The New Chinese America: Class, Economy, and Social Hierarchy

The New Chinese America explores the historical, economic, and social foundations of the Chinese American community, revealing the emergence of a new social hierarchy after the 1965 Immigration Act. Xiaojian Zhao uses class analysis to illuminate the difficulties of everyday survival for poor and undocumented immigrants and analyzes the process through which social mobility occurs. While the growth of the ethnic economy enhances ethnic bonds by increasing mutual dependencies among different groups of Chinese Americans, it also determines the limits of possibility for various individuals depending on their socioeconomic and immigration status.