@masterthesis{Kuo2023,
       author = "Kuo, Shania",
       title =  {{"Asian American” as a Floating Signifier: Ascribing and Redefining Racial and Ethnic Identity at PWIs}},	
       type = {Bachelor's Thesis},

       howpublished = "\url{https://ir.hamilton.edu/do/4d5ff0b1-9af9-478a-bbc8-3a70c22e2c73}",
       institution = {Hamilton College},
       year = 2023,
       month = may,
       school = {Sociology},
}

Creator

Date

May 2023

Description

Scholars of Asian America have used and contested models of panethnicity to describe Asian American identity. This dialogue can benefit from more attention to the multiple, fluid interpretations in the diaspora around what "Asian American” identity means. Based on 41 interviews with Asian American college students at two institutions on the West coast and East coast, I explore how Asian American college students understand and negotiate "Asian American” identity in different contexts. My results suggest that Asian American panethnic and ethnic identities operate as floating signifiers within predominantly white institutions (PWI). Depending on the historical, structural and cultural contexts of the PWI, Asian American college students have different capacities and resources to ascribe and contest meanings assigned to the label "Asian American.” My findings point to how Asian American identity operates as a floating signifier sensitive to local and institutional contexts.

Type of Work

• Thesis

Institution

Hamilton College

Area of Study

• Sociology

Degree

Bachelor of Arts

Advisor

Part of Collection

Senior Theses

Rights Statement

The copyright for this work is held by its creators and Hamilton College. More information