Love Across Borders: Asian Americans, Race, and the Politics of Intermarriage and Family-Making

Intermarriage rates among Asian Americans are high, particularly with Whites, but Kelly H. Chong's research shows that both interracial and interethnic unions are sites of complex struggles around racial and ethnic identity and cultural formations. She explores how race and gender shape romantic desires and desirability, and how intermarriage offers critical insights into the racial struggles of this racially in-between model minority group.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 236 pages
Publication date: 22 October 2020
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

High rates of intermarriage, particularly with Whites, have been perceived as a sign that Asian Americans are successfully assimilating, indicating acceptance by the White majority and their own desire to integrate into the White mainstream. However, Kelly H. Chong challenges these assumptions by examining two types of Asian American intermarriage: interracial and interethnic. Through extensive qualitative data, Chong explores how interracial marriages, rather than being a final step towards assimilation, are a realm of ongoing negotiations over racial and ethnic identities. She also sheds light on Asian Americans' efforts to co-construct and sustain a common racial identity and panethnic culture, despite interethnic differences and tensions, through interethnic (intra-Asian) unions and family-making.

Chong further examines the pivotal role of race and gender in shaping the romantic desires and desirability of Asian Americans, highlighting the social construction of love and marital choices. Love Across Borders provides critical insights into the often invisible racial struggles of this racially in-between model minority group, particularly their ambivalent negotiations with whiteness and white privilege. It also delves into the group's social incorporation process and its implications for the redrawing of color boundaries in the United States.

In conclusion, intermarriage has played a significant role in the lives of Asian Americans, reflecting their complex negotiations with race, ethnicity, and cultural identity. By examining interracial and interethnic intermarriage, Love Across Borders offers valuable insights into the racial struggles, social incorporation, and implications of this racially in-between model minority group for the broader society.

Weight: 320g
Dimension: 153 x 229 x 11 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781138212558