Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Abstract: This research provides an empirical assessment of the relationship between places of socialization and ethnic self-identity preferences among Asian immigrants in the United States from separate parts of a politically divided homeland. Does place of socialization influence the (sub)ethnic self-identity of Chinese Americans growing up in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong? How do socialization context and transnational political concerns, among other factors, help structure the relationship? Benefitting from recent advancements in targeted ethnic sampling and telephone survey methodology, this essay examines results of the 2007 Chinese American Homeland Politics survey to study the contour and sources of ethnic identity preferences among Chinese in the United States from separate homeland origins. We test the usefulness of a theoretical framework that contrasts primordial ties with transnational political ties in understanding the structuring of identity preferences at the subethnic level.