What do you think?
Rate this book
Disoriented: Asian Americans, Law, and the Nation-State
Does "Asian American" denote an ethnic or racial identification? Is a person of mixed ancestry, the child of Euro- and Asian American parents, Asian American? What does it mean to refer to first generation Hmong refugees and fifth generation Chinese Americans both as Asian American?
In Asian Americans, Law, and the Nation State , Robert Chang examines the current discourse on race and law and the implications of postmodern theory and affirmative action-all of which have largely excluded Asian Americans-in order to develop a theory of critical Asian American legal studies.
Demonstrating that the ongoing debate surrounding multiculturalism and immigration in the U.S. is really a struggle over the meaning of "America," Chang reveals how the construction of Asian American-ness has become a necessary component in stabilizing a national American identity-- a fact Chang criticizes as harmful to Asian Americans. Defining the many "borders" that operate in positive and negative ways to construct America as we know it, Chang analyzes the position of Asian Americans within America's black/white racial paradigm, how "the family" operates as a stand-in for race and nation, and how the figure of the immigrant embodies a central contradiction in allegories of America.
"Has profound political implications for race relations in the new century"
—Michigan Law Review, May 2001
In Asian Americans, Law, and the Nation State , Robert Chang examines the current discourse on race and law and the implications of postmodern theory and affirmative action-all of which have largely excluded Asian Americans-in order to develop a theory of critical Asian American legal studies.
Demonstrating that the ongoing debate surrounding multiculturalism and immigration in the U.S. is really a struggle over the meaning of "America," Chang reveals how the construction of Asian American-ness has become a necessary component in stabilizing a national American identity-- a fact Chang criticizes as harmful to Asian Americans. Defining the many "borders" that operate in positive and negative ways to construct America as we know it, Chang analyzes the position of Asian Americans within America's black/white racial paradigm, how "the family" operates as a stand-in for race and nation, and how the figure of the immigrant embodies a central contradiction in allegories of America.
"Has profound political implications for race relations in the new century"
—Michigan Law Review, May 2001
Paperback
First published October 1, 2000
1 person is currently reading
32 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 6, 2009
An incredible and informative introduction to the field of Asian/Pacific/American Studies and A/P/A history, US law, and current (or relatively recent) events.
I liked this book because it allowed me to see plainly the interconnectedness of our history in the US, the law and recent events such as the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982 and made me question present attitudes and circumstances within and around the A/P/A community both at my college and in my home city. In addition, the book provided me with words/phrases/examples to articulate my concerns around the present state of the A/P/A community with some authority.
I used this book two times after I initially read it for my CRT class both for a research project collecting and analyzing narrative experiences of previously incarcerated Asian/Pacific/American men in the greater Seattle area in summer-fall 2007 and again when presenting my capstone proposal in a senior seminar arguing A/P/A history as a history of incarceration and exclusion.
I liked this book because it allowed me to see plainly the interconnectedness of our history in the US, the law and recent events such as the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982 and made me question present attitudes and circumstances within and around the A/P/A community both at my college and in my home city. In addition, the book provided me with words/phrases/examples to articulate my concerns around the present state of the A/P/A community with some authority.
I used this book two times after I initially read it for my CRT class both for a research project collecting and analyzing narrative experiences of previously incarcerated Asian/Pacific/American men in the greater Seattle area in summer-fall 2007 and again when presenting my capstone proposal in a senior seminar arguing A/P/A history as a history of incarceration and exclusion.
Displaying 1 of 1 review