| This dissertation concentrates on two related questions: first, what accounts for politicization in Chinese communities overseas? Second, does political influence stem from group mobilization? Three broad schools of thought are widely cited to explain immigrant political incorporation. These schools emphasize cultural, class, and institutional factors. Culture and class-based approaches tend to dominate the literature on ethnic politics. Somewhat less work has been done using rational actor models or the "New Institutionalism" to account for group mobilization. While drawing on all three schools, the dissertation focuses particularly on how political institutions in the host country constrain and shape community leaders' political involvement. Four case studies, Indonesia, Malaysia, Los Angeles and New York City, are the principal means for exploring differences in Chinese political strategies.;Using evidence from the case studies, the dissertation shows that the strategic interests of community leaders, working within the institutional constraints of the host society's political system, account for the principal variation in political behavior of Chinese immigrants. In countries where elections are truly open, such as the US and Malaysia, Chinese become more active in the political process when there is direct mobilization by elites for electoral purposes. While political participation seems to rise with community activists' concerted efforts, political influence is less a product of community action, and more attributable to an individual leader's relationship with dominant elites. If community leaders acquire their status through Chinese business networks, they are more likely to be in a position to assert influence than if they are part of a social service organization. However, business leaders have little incentive to mobilize the community for collective action. Thus, community mobilization is rarely linked to the influence of prominent individuals. Besides contributing to the ongoing debate about the effects of culture and status on political participation, the dissertation presents new empirical work on the study of the Chinese diaspora and contrasts with previous research where the effects of political structures and incentives are overlooked for of culture and class based explanations. |
