Making a home in US rural towns: the significations of home for Chinese immigrants' work, family, and settlement in local communities

Abstract

This paper provides a micro-ethnographic study of a group of Chinese immigrants’ experiences of homeownership as an indicator of their long-term settlement in three rural towns located in the central region of New York State, USA. Drawing upon 12 qualitative and in-depth interviews with recent homeowners, this study attempts to construct home as a semiotic sign that not only contains traditional Chinese values but also conveys specific significations for Chinese immigrants’ work, family, and settlement in US rural communities. The findings here may pose a contrast with some existing studies in that settlement for Chinese immigrants is not necessarily a quantitative measurement, but a subjective conceptualization externalized in the ownership of a house as a meaningful sign of work, family, and settlement.