Assessing the Sociological Study of Asian American Christianity

Abstract

In the following I review the extant literature on the sociology of Asian American Christianity which has grown exponentially since the 1980s. While some studies continue to offer complications to linear assimilation theories in explaining the role of religion among first and second generation Asian Americans, more recent research has employed other theoretical frames including supply-side religious economies, symbolic boundary formation, organizational fields, and contemporary racialization. Methodologically, the vast majority of these studies consist of regional comparisons of congregations, most of which are Chinese and Korean Protestant. In addition to a call for greater inclusion of non-Protestant Asian American Christians as well as South and Southeast Asian American Christians, I suggest substantive and methodological considerations for further research in the sociological study of Asian American Christianity.