The Economic Basis of Ethnic Solidarity

Abstract

Bonacich and Modell explore class and ethnic behavior as reflected in the history of Japanese Americans in the Unites States. They demonstrate that involvement in certain types of self-consciously ethnic business structures supports the development and maintenance of Japanese American ethnic solidarity. The authors question the idea of ethnicity as a natural or primordial bond; they accept that ethnicity reflects social and political decisions; ethnic solidarity and antagonisms are socially constructed. Moreover, economic factors play a great role in maintenance or dissolution of ethnic bonds, and ethnic groups often function as economic-interest groups; when they no longer do so, they dissolve. Participation in wider society and professions diminishes such ethnicity. The middleman-minority thesis is used to interpret the experience of pre- and post-war Japanese Americans. The comprises three traits: social and economic characteristics and society reactions. This study emphasizes the importance of a concentration in trade for creation and perpetuation of ethnicity. The middleman-minority applies best to the first (Issei) generation of Japanese Americans. This generation had a peculiar economic position consisting of family-centered, non-contractual oriented firms doing business (primarily agricultural related) in the midst of a capitalist economy. Owners of these ethnic firms faced open hostility and discrimination, which drove them to develop and preserve their own distinctive ethnic associations and outlook. Characteristic features of Japanese American small businesses are identified. Using the structural framework of the middleman minority, the authors explain the decreasing ethnic identity among second generation Japanese Americans in terms of the decreasing importance of small business as an economic base for the group, as members of this generation tended to move out into the professions. Using data from the Japanese American Research Project, the researcj examines the postwar development of this ethnic group to see to what degree pre-war economic forms have been reestablished among the second generation of Japanese Americans and the implications for their internal social organization and integration with the outside community. The pre-war ethnic economy was most revived by the oldest Japanese Americans. A division was found in the second (Nisei) generation, who are divided in economic orientation between small business and the professions. Degree of Nisei ethnicity and education are strongly related to birth date. The more educated Nisei moved into professions. Three important aspects of ethnic community are examined for the mid-1960s. Close family and kin relationships, and strong formal and informal ethnic associations, support and are supported by the middleman-minority ethnic economy. There is only a weak, but positive relationship between participation in small business and ethnic socialization and values; the relation is stronger for religion. The Sansei (children of the Nisei) show an even greater shift toward the professions than their parents. The study strongly departs from the success story or model minority approach of other ethnic research. Concludes that ethnic solidarity is a historical phenomenon; when ethnic minorities become like the majority economically, preserving their distinctiveness is difficult. (TNM)