Chinese American Transnationalism
The Flow of People, Resources, and Ideas between China and America during the Exclusion Era
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10022707 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mae M Ngai (Columbia University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 93 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 917-918 |
| Publication date | 2006-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of American History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8723 • E-ISSN: 1945-2314 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/4486520 |
| OpenAlex | W2312386979 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
This collection is the third volume of essays on the Chinese exclusion era (1882–1943) edited by Sucheng Chan. Each presents historical work that exemplifies the cutting-edge themes and methods of its period. The first, Entry Denied (1990), focused on the legal and institutional dimensions of exclusion. The second, Claiming America (1998), concerned Chinese Americans' claims for inclusion and the making of ethnic identity. The present volume speaks to current interest in transnationalism in migration studies and in American studies more generally. Tracking human, economic, and cultural flows across the Pacific Ocean, these essays offer a complex view of the transnational connections that shaped the experience of Chinese in the United States from the late nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth. Some 300,000 Chinese entered the United States during the exclusion era, the same number that entered between 1849 and 1882, when no restrictions existed. This feat required the development of sophisticated transpacific networks that enabled Chinese to navigate the exclusion laws and survive in a hostile environment. Erika Lee's essay discusses the myriad strategies that Chinese used to overcome the barriers to immigration: those strategies resulted in rates of legal admission as high as 93 percent during some years. Other authors focus on the economic enterprises that sustained transnational families and communities: Madeline Hsu examines the “gold mountain firms” in Hong Kong that exported foodstuffs and herbs to Chinese in America and delivered letters and remittances (p. 22); Yong Chen focuses on the investment of Chinese American capital in southern Chinese villages; Haiming Liu offers a fascinating case study of Chinese herbalists as “assertive, innovative ... and cosmopolitan” subjects (p. 155). Other essays discuss Chinese American connections to China politics (by Shehong Chen), Chinese schools in America (Him Mark Lai), and Chinese American literary work (Xiao-Huang Yin)
China · Chinese americans · Ethnic group · Immigration · Political science · Sociology · Transnationalism · Asian American and Pacific Histories · Gender Studies · History · Law · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,42 |
| Citation span | 2007 - 2023 (17) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |