In “Asians on
the Rim: Transnational Capital and Local Community in the Making of
Contemporary Asian America,” Arif Dirlik “argue[s]… that… earlier
conceptualizations of Asian America… may be more relevant than ever” (3).
Although the United States did not become significantly involved in
transnational trade or economics with countries in Asia in the past, the idea
of an “Asian America” still needs to exist because changes have occurred to the
economies of countries in Asia.
One major point of the article is that when
Asian Americans did not act together in the past, they became affected “by
white capital” (Dirlik 4). Dirlik further emphasizes this by indicating that
“Asian America” acts continuously and does not only apply to Asian Americans in
former times (6). Although transnationalism connects the United States to countries
in Asia, the United States can still affect Asian Americans.
The second main
point of the article is that people move due to changes in the economy of the
United States and those of the countries in Asia (Dirlik 12). Transnationalism
includes people moving for financial reasons or purposes.
The third main point of the article is that
the transnationalism between the United States and countries in Asia can result
in some people relating to those in Asian countries instead of relating to
others in the United States (Dirlik 14). The transnationalism between the
United States and countries in Asia affects the perspectives of Asian
Americans.
Transnationalism
can cause some Asian Americans to be influenced by the countries in Asia, which
causes Asian Americans to be less focused on the people around them in the
United States. Dirlik states, “Asian America is no longer just a location in
the United States” (13). This suggests that Asian Americans do not necessarily
need to live in the United States to be considered “Americans.”
Transnationalism causes Asians who live in Asia to have knowledge about the
United States. In addition, Dirlik states that the whole world became affected
by “the economic and political emergence of Pacific Asian societies” (11). The changes
in the economies of the countries in Asia influence the Asian Americans in the
United States and the Asians in other parts of the world. However, the article
focuses on the transnationalism between the United States and the countries in
Asia, which suggests that the economies of the countries in Asia have greater
effects on the Asian Americans in the United States than on Asians outside of
Asia in other countries of the world. As a result, some Asian Americans focus
their attention on the markets or economies of the countries in Asia.
In discussing that,
we will be looking at Global Commodity Networks. GCNs are the transnational chains of economic
enterprises involved at different stages in the production and consumption of a
single commodity. Through GCNs, we can understand the emergence of transnational
economic organizaions in the contemporary global economy. Specifically in this
article, Korwenewicz can analyze the changes in international capitalism in the
leather-footwear industry industry through factors such as dynamics of national
economies and the world economy and then considering political economy and the
culture of Argentina, Brazil, and the US. Korwenewicz explains the changes in
roles through national and international factors and then diving more deeper
into politics and culture of the nation.
The evidence is that data that shows the relationship
between all the resources, production, and distribution segments of the
leather-footwear industry, and observing changes in roles of being the dominant
resource, producer, and distributor. Korzenewicz is aware that today Brazil is America’s
top leather footwear import and Argentina’s top leather export. In discussing the connection between Brazil,
America, and Argentina, we can understand how the domestic, world and political
economies and cultures result in a transnationalism that seeks to understand
all of these combining factors. Without considering these factors, then the
Global Commodity Network would lose its context of how certain goods are
produced, imported, and then bought and sold. More specifically, how such goods
are produced within the globalized economic context.
In “Legal Servitude and Free
Illegality: Migrant “Guest” Workers in Taiwan” by Pei-Chia Lan, she provided an
understanding of the process of international labor migration and the
conditions of migrant contract workers. The guest worker program is
widely adopted in Asia, in which migrant workers are employed on temporary
contracts that prohibited them from immigrating or becoming naturalized (Lan
255). Many migrant workers wanted to work in Taiwan because of the higher wages
compared to other Asian countries; however, opportunities are scarce because of
quota controls. In order to be able to seize the opportunity to work in Taiwan,
migrant workers had to pay an unreasonably high price for the placement fees
because of the kickbacks.
Through the guest worker program in
Asia, it not only created a highly exploitative system of labor migration, but
it also becomes an oppressive regime of labor control and social exclusion.
Documented migrant workers are exploited because of their foreigner
status and lack of citizenship. Despite being exploited, they rarely do open
confrontations because of the financial burden they have and also, they are
bonded by the contract of employment. Some documented migrant workers can no
longer handle the abuse, maltreatment and unreasonable workload so they chose
to escape. Some of them escaped because of personal reasons or sexual
harassment. One of the reasons for the great number of irregular migrants is
because they wanted to stay in Taiwan longer than their contract permits.
Undocumented labor workers benefit from higher wages because they are free to
switch jobs and they also have more freedom compared to documented migrant
workers. However, they are still being exploited by working in hazardous environments
with no health insurance.
Lan points out that the migrant
workers are situated in a bounded global market in which transnational labor
recruitment exacerbates the commodification of migrant workers, who are treated
as profitable objects of exchange by labor brokers and disposable labor power
by receiving countries”(271). A quote that Lan mentioned on page 262
stood out to me, “Migrant workers reduce costs for employers not only through
their lower wages, but also through their powerlessness in the organization of
labor process associated with their foreigner status and lack of citizenship”
(Sassen 1988). This quote symbolizes the strategy of cheap labor that Americans
used to exploit Asian immigrants in the old days. This shows that countries that
are more superior with resources tend to abuse their power to dominant other
groups who are less powerful. The author also goes to critique the host state
government in their failure of dealing with the problem of irregular migration
properly, but instead temporary bans on employment and punishment on
unauthorized employers (272). It is important that if migrant workers are to be
guest in a host country that they be treated with respect and equality in the
community.
With the concern of undocumented migrant workers used as
commodities in GCN, the monitoring of persons moving to other financial or
economic reasons takes contextualizes transnationalism within the world of
factory labor and production, along with distributors. This discussion of
capitalism in a globalized context helps provide understanding of how products
are made internationally, and that the problem of using labors and persons does
not go away unseen, to another country. Instead, it provides a direct
understanding of how Asian economies and Asian American consumption are linked,
due to the this complex interplay of supply and chain networks.
Questions
1. 1) How do these factors link the resource, the
producer and the distributor? Why is the resource the resource, the producer
the producer and the distributor the distributor?
2. 2) How can we apply an examine of the GCNs of the
leather-footwear industry to the effects of the economic organizations and
global economy?
3. 3) Why can changes to the economies of
countries in Asia cause the Asians in those countries to be seen as related to,
or associated with, the Asian Americans in the United States?
4. 4) Would it be beneficial for Asian
Americans in the United States to distinguish themselves from those who
participate in the economies of Asian countries? Why or why not?
5. 5) What changes can be done by the
government to prevent the exploitation of migrant workers in host countries?
Source: Dirlik, Arif. “Asians on the
Rim: Transnational Capital and Local Community in the Making of Contemporary
Asian America.” Amerasia Journal 22.3 (1996): 1-24.
Source: Lan, Pei-Chia. “Legal Servitude and Free Illegality: Migrant “Guest” Workers in Taiwan.” Asian Diasporas: New Formations, New Conceptions (2007): 253-277.
Source: StephyChung8. "Part 1: Culture Shock - Chinese Americans in China." YouTube. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?
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