"I am Not an Immigrant But I Happen to Live Here": Negotiating Ethnicity Among First-Generation Post-1965 Japanese Migrants in US Immigrant Gateway City

dc.contributor.advisorBratter, Jenifer L.en_US
dc.creatorZhang, Xiaoruien_US
dc.date.accessioned2021-12-06T20:20:29Zen_US
dc.date.available2022-06-01T05:01:14Zen_US
dc.date.created2021-12en_US
dc.date.issued2021-12-02en_US
dc.date.submittedDecember 2021en_US
dc.date.updated2021-12-06T20:20:29Zen_US
dc.description.abstractThe history of Japanese immigration to the United States is a well-established inquiry in Asian American scholarship. However, we know less about the incorporation experiences of contemporary Japanese who migrated to the United States after 1965. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 25 first-generation post-1965 Japanese migrants in Houston, Texas, this study examines how their understandings of immigrant status shape ethnic boundaries and ethnic identity formation. The findings indicate that many respondents do not see themselves as immigrants despite being long-term US residents, which corresponds to two types of ethnic boundaries. The first type is intergroup boundaries between themselves and other contemporary US immigrants, sharpened by the motivations for migration and the pursuits of American citizenship. The second type is intragroup boundaries among the Japanese population, not only with prewar Japanese immigrants, reflecting differences in social class, but also with Japanese expatriates in the host society and other co-ethnics living in Japan who embody a more authentic Japanese ethnic identity. The findings of this study reveal the dynamic nature of the immigrant label that contemporary migrants negotiate and redefine in the process of ethnic identity formation. Further, it contributes insights into the global North-North migration characterized as non-labor migration.en_US
dc.embargo.terms2022-06-01en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.citationZhang, Xiaorui. ""I am Not an Immigrant But I Happen to Live Here": Negotiating Ethnicity Among First-Generation Post-1965 Japanese Migrants in US Immigrant Gateway City." (2021) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/111774">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/111774</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/111774en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectpost-1965 Japanese migrationen_US
dc.subjectethnicityen_US
dc.subjectimmigranten_US
dc.subjectidentityen_US
dc.subjectglobal north-north migrationen_US
dc.subjectJapaneseen_US
dc.title"I am Not an Immigrant But I Happen to Live Here": Negotiating Ethnicity Among First-Generation Post-1965 Japanese Migrants in US Immigrant Gateway Cityen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentSociologyen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial Sciencesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.majorImmigration, Race, Ethnicity, Asian Americanen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Artsen_US
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