Description
Book SynopsisBy focusing on the social and cultural life of post-1965 Taiwan immigrants in Queens, New York, this book shifts Chinese American studies from ethnic enclaves to the diverse multiethnic neighborhoods of Flushing and Elmhurst. As Hsiang-shui Chen documents, the political dynamics of these settlements are entirely different from the traditional closed Chinese communities; the immigrants in Queens think of themselves as living in worldtown, not in a second Chinatown. Drawing on interviews with members of a hundred households, Chen brings out telling aspects of demography, immigration experience, family life, and gender roles, and then turns to vivid, humanistic portraits of three families. Chen also describes the organizational life of the Chinese in Queens with a lively account of the power struggles and social interactions that occur within religious, sports, social service, and business groups and with the outside world.
Trade ReviewChinatown No More is an informative addition to the urban, immigrant, and ethnic community literature.
-- Sharon M. Lee * Contemporary Sociology *
Chen's readable ethnography brings together his insights as both participant in and observer of an extraordinarily significant segment of America's changing ethnic landscape. Teachers from advanced high school onward should welcome this excellent introduction to Taiwan immigrants in Flushing, Queens. Academic specialists focusing on ethnic relations, on the complexities of class in the United States, or on the 'overseas Chinese' will also find Chen's study informative and thought provoking.
-- Hill Gates * American Ethnologist *
