Week2_Esther Lai_ASA114

Esther Lai

ASA 114

Week 2

            Evelyn Hu-Dehart’s Asian American Formations in the Age of Globalization focuses on the transnational and globalization aspects of Asians overseas, specifically Asian Americans in political and other higher positions in the United States and how it can translate over to their overseas Asian audience. With prominent figures like Daphne Kwok and Gary Locke representing Asian Americans, it is crucial for them to be the linkage between the United States and Asia, a sort of hybrid position to continue improve the political and economic relations between the two places, like China and the U.S. for Gary Locke. In this sense, globalism is good, however, it can have some unintended consequences like loss of labor, stereotypes, and labor exploitation. The role model position that Gary Locke plays in the Asian American community shows the effects of globalization and symbolizes the positive and negatives of globalization. One of the major issues that come with Asian Americans going to their Asian home countries is how “Asian” they are, how loyal they are to their ethnic backgrounds and heritage. Who is to say they are or aren’t enough for their ethnicity and on who they ultimately represent. 

            Globalization in the United States is still happening today, with companies recruiting intellectuals from overseas and people moving over the United States in search for better life opportunities given their higher intellectual status. 

Question: How can globalization discourage Asian Americans, and other Asians abroad, from visiting their home country and not being seen as someone who doesn’t belong there? Are there any obligations of loyalty to their home countries that globalization erases?

Image Source: https://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-us-ambassador-to-china-gary-locke-to-resign-20131119-story.html