Diversity In Diaspora

This anthology wrestles with Hmong Americans’ inclusion into and contributions to Asian American studies, as well as to American history and culture and refugee, immigrant, and diasporic trajectories. It negotiates both Hmong American political and cultural citizenship, meticulously rewriting the established view of the Hmong as “new” Asian neighbors—an approach articulated, Hollywood style, in Clint Eastwood’s film Gran Torino. The collection boldly moves Hmong American studies away from its usual groove of refugee recapitulation that entrenches Hmong Americans points-of-origin and acculturation studies rather than propelling the field into other exciting academic avenues. Following a summary of more than three decades’ of Hmong American experience and a demographic overview, chapters investigate the causes of and solutions to socioeconomic immobility in the Hmong American community and political and civic activism, including Hmong American electoral participation and its affects on policymaking. The influence of Hmong culture on young men is examined, followed by profiles of female Hmong leaders who discuss the challenges they face and interviews with aging Hmong Americans. A section on arts and literature looks at the continuing relevance of oral tradition to Hmong Americans’ successful navigation in the diaspora, similarities between rap and kwv txhiaj (unrehearsed, sung poetry), and Kao Kalia Yang’s memoir, The Latehomecomer. The final chapter addresses the lay of the land in Hmong American studies, constituting a comprehensive literature review. Diversity in Diaspora showcases the desire to shape new contours of Hmong American studies as Hmong American scholars themselves address new issues. It represents an essential step in carving out space for Hmong Americans as primary actors in their own right and in placing Hmong American studies within the purview of Asian American studies.

Through enhancing reflection on the treatment of cultural diversity in contemporary Western societies, this collection aims to move the debate beyond the opposition between ethnicity and citizenship and demonstrate ways to achieve equality in multicultural and globalised societies.

This book critically examines the impact of migration, education, development, and the spread of English on global bio-linguistic and cultural diversity. Derived from findings from a comparative eco-linguistic study of intergenerational language, culture, and education change in the Tibetan Diaspora, the book extends its analysis to consider the plight of other peoples who find themselves straddling the Indigenous-Minority-Diaspora divide. MacPherson explores the overlapping and distinctive sustainability challenges facing indigenous and minority communities when they are connected by and within diasporas, and seeks to adequately explain the discontinuities and disjunctures between their educational struggles and achievement levels.

Caribbean Diaspora in the USA presents a new cultural theory based on an exploration of Caribbean religious communities in New York City. The Caribbean culture of New York demonstrates a cultural dynamism which embraces Spanish speaking, English speaking and French speaking migrants. All cultures are full of breaks and contradictions as Latin American and Caribbean theorists have demonstrated in their ongoing debate. This book combines unique research by the author in Caribbean New York with the theoretical discourse of Latin American and Caribbean scholars.

This book offers an account of heart touching insights into the world of diasporas in an arcade of writers highlighting their interesting research in diaspora.

The second half of the 20th century witnessed a series of mass migration in Asia due to war, politics and economic turbulence. Combined with recent global economic changes, the result is that Asia is now the world region producing the most international migrants and receiving the second most migrants. Asian migration has thus been of central concern to both academic researchers and policy communities. This book (together with its forthcoming second volume) provides a full span discussion of Asian migration from historical perspectives to updated analyses of current migration flows and diasporas. The book covers six sub-regional areas through focused themes: • Northeast Asia: Coping with Diversity in Japan and Korea • East Asian Chinese Migration: Taiwan, Hong Kong and China • Vietnamese Migration and Diaspora • Cambodian, Lao and Hmong Diaspora and Settlement • Singapore: New Immigrants and Return Migration • South Asian Migration and Diaspora Academics as well as general readers will find this book useful for understanding the specific features of Asian migration, and how these features have evolved since the latter part of the 20th century. In providing an overall reassessment of Asian migration, the book enhances academic discussion of Asian migration, with crucial implications for migration-related policy-making in the region.

By addressing questions of culture, identity and politics, Cartographies of Diaspora throws new light on discussions about `difference' and `diversity', informed by feminism and post-structuralism. It examines these themes by exploring the intersections of `race', gender, class, sexuality, ethnicity, generation and nationalism in different discourses, practices and political contexts. The first three chapters map the emergence of `Asian' as a racialized category in post-war British popular and political discourse and state practices. It documents Asian cultural and political responses paying particular attention to the role of gender and generation. The remaining six chapters analyse the debate on `difference', `diversity' and `diaspora' across different sites, but mainly within feminism, anti-racism, and post-structuralism.