Managing Multicultural Lives
Asian American Professionals and the Challenge of Multiple Identities
Published on 28. February 2007
Book
Hardback
328 pages
978-0-8047-5577-1 (ISBN)
Description
How do people handle contrasting self-conceptions? Do they necessarily compartmentalize their personal lives from their professional lives? Do minority and immigrant groups, in particular, act "ethnic" at home, "American" at work, "racial" in pan-ethnic spaces? Managing Multicultural Lives moves past this common assumption and demonstrates how minorities actually bring together contrasting identities.
Using the words and experiences of Indian American and Korean American professionals themselves, Pawan Dhingra eloquently shows how people break down the popular "margins vs. mainstream" conception of group identity and construct a "lived hybridity." He offers new insight into minorities' experiences at work, at home, and in civil society. These Asian Americans' ability to handle group boundaries fluidly leads them to both resist and support stratified social patterns. It also indicates new, more nuanced understandings of immigrant adaptation, multiculturalism, and identity management that pertain to multiple types of immigrant groups.
Using the words and experiences of Indian American and Korean American professionals themselves, Pawan Dhingra eloquently shows how people break down the popular "margins vs. mainstream" conception of group identity and construct a "lived hybridity." He offers new insight into minorities' experiences at work, at home, and in civil society. These Asian Americans' ability to handle group boundaries fluidly leads them to both resist and support stratified social patterns. It also indicates new, more nuanced understandings of immigrant adaptation, multiculturalism, and identity management that pertain to multiple types of immigrant groups.
Reviews / Votes
"In this thoughtful and well-written work, Dhingra investigates how Indian and Korean Americans in Dallas, Texas, simultaneously distinguish between and reconcile their ethnic, racial, and American identities in daily life In light of the dearth of literature on Korean Americans and especially on Indian Americans in southern cities, Dhingra's perspectives offer fresh insights while expanding upon a growing topic of scholarly interest." - Uzma Quraishi (University of Houston) "[Managing Multicultural Lives] illustrates how second-generation ethnics do not cast their lot with either their American or ethnic sides; rather, they position themselves according to their circumstances, using their diverse backgrounds as valuable resources . . . Highly recommended." - CHOICE "Overall, the book offers numerous rich quotes, providing a detailed account of second-generation Indian and Korean American professionals' views. The book is also analytical, incorporating a variety of relevant sources . . . In the midst of debates over whether Asians will eventually be defined as 'white,' this book adds a complex case study." - American Journal of Sociology "Pawan Dhingra provides a provocative attention to detail, to the multiplicities of identity, social worlds and daily practical challenges that his participants must negotiate. In the process, he offers us insights that are equally useful in the boardroom, the classroom, the neighborhood, and even inside our homes. The result is an inviting look at the kind of boundary work that may well lie at the heart of the American immigrant experience." - Christina Nippert-Eng (author of Home and Work: Negotiating Boundaries through Everyday Life) "Pawan Dhingra's study of Korean-American and Indian-American professionals in Dallas charts new ground by juxtaposing two Asian-American communities in the South. It shows through detailed ethnographic study how these upwardly mobile Asian Americans are positioned within a national discourse of liberal democratic citizenship as those who occupy the margins in the mainstream. Their critiques as well as disavowal of racial discrimination, and the cleavages and bonds formed between groups after 9/11, are important to take note of for anyone interested in the paradoxes of neoliberal multiculturalism." - Sunaina Maira (author of Desis in the House: Indian American Youth Culture in New York City) "This comparative study delves into the complex and overlapping dynamics of identity among ethnic minority professionals through insightful narratives and reflexive everyday life stories. It is thought-provoking and theoretically engaging on immigrant adaptation, and also fun to read." - Min Zhou (University of California, Los Angeles)More details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Palo Alto
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Cloth
Illustrations
6 tables, 1 map
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
544 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8047-5577-1 (9780804755771)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Pawan Dhingra is Associate Professor of Sociology at Oberlin College and Museum Curator (2011-2012) at the Smithsonian Institution.
Content
Contents: Acknowledgmentsix 1. Introduction: Opening Up the Margins in the Mainstream000 2. Uncovering Asian Americas: Examining Korean Americans and Indian Americans in Texas000 3. Growing Up Takes (Identity) Work: Developing Ethnic Identities000 4. Model Americans, not Minorities: Racial Identities and Responses to Racism*000 5. Multiculturalism on the Job: The Work Domain000 6. Aspiring to be Authentic: The Home Domain000 7. Becoming Cultural Citizens: Leisure and Civil Society Domains000 8. Conclusion: Reconciling Identities, Recognizing Constraints000 Appendix - questions000 Notes000 Bibliography000 Index000