Nailing Race and Labor Relations: Vietnamese Nail Salons in Majority-Minority Neighborhoods

This article brings theories of immigrant entrepreneurship into conversation with a broader literature on Asian American racialization in the United States. Drawing on four months of ethnographic field research, I shed light on the micro-processes, routines, and everyday interactions in two Vietnamese-owned nail salons located outside of Vietnamese enclaves in majority black and Latino neighborhoods in Northern and Southern California. Introducing the triangular system of labor relationships concept, I highlight a system of racialized and class-based labor relationships among owners-workers-clients that were crucial to sustaining business relationships in majority-minority neighborhoods.