Cultural politics and identity formation in a San Joaquin Valley Hmong community
Author(s):
Bays, Sharon
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Ph.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : University of California, Los Angeles, 1994.
Pages:
311
Language:
English
Abstract:
I wanted to know how Laotian Hmong create meaning and continuity in their lives while adapting to new situations and taking advantage of new opportunities, or confronting the lack of them in Visalia, California. To answer this question, I analyzed conflicts in three settings where Hmong are in regular interaction with dominant practices: their garden plots, work and welfare, and youthful marriages. I found that identity is not homogeneous; that the processes of identity formation vary by gender and generation and are contested within the ethnic community and between Hmong and the surrounding society; and that the informal networks of Hmong women place them at the center of these processes, as well as at the center of cultural maintenance and grassroots mobilization. I used in-depth interviews and participant observation to investigate the relationship between structures of power and Hmong resistance to or negotiation with that power. This study adds a generational perspective to feminist theories and a gendered and generational perspective to anthropological theories on adaptation and identity among immigrants.