Full Citation

Title: One and Many Asian America: Intra-Asian Ethnic Boundaries and Intermarriage

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2023

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI: 10.1177/07311214221114297

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Abstract: As a racialized pan-ethnic group, Asian Americans exhibit ethnically heterogeneous structural and cultural characteristics, but such heterogeneity and its implications for Asian Americans’ pan-ethnic groupness were seldom explored empirically. Using the American Community Survey and the 2016 National Asian American Survey datasets, this paper examines intra-Asian symbolic and socioeconomic boundaries and boundary processes captured in Asian interethnic marriage. I find prominent intra-Asian boundaries distinguishing exceptionally disadvantaged refugee-origin Southeast Asians, yet intra-Asian marriages still occur across these boundaries. This mismatch between intra-Asian boundaries and marriage patterns reflects loose and often unstable interpretations of ethnic similarities and differences. Together, my findings reveal Asian Americans’ contextually salient interpretations of ethnic heterogeneity behind intra-Asian boundary processes, which further reinforce the socially constructed notion of Asian Americans as a racialized group.

Url: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/07311214221114297

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Authors: Lee, Jess

Periodical (Full): Sociological Perspectives

Issue: 1

Volume: 66

Pages: 71-92

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Race and Ethnicity

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