Asian American Youth

Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity

Edited by Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou

Routledge, 2004, 346 pages, $23.95 paper; ISBN 0415946697

The Asian-origin population in the U.S. constitutes the fastest growing ethnic group. As of 2000, this group constitutes 4 percent of the total U.S. population, roughly 12 million. As a result, Asian American youth are quickly growing into their own subculture and carving out their own identity in American culture.  This collection is one of the first to address the important topics concerning Asian American youth as a distinctive group apart from other groups such as Latinos and African Americans. The essays examine such timely topics as immigration, assimilation, intermarriage, socialization, sexuality, and ethnic identification. This work fills an absence in the existing literature on youth culture while providing a broad look at Asian American youth culture across different Asian ethnic groups.

Awards

2006 Book Award of the ASA's Section on Asia & Asian America

Contents

Acknowledgements

1.  Introduction: The Making of Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity among Asian American Youth, Min Zhou and Jennifer Lee

PART I: Population Dynamics and Diverse Contexts of Growing Up American

2. Coming of Age at the Turn of the 21st Century: A demographic profile of Asian American youth, Min Zhou

3. Intermarriage and Multiracial Identification: The Asian American experience and implications for changing color lines, Jennifer Lee and Frank D. Bean

PART II: Historical Patterns of Cultural Practices among Asian American Youth

4. Rizal Day Queen Contests, Filipino Nationalism, and Femininity, Arleen de Vera

5. Nisei Daughters' Courtship and Romance in Los Angeles before World War II, Valerie J. Matsumoto

6. Hell's A Poppin': Asian American women's youth consumer culture, Shirley Jennifer Lim

7. Shifting Ethnic Identity and Consciousness: US-born Chinese American youth in the 1930s and 1950s, Gloria Heyung Chun

PART III: Emerging Youth Cultural Forms and Practices

8. Instant Karma: The commercialization of Asian Indian culture, Sabeen Sandhu

9. Transnational Cultural Practices of Chinese Immigrant Youth and Parachute Kids, Christy Chiang-Hom

10. Reinventing the Wheel: Import Car Racing in Southern California, Victoria Namkung

11. 'No Lattés Here': Asian American youth and the cyber café obsession, Linda Trinh Võ and Mary Yu Danico

12. Filipinotown and the DJ Scene: Cultural expression and identity affirmation of Filipino American youth in Los Angeles, Lakandiwa M. de Leon

13. A Shortcut to the American Dream? Vietnamese youth gangs in Little Saigon, James Diego Vigil, Steve C. Yun and Jesse Cheng

14. Lost in the Fray: Cambodian American youth in Providence, Rhode Island, Sody Lay

15. Made in the USA: Second generation Korean American evangelicals, Rebecca Y. Kim

16. Performing Race, Negotiating Identity: Asian American professional actors in Hollywood, Nancy Wang Yuen

17. Searching for Home: Voices of gay Asian American youth in West Hollywood, Mark Tristan Ng

18. Marriage Dilemmas: Partner choices and constraints for Korean Americans in New York City, Sara S. Lee

19. A Commentary on Young Asian American Activists from the 1960s to the Present, William Wei

20.  Conclusion: Reflections, Thoughts, and Directions for Future Research, Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou

Bibliography
List of Contributors