The Ethnic Structure of Social Capital through Chinese and Vietnamese Community Organizations

Tseng W¹*, Chow J¹

1. University of California, Berkeley, USA

Community organizations play central roles within ethnic enclaves. This paper examines the ethnic community resources, entities, and exchanges that are mediated through Chinese and Vietnamese community based organizations serving immigrant populations in the San Francisco Bay Area. The study utilizes social capital theory to examine these processes at ethnic community organizations. The multiple qualitative methodologies include collective case study and ethnographic approaches. More specifically, the procedures include concentrated participant observation, 61 key informant interviews, and analysis of documentary materials. The findings suggest that the Chinese and Vietnamese community organizations reflect the historical contexts and current challenges of ethnic community development and American racial politics. Ethnic community organizations and ethnic elites and self-sufficient ethnics within such organizations represent critical entities of ethnic social capital that provide community leadership, social adjustment, cultural preservation, political advocacy, and community building resources to immigrants and other ethnic community members. However, minority Asian status has its disadvantages for these organizations and other community members as a result of the history of Asian American exclusion and ‘yellow peril’ ideologies and often restricts them from full incorporation into American society. The development of a critical mass ethnic community population and concentration and building and sustaining cross-cultural, American mainstream, and home country resource networks can help to bridge such barriers and build up ethnic community capacity.

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