ABOUT THIS BOOK

Contemporary Chinese America is the most comprehensive sociological investigation of the experiences of Chinese immigrants to the United States—and of their offspring—in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The author, Min Zhou, is a well-known sociologist of the Chinese American experience. In this volume she collects her original research on a range of subjects, including the causes and consequences of emigration from China, demographic trends of Chinese Americans, patterns of residential mobility in the U.S., Chinese American “ethnoburbs,” immigrant entrepreneurship, ethnic enclave economies, gender and work, Chinese language media, Chinese schools, and intergenerational relations. The concluding chapter, “Rethinking Assimilation,” ponders the future for Chinese Americans. Also included are an extensive bibliography and a list of recommended documentary films.

While the book is particularly well-suited for college courses in Chinese American studies, ethnic studies, Asian studies, and immigration studies, it will interest anyone who wants to more fully understand the lived experience of contemporary Chinese Americans.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Min Zhou is Professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of Chinatown (Temple) and The Transformation of Chinese America, co-author of Growing Up American, and co-editor of Asian American Youth and Contemporary Asian America.

REVIEWS

"[A] comprehensive, in-depth analysis of contemporary Chinese America. The work, based on rigorous quantitative analyses and qualitative fieldwork, is informative, thought provoking, theoretically sound, empirically rich, while simultaneously humanistic.... In sum, [this book] offers the most thorough sociological investigation to date of the multifaceted experiences of Chinese immigrants and their off-spring in the United States. It provides an excellent grounding for understanding the emerging trends, issues, and debates in 21st-century Chinese American community while posing some of the most important questions in the fields of Chinese American Studies and comparative immigration."
—The Journal of Chinese Overseas

"Min Zhou’s Contemporary Chinese America is a wonderful addition to the literature on Asian Americans, ethnicity, and immigration. It is also an especially helpful resource for students interested in race and class… Contemporary Chinese American is a must read for everyone interested in immigration, race, ethnicity, and contemporary Asian America."
—Contemporary Sociology

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures and Tables
Foreword, by Alejandro Portes
Acknowledgments

Introduction: A Personal Reflection on the Study of Chinatown and Beyond

PART I Historical and Global Contexts
1. The Chinese Diaspora and International Migration

PART II Immigration, Demographic Trends, and Community Dynamics
2. Demographic Trends and Characteristics of Contemporary Chinese America
3. In and Out of Chinatown: Residential Segregation and Mobility among Chinese Immigrants in New York City
4. Suburbanization and New Trends in Community Development: The Case of Chinese Ethnoburbs in the San Gabriel Valley, California, with Yen-Fen Tseng and Rebecca Y. Kim

PART III The Organizational Structure of the Ethnic Enclave
5. Immigrant Entrepreneurship and the Enclave Economy: The Case of New York City’s Chinatown
6. Chinese-Language Media in the United States
7. Chinese Schools and the Ethnic System of Supplementary Education

PART IV The Family and the New Second Generation
8. The Other Half of the Sky: Immigrant Women in Chinatown’s Enclave Economy
9. Negotiating Culture and Ethnicity: Intergenerational Relations in Chinese Immigrant Families
10. “Parachute Kids” in Southern California: The Educational Experience of Chinese Children in Transnational Families

PART V The Future of Chinese America
11. Rethinking Assimilation: The Paradox of “Model Minority” and “Perpetual Foreigner”

Appendix: Recommended Films on the Chinese American Experience
Notes
Bibliography
Index

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