Pawan Dhingra - Asian America

The term “Asian American” is often extended to be “Asian American and Pacific Islanders” in order to indicate their connections to each other. However, it is important to not conflate these groups. In this book, we use the term “Asian American” and mean it in an expansive way. Pacific Islanders receive attention in this book, although not to the same degree as other Asian Americans. Arab Americans also receive attention, even though they are not traditionally considered as Asian American. The definitions of racial groups change over time, with some groups included and other groups excluded, depending on social and political contexts. For instance, South Asian Americans were classified as nonwhite in the US Census over the decades until 1970 when they were classified as white, and then in 1980 they were classified newly as Asian American after political lobbying by the community. One aim of this book is to deepen an understanding of how the broad notion of “Asian Americans” has come to be constructed.

When one says “Asian American,” it often has little resonance to most people beyond some standard stereotypes: they are hard-working, strong in math and sciences, exotic (for women), asexual (for men), possibly threatening (economically), and foreigners. Yet, when one speaks of Chinese Americans, Filipinx Americans, Vietnamese Americans, and so on, more nuanced images come to mind. In this book, we will attend to both pan-ethnic (i.e. referring to trends across Asian-American ethnic groups) and ethnic-specific practices. While the differences between groups receive recognition, their similarities are emphasized because they too shape individuals’ lives and illustrate how Asian Americans experience key social aspects (e.g. migration, culture, race, employment, media, etc.) in comparable (not necessarily identical) ways, which in turn illustrates how Asian Americans and other groups are impacted by and in turn influence the nation and globalization.

To attend to the range of issues that Asian Americans inspire, we need to take a heterogeneous research approach. The book privileges the social sciences, in particular sociology, but also draws from other fields. In particular it is informed by the interdisciplinary field of Asian American Studies.

Sociology as a discipline refers to the study of the social causes of why and how humans think and behave. Why do we do what we do? Our biological instincts may guide us. Philosophical arguments about ethics perhaps suggest to us certain options over others as morally appropriate. Monetary constraints can often dictate our choices. But sociologists, more so than other social scientists and humanities scholars, focus primarily on social causes of our actions and attitudes. Social causes refer to how individuals, groups, and social processes – such as one’s family, the labor market, groups, the media, the nation, and so on – impact individuals and are impacted by us. Sociologists place us, everyday individuals, within a social context in order to understand how we interact with our environments, as well as how our environments came to be in the first place.

As we consider the social dimensions to people’s behavior, we build up what noted sociologist C. Wright Mills (1959) called the “sociological imagination.” According to Mills, the “sociological imagination” challenges us to see ourselves not simply as unique individuals with particular life histories. Instead, we should recognize that we are part of social groups and spaces and that we embody certain roles. We experience our families, for instance, through our roles as daughters, siblings, fathers, and so on rather than as individuals. Once we recognize this, we better appreciate the social environment that is outside of us but which influences our lives, and which we act back on.

As we develop our sociological imagination, sociologists concern themselves with three key, interconnected dimension of social life central to this book: inequalities, institutions, and identities. Social inequality occurs when resources are not distributed equally but instead tend to favor one group over another, due in part to historical and/or contemporary unfair treatment or opportunities. Sociologists attend to national, racial, gender, class, sexual, age, (dis)ability, and other bases of inequalities. Asian Americans, like African Americans, Latinxs, and Native Americans, can experience inequalities relative to whites. This can take place in the labor market, such as when Asian Americans encounter limited opportunities for upper management, despite ample experience and education (i.e. face the “glass ceiling” or “bamboo ceiling”). This can take place in the media, such as with limited and often stereotypical portrayals. This can take place in politics, such as when Asian Americans must defend themselves from attacks as being un-American by virtue of having Asian roots. And so on. Sociologists and scholars of Asian American Studies are committed to advancing social justice, which requires unearthing the causes and consequences of social inequality.

Online resource: Learn more about inequalities among actors at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/t-magazine/asian-american-actors-representation.html

The ways that Asian Americans experience inequalities depends on their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, and other social statuses. Asian-American women encounter different stereotypes than men, for instance. Post-9/11, South Asian and Arab Americans have faced greater scrutiny than have other ethnic groups within Asian America. Economic status, such as differences in the labor market and school system, is fundamental to a group’s well-being. Asian Americans with different education levels and skill sets will have varying advantages and disadvantages.

Online resource: See comedian Hasan Minhaj talk about 9/11 at https://youtu.be/15dejlEUqDM

The primary way that sociologists analyze inequalities is within social institutions, as noted above. Social institutions refer to a society’s publicly agreed upon ways to take care of its members’ needs. One can think of social institutions this way: as an individual, all one needs to survive is food, clothing, and shelter. Yet, for a society to survive and prosper, there must be a set of established means for individuals to pursue their interests and get along together. For example, there must be a means to raise children into the main norms and expectations of the society. This takes place within the institution of the family. There must be a means to train people for the occupations that the society will need. This takes place within the institution of education. There must be a means to organize the contrasting needs of large numbers of individuals. This takes place within the institution of politics.

A sociological imagination is one that recognizes that individuals’ lives are crucially shaped by social institutions (defined below) like media, the government, the family, and the economy. Even though we have distinctive biographies and unique identities, institutions shape our lives, and we participate in their transformation. Sociologists analyze how social institutions are constructed, what functions they intend to serve, who wins and who loses in how they are run, and how individuals engage in them and possibly change them. Because institutions are so central to how individuals relate to their environment, much of sociology is dedicated to understanding them.

This book attends to the main institutions relevant for the study of Asian Americans. Institutions place individuals in positions of relative privilege and/ or disadvantage based on social class, race and ethnicity, gender, and the like. We attend to possible inequalities but, moreover, to how Asian Americans experience institutions generally. Asian American Studies analyzes how Asian Americans experience institutions and how institutions have been shaped by Asian Americans. We consider how Asian Americans experience family life, how they take part in politics, how they practice religion, how they fare at school, how they are framed by the media, and more. Asian Americans inform how these institutions work from the vantage point of an ethnic/racial minority position. For example, given how Asian Americans practice their religion and are treated as religious people, what do we learn about how culturally tolerant the nation is? Is the educational institution premised on white privilege, even as some Asian Americans excel in school? From there we can consider how well institutions are serving society’s needs and what changes should be made to address possible problems.