Power of Urban Ethnic Places

Jan Lin is emigrated from Taiwan to the U.S. in 1966. He has been teaching sociology at Occidental College since 1998. He is the author of Reconstructing Chinatown: Ethnic Enclave, Global Change (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998), and The Urban Sociology Reader (London: Routledge, 2005).

"Lin’s timely and innovative book on the politics of urban ethnic places in contemporary America provides a much needed comparative examination into the intersection of race, political economy, and activism in contemporary cities. This is a must-read and novel resource for anyone interested in critical urban studies and comparative ethnic studies."—Arlene Davila, Anthropology, New York University "Drawing on rich fieldwork data and rigorous analysis, as well as insight from his own involvements in community work and teaching in world cities from coast to coast, Jan Lin convincingly argues that ethnic heritage sites offer a tool in counterbalancing urban decay and promoting neighborhood stability and sustainability. It makes an important contribution to contemporary urban sociology. "—Min Zhou, Sociology and Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

• 1. Doing Ethnic History from Coast to Coast 2. Ethnic Communities and Cultural Heritage 3. Ethnicity in America from World’s Fair to World City 4. Ethnic Places, Postmodernism and Urban Change in Houston 5. Heritage, Art and Community Development in Miami’s Overtown and Little Havana 6. Removal and Renewal of Los Angeles Chinatown from the Frontier Pueblo to the Global City 7 . Preservation and Cultural Heritage in New York’s Chinatown and Lower East Side and Impact of the 9/11 Disaster 8. The Death and Life of Urban Ethnic Places