New Formations, New Questions

Viewing current Asian American racial formation in relation to international cultures and global geography, the essays in New Formations, New Questions break new ground in Asian American studies. This special issue of positions confronts questions of what it is to be Asian and how that differs from being Asian American. It exposes many challenges Asian Americans face in defining their niche in this country as it makes some acute, if not disturbing, observations of what it means to be American.

In one essay, the status of Asians born in America both before and after the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act is compared, with particular attention directed toward the exploitation of Asian immigrants as a source of cheap physical labor. In another piece, the link between America’s colonization of Asian countries and international sex tourism is explored. As these essays make clear, the United States easily exploits Asians and Asian Americans as it simultaneously enforces distinctions that render Asians linguistically, culturally, and racially “foreign.” Also included is an essay based on a series of interviews with Filipino store owners and workers in Southern California; analysis of the Christian Ecumenical perspectives on the Asian sex tour industry and the activities of ECPAT, a group established to end child prostitution in Asian tourism; and an account of a South Asian woman’s attempt to unionize taxicab drivers in New York City.

Contributors. Anuradha G. Advani, Enrique Bonus, Oscar V. Campomanes, Y. David Chung, Allan DeSouza, Gayatri Gopinath, Helen Heran Jun, Laura Hyun Yi Kang, Peter Kiang, Elaine H. Kim, Min-Jung Kim, Lisa Lowe, Eithne Liubheid, Long Nguyen, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Eliza Noh