Identity in Transition
Chinese Community Associations in Jamaica
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8901138 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Aaron Chang Bohr (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 44-73 |
| Publication date | 2004-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Caribbean Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0008-6495 • E-ISSN: 2470-6302 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00086495.2004.11672232 |
| OpenAlex | W213395936 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 10 |
One cannot separate the Jamaicans and their Associations from the context of their unique role in Jamaica and their place among other overseas in general because they exhibit many of the same characteristics of migration and creolization common to other overseas groups. Like them, the Jamaican were minority trading element, and occupied unique middleman position in the economy and society. After achieving economic success, the were able to advance socially while at the same time they became creolized and adjusted to their new society. As they consolidated as group in Jamaica, their organizations helped to maintain that ethnic solidarity as well as networks across the island. Such Associations - based on both and Western models - encouraged the maintenance of traditions and ethnic solidarity while paradoxically at the same time they aided acculturation to Jamaican creole culture and society. Ethnicity and Creolization According to Edgar Wickberg, can understand ethnicity on two levels. first is the ethnic culture that the immigrant brings with him or her as the cultural baggage of lived second level, that of ethnic identity, is conscious cultural definition of the self as and includes affiliation with ethnically defined groups. Indeed, this is process of constant definition and re-definition of the self and the group in contrast to the wider, non-Chinese society. There is therefore need for expressed or asserted since for migrant Chinese, ethnicity was constantly in flux.1 Orlando Patterson argues that the were a group which is among the most culturally bound, intensely ethnic, and exclusive in the world. This means that when considering the overseas experience, there is temptation to lump the experiences of the overseas into one continuous phenomenon. According to Wickberg: The image of powerful and continuous tradition in China may encourage us to think that everywhere carry with them some irreducible core of eternal Chineseness, but the variations that are visible make that proposition difficult to defend. Even though are often viewed as homogenous group, their overseas experiences demonstrate great deal of variation. Ethnicity and its derivations are important aspects to consider when studying Associations which served to preserve ethnic solidarity. According to Patterson, to belong to ethnic group is to believe sincerely that belongs for deep personal reasons which transcend socio-economic interests.4 For this reason, the worldwide have created their own unique versions of what can be termed Chineseness. Wherever they have gone, Chinese have proved themselves to be among the most adaptable peoples and that very adaptability has now created great many varieties of Chineseness throughout the world.5 In Jamaica, for example, because of the high rates of intermarriage and interracial liaisons, 'pure Chinese' had to take on cultural rather than racial meaning and the large number of racially-mixed influenced the to assume 'ethnicity' rather than 'race' as the basis of their collectivization.7 There are common processes of adjustment and acculturation that emerge among migrants worldwide and three dichotomies have been noted. first is the importance of dialect or family organizations (Bang in Chinese). bang were an intermediate identity focus that served as organizations of support. Such organizations in Jamaica were based mostly upon home districts in China and trade groups. Because the majority of overseas were minorities in their host societies, they very often began to adapt to native traditions. As new migrants settled in their host societies, there emerged the second dichotomy, that of the newcomer versus the old-timer
Acculturation · Aesthetics · Context (archaeology · Creole language · Creolization · Ethnic group · Identity (music · Immigration · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Solidarity · Anthropology · Caribbean history, culture, and politics · Gender Studies · History · Law · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,75 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2023 (2) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |