Jalos, USA: Transnational Community and Identity

Abstract

830 Reviews Reading these diverse yet commonly threaded stories, readers can come to their own conclusions regarding the liminal, fluid, intersectional, multiple, and continuously evolving nature of Korean Americans’ ethnic identity formation. The editors, however, organize the personal narratives by utilizing a typology of ethnic identity development, which they introduce in the beginning and revisit at the end of the book. Ethnic identity formation is dependent on a combination of low and high internal factors (retention of ethnic culture, involvement in ethnic social networks, linkages to the homeland) and external factors (racial discrimination). Based on this typology, the editors conclude that the first cohort of Korean Americans had many more problems in developing their ethnic identity than the later cohort. This is due to the earlier cohort having more difficulty in retaining ethnic culture, being less involved in ethnic social networks, and lacking posi- tive linkages to the homeland than the later cohort. It is also because the earlier cohort grew up encountering more intense and overt racial discrimination in America than the later cohort. Thus, the later cohort of Korean Americans are more likely to have a strong positive ethnic identity as Koreans throughout their lives and have experienced much less inner psychological turmoil over their identity than the earlier cohort. The editors therefore conclude that today’s youn- ger generation of Korean Americans are not forced to accept either a Korean or an Asian label. Instead, they have the luxury of choos- ing whether or not they want to add their Korean ethnic identity onto their American identity. They can pick and choose from American and Korean culture in the ways that suit them best. Readers may find that the personal narra- tives that fill the main body of the book do not fit neatly into the ethnic identity typology provided by the editors. No matter their cohort type, all of the essays share the com- mon thread of being in-between, self- conscious, hybrid, and experiencing an identity evolution. The identity typology insufficiently captures the fluid, situational, intersectional, and evolving nature of identi- ties across time and place. Given that the book seeks to provide a cohort analysis, it would have also been helpful to have a more detailed description of the sample so that readers could know how the two cohorts compared in terms of age, gender, place of socialization, and class. It is also unclear how the essays were selected and how representative they are of the Korean American population. Several of the essay authors are sociology PhDs, and many are leaders in the Korean American community. As the editors recognize, their cohort analysis is also impeded by the fact that there are only three essays from the first cohort and that not all of the same subjects were addressed in the essays. Finally, readers who have a more sys- tematic view of racism in America may ques- tion how easily Korean Americans can now forge an optional ethnicity of their own. Younger-Generation Korean Experiences in the United States is, no doubt, a must-read for anyone interested in the subject of 1.5- and second-generations’ ethnic identity forma- tion. Some readers may find the typology of ethnic identity formation helpful. All readers will find the personal narratives of the second generation’s journey of ethnic identity development moving and thought- provoking. Jalos, USA: Transnational Community and Identity, by Alfredo Mirande´. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2014. 240 pp. $27.00 paper. ISBN: 9780268035327. A BIGAIL A NDREWS University of California, San Diego alandrews@ucsd.edu In a growing literature on transnational migration, Alfredo Mirande´’s book Jalos, USA: Transnational Community and Identity adds a rich portrait of a migrant community, stretched between the hometown of Jalos, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, and its primary destination of Turlock, in the Central Valley of California. Building on seminal contribu- tions to the study of transnationalism, such as the work of Peggy Levitt (2001) and Robert Smith (2006), Mirande´ uses in-depth interviews and focus groups to portray in detail the workings of a transnational com- munity, including religious festivals and traditions, gender interactions in daily life, the ways people maintain a shared identity Contemporary Sociology 44, 6 Downloaded from csx.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO on October 27, 2016