Incorporating research carried out over the last twenty years, this book documents the personal and collective responses of Chinese migrants and refugees to the prejudice and discrimination they have experienced. Using case studies of Chinese communities in Canada, Chan explores the different defence mechanisms Chinese migrants have created in order to escape the systemic and institutionalized discrimination they face. In particular, the book analyzes Chinese entrepreneurship, arguing that it is a collective response to blocked opportunities in host societies.

Drawing upon empirical and theoretical literature on the sociology of race and ethnic relations, the book stresses the variety in Chinese culture and its ability to exploit an emergent ethnicity as individuals, groups and communities.

Contents

1. Coping with Racism: A Century of the Chinese Experience in Canada 2. Ethnic Stereotypes in the Press: Chinese in Timmins, Canada 3. Ethnic Space, Displacement and Forced Relocation: The Chinatown in Montreal, Canada 4. Coping with Ageing and Managing Identity: Elderly Chinese Women in Montreal, Canada 5. Racial Discrimination and Social Response: Perceptions of Chinese and Indochinese Community Leaders in Montreal, Canada 6. Unemployment, Social Support and Coping: The Psychosocial Response of Indochinese Refugees to Economic Marginality 7. Adaptation of Vietnamese-Chinese Refugees in Montreal, Canada: Problems and Dilemmas 8. Voluntary Associations and Ethnic Boundaries: Chinese Indochinese in Montreal, Canada 9. The Many Faces of Immigrant Business 10. Ethnic Resources, Opportunity Structure and Coping Strategies: Chinese Business in Canada 11. State, Economy and Culture: Reflections on Chinese Business Networks 12. Myths and Misperceptions of Ethnic Chinese Capitalism 13. Singaporean Chinese Doing Business in China

Author Bio

Chan Kwok-bun is Head of the Department of Sociology and Director of the David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies at the Baptersity of Hong Kong.