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CHINESE ORGANIZATION S AN D ETHNICIT Y IN SOUTHEAS T ASIA AND NORT H AMERICA SINCE 1945 : A COMPARATIV E ANALYSI S Edgar Wickberg ORGANIZATIONS AN D ETHNICIT Y I N OVERSEA S CHINESE COMMUNITIE S Overseas Chines e organization s hav e ofte n bee n see n a s a forc e retardin g assimilation.1 Whateve r thei r intentions , th e ver y presenc e o f such bodie s provides continue d suppor t an d encouragemen t t o Chines e cultura l lif e abroad. On e woul d therefor e expec t a n analysi s o f oversea s Chines e organizational trend s to tell us something about trends in Chinese ethnicit y in th e communitie s wher e the y ar e found. I t i s unlikely tha t anyon e woul d argue tha t th e mor e association s a n oversea s Chines e communit y ha s th e more Chinese 1 i t mus t be . Still , a growt h i n number s o f associations ma y give u s som e ide a o f wha t i s not goin g o n (e.g. , complet e assimilation) . More to the point of ethnicity, the kinds of associations, and their uses — to the exten t w e ca n determin e thos e thing s — shoul d hel p u s mak e som e general argument s abou t what is happening. Some limitation s o n thi s approac h shoul d b e mad e immediatel y explicit. N o amoun t o f countin g an d classifyin g o f organizations ca n giv e us a ful l pictur e o f wha t thos e organization s d o an d ho w the y se e themselves.2 Mor e particularly a t th e level of individual ethnicity , th e onl y way to know what meanin g such associations have to the oversea s Chines e individual i s t o kno w wha t par t eac h organizatio n play s i n tha t individual's life . Ho w muc h o f hi s lif e i s involve d i n Chines e associational activity ? Wha t othe r organization s — one s a t leas t partl y non-Chinese i n membershi p — does he als o join? Wha t doe s h e ge t fro m each? Those questions cannot be pursued here. In this essay, all we can do is to lay out what see m to be broad trends and comment on what they may mean. By introducing information an d perspectives from Nort h Americ a I hope t o sharpen th e discussio n o f ethnicit y i n Southeas t Asia , throug h bot h comparison an d contrast . Becaus e o f accessibilit y o f data , I wil l giv e primary attentio n t o th e Philippines , Singapore , and , i n th e Nort h American case , Canada . 304฀ EDGAR WICKBER G OVERSEAS CHINES E ORGANIZATION S SINC E 194 5 : SOME SOUTHEAS T ASIA N AN D NORT H AMERICA N DATA AN D COMPARISON S The first, an d mos t obviou s phenomeno n ha s bee n a larg e increas e i n the tota l numbe r o f oversea s Chines e organization s i n al l th e countrie s examined. I n the Philippines , of 116 clan association s listed by See in 1981, 72 wer e establishe d i n 194 5 o r after. 3 O f th e 6 6 cultura l an d fraterna l associations recorde d i n 1976 , 4 4 wer e founde d afte r 1945. 4 And o f 17 2 district association s i n 1976 , 13 8 wer e o f post-1945 origin. 5 There are , o f course, difficultie s wit h th e data . I t i s no t clea r whethe r al l liste d organizations wer e stil l actuall y i n existenc e o n the dat e o f compilation o f the tables. It is also obvious that more post-1945 organizations ar e likely t o have survive d i n th e 1970 s...

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