Divided Fates
The State, Race, and Korean Immigrants' Adaptation in Japan and the United States
By (author) Kazuko Suzuki
Publication date:
12 May 2016Length of book:
314 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksDimensions:
239x161mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9780739129555
Winner, ASA Book Award on Asia/Transnational (2017)
This book compares the Korean diasporic groups in Japan and the United States. It highlights the contrasting adaptation of Koreans in Japan and the United States, and illuminates how the destinies of immigrants who originally belonged to the same ethnic/national collectivity diverge depending upon destinations and how they are received in a certain state and society within particular historical contexts. The author finds that the mode of incorporation (a specific combination of contextual factors), rather than ethnic ‘culture’ and ‘race,’ plays a decisive role in determining the fates of these Korean immigrant groups. In other words, what matters most for immigrants’ integration is not their particular cultural background or racial similarity to the dominant group, but the way they are received by the host state and other institutions. Thus, this book is not just about Korean immigrants; it is also about how contexts of reception including different conceptualizations of ‘race’ in relation to nationhood affect the adaptation of immigrants from the same ethnic/national origin.
This book compares the Korean diasporic groups in Japan and the United States. It highlights the contrasting adaptation of Koreans in Japan and the United States, and illuminates how the destinies of immigrants who originally belonged to the same ethnic/national collectivity diverge depending upon destinations and how they are received in a certain state and society within particular historical contexts. The author finds that the mode of incorporation (a specific combination of contextual factors), rather than ethnic ‘culture’ and ‘race,’ plays a decisive role in determining the fates of these Korean immigrant groups. In other words, what matters most for immigrants’ integration is not their particular cultural background or racial similarity to the dominant group, but the way they are received by the host state and other institutions. Thus, this book is not just about Korean immigrants; it is also about how contexts of reception including different conceptualizations of ‘race’ in relation to nationhood affect the adaptation of immigrants from the same ethnic/national origin.
Suzuki offers an interesting study of different Korean diaspora communities, the zainichi and tainichi Korean communities in Japan and the Korean community in the United States. She brings the role and importance of the state back into the discussions of “race” and does so through a transcultural comparison that yields fruitful results. The insights offered here are well argued and thorough and contribute to the knowledge and understanding of communities with diverse backgrounds and their struggles and successes in different host countries.