Asian American Youth

Jennifer Lee is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. Min Zhou is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Asian American Studies Interdepartment Degree Program and the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the award-winning author of several books, including Contemporary Asian America, Growing Up American and Chinatown.

"The Asian American population of the United States has grown exponentially over the last couple of decades. Yet the state of scholarly and popular knowledge of the Asian American experience remains scandalously superficial--with facile old clichés still dominating the cultural imaginary. Drs. Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou do us all a great service by producing an interdisciplinary and comparative volume that is not only state-of-the-art social science but will push us to re-think basic ideas about the rich variety of experience and condition of a growing sector of the American mosaic." -- Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, Steinhardt School of Education, New York University"This lively and multifaceted collection of essays reintroduces the sociology of youth into the field of race-and-ethnicity; it sheds light on ethnic practices and institutions that have remained invisible in the study of (adult) immigrants; informs us about how the children of East and Southeast Asian immigrants are becoming Asian Americans. Asian American Youth is also a good read about a very active bunch of young people." -- Herbert J. Gans, Columbia University"The editors of this collection start from the paradox of presence/absence--Asian American students are the fastest growing ethnic group across many college campuses, and yet popular characterizations of young Asian Americans are so often off the mark, rendering Asian American youth cultures invisible. This book is an answer back to the paradox--and provides readers with a fuller view of the main currents of Asian American youth issues, cultures, and dilemmas." -- Dana Y. Takagi, Co-Director, Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community, University of California, Santa Cruz

• Introduction: The Making of Culture, Identity, and Ethnicity among Asian American Youth, Min Zhou and Jennifer Lee PART I: Population Dynamics and Diverse Contexts of Growing Up American 1. Coming of Age at the Turn of the Twnty-First Century: A Demographic Profile of Asian American Youth, Min Zhou 2. Intermarriage and Multiracial Identification: The Asian American Experience and Implications for Changing Color Lines, Jennifer Lee and Frank D. Bean PART II: Historical Patterns of Cultural Practices among Asian American Youth 3. Rizal Day Queen Contests, Filipino Nationalism, and Femininity, Arleen de Vera 4. Nisei Daughters' Courtship and Romance in Los Angeles before World War II, Valerie J. Matsumoto 5. Hell's A Poppin': Asian American Women's Youth Consumer Culture, Shirley Jennifer Lim 6. Shifting Ethnic Identity and Consciousness: U.S.-born Chinese American Youth in the 1930s and 1950s, Gloria Heyung Chun PART III: Emerging Youth Cultural Forms and Practices 7. Instant Karma: The Commercialization of Asian Indian Culture, Sabeen Sandhu 8. Transnational Cultural Practices of Chinese Immigrant Youth and Parachute Kids, Christy Chiang-Hom 9. Reinventing the Wheel: Import Car Racing in Southern California, Victoria Namkung 10. No Lattés Here: Asian American Youth and the Cyber Café Obsession, Mary Yu Danico and Linda Trinh Võ 11. Filipinotown and the DJ Scene: Cultural Expression and Identity Affirmation of Filipino American Youth in Los Angeles, Lakandiwa M. de Leon 12. A Shortcut to the American Dream? Vietnamese Youth Gangs in Little Saigon, James Diego Vigil, Steve C. Yun, and Jesse Cheng 13. Lost in the Fray: Cambodian American Youth in Providence, Rhode Island, Sody Lay PART IV: Negotiating and Affirming Identity, Space, and Choice 14. Made in the U.S.A.: Second-Generation Korean American Campus Evangelicals, Rebecca Y. Kim 15. Performing Race, Negotiating Identity: Asian American Professional Actors in Hollywood, Nancy Wang Yuen 16. Searching for Home: Voices of Gay Asian American Youth in West Hollywood, Mark Tristan Ng 17. Marriage Dilemmas: Partner Choices and Constraints for Korean Americans in New York City, Sara S. Lee 18. A Commentary on Young Asian American Activists from the 1960s to the Present, William Wei Conclusion: Reflections, Thoughts, and Directions for Future Research, Jennifer Lee and Min Zhou