but also single-room-occupancy hotels, brothels, tattoo-removal clinics, and the streets of San Francisco, El Salvador, Mexico, and Vietnam. Their essays include an exploration of how faith-based organizations can help LGBT migrants surmount legal and social complexities, an examination of transgendered sex workers’ relationship with the unofficial saint Santisima Muerte, a comparison of how a Presbyterian mission and a Buddhist temple in San Francisco help Chinese immigrants to acculturate, and an analysis of the transformation of baptismal rites performed by Mayan migrants. The voices of gang members, Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhist nuns, members of Pentecostal churches, and many others animate this collection. In the process of giving voice to these communities, the contributors interrogate theories about acculturation, class, political and social capital, gender and sexuality, the sociology of religion, transnationalism, and globalization. The collection includes twenty-one photographs by Jerry Berndt.

Contributors. Luis Enrique Bazan, Kevin M. Chun, Hien Duc Do, Patricia Fortuny Loret de Mola, Joaquin Jay Gonzalez III, Sarah Horton, Cymene Howe, Mimi Khúc, Jonathan H. X. Lee, Lois Ann Lorentzen, Andrea Maison, Dennis Marzan, Rosalina Mira, Claudine del Rosario, Susanna Zaraysky

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Lois Ann Lorentzen is Chair of Theology and Religious Studies and Director of the Center for Latino Studies in the Americas at the University of San Francisco.

Joaquin Jay Gonzalez III is Associate Professor of Politics and Director of the Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program at the University of San Francisco.

Kevin M. Chun is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Asian American Studies Program at the University of San Francisco.

Hien Duc Do is Professor of Social Sciences and Asian American Studies and Coordinator of the Asian American Studies Program at San Jose State University.

REVIEWS

“For scholars interested in the intersection of religion and migration, this book provides insights and data unique in the field. It would also be useful reading in graduate seminars in both the sociology of religion and international migration. I also recommend the book as an example of creative and interesting use of ethnographic data.” - Helen Rose Ebaugh, Contemporary Sociology

“[T]his is a welcome addition to the literature on religion and new immigrants, a field that most social scientists have ignored.” - Harvey J. Strum, Multicultural Review

“This book is a valuable and recommended addition to the increasing body of literature on religion and immigrant communities.”
- Ann Gleig, Religious Studies Review

”In spite of its tremendous and ambitious goal, Religion at the Corner of Bliss and Nirvana is not difficult to follow its daunting 372 pages. The writers did a fantastic job by reflecting on the different religious practices of the wide variety of immigrants in San Francisco. I was pleasantly surprised that such a difficult and complex theme kept me absorbed at all times.” - Anna Hamling, Feminist Review blog

“Religion at the Corner of Bliss and Nirvana is a welcome new compilation of research on migrants and religion. It not only addresses subjects such as identity and politics, but also gives voice to groups and institutions not often considered by religious studies, such as transnational gangs, Filipino American faith-based organizations, and adherents of the Chinese goddess Tianhou. By considering these together, this anthology offers new perspectives on the intersections of faith and immigration.”—Russell Jeung, author of Faithful Generations: Race and New Asian American Churches

“Religion at the Corner of Bliss and Nirvana offers a cornucopia of fresh insights into the multiple roles religion plays for immigrant communities, as they negotiate the challenges of settlement in the always iconoclastic city of San Francisco. It includes groundbreaking comparisons among various Asian and Latino groups, ranging from Salvadoran Pentecostals, Vietnamese Theravada Buddhists, Filipino Roman Catholics, and Chinese-American Presbyterians. The volume also stands out for its innovative and perceptive exploration of the connections among transnationalism, spiritual journeys, gender crossings, and acculturation.”—Manuel A. Vásquez, University of Florida, Gainesville

“[T]his is a welcome addition to the literature on religion and new immigrants, a field that most social scientists have ignored.”

-- Harvey J. Strum Multicultural Review

“For scholars interested in the intersection of religion and migration, this book provides insights and data unique in the field. It would also be useful reading in graduate seminars in both the sociology of religion and international migration. I also recommend the book as an example of creative and interesting use of ethnographic data.”

-- Helen Rose Ebaugh Contemporary Sociology

“This book is a valuable and recommended addition to the increasing body of literature on religion and immigrant communities.”

-- Ann Gleig Religious Studies Review

”In spite of its tremendous and ambitious goal, Religion at the Corner of Bliss and Nirvana is not difficult to follow its daunting 372 pages. The writers did a fantastic job by reflecting on the different religious practices of the wide variety of immigrants in San Francisco. I was pleasantly surprised that such a difficult and complex theme kept me absorbed at all times.”

-- Anna Hamling Feminist Review blog

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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