Creating ethnic places: Vietnamese American community-building in Orange County and Boston (California, Massachusetts)

At the end of the Vietnam War, refugees from Southeast Asia were initially dispersed by federal resettlement policy. But refugees ended up undermining that policy, creating distinct and recognizable communities in various regions of the United States. This dissertation examines Vietnamese American community-building in Orange County, California and Boston, Massachusetts. Orange County's Little Saigon contains a bustling and vibrant business district known widely as the “capital” of Vietnamese America. In Boston's Fields Corner, a small cluster of shops, restaurants, groceries, and social services serves as a focal point for the Vietnamese American community. The rise of these ethnic places raises the leading question: To what extent does Vietnamese American community-building require ethnic place-making?; Ethnographic interviews were conducted with 52 Vietnamese American community leaders and 20 outside experts from 1994 to 1997. Leaders included small business owners, public officials, social service providers, community advocates, ethnic employees, clergy, and university students. Statistics compiled by government agencies illustrate national and regional patterns in migration and settlement. Analysis of community events, newspaper clippings, organizational documents, business directories, and local artifacts furnishes additional information. Four analytic frames—place-making, racialization, historical memory, and ethnic entrepreneurship—highlight distinct aspects of the community-building process and help to explain variation between the cases.; Place-making is a central and persistent component of Vietnamese American community-building. Little Saigon and Fields Corner operate as territorial sites for social interaction, anchors for identity, and symbolic aggregating devices. Differences between Little Saigon and Fields Corner reflect the broader underlying context in which community-building occurs. Regional and local structures, combined with population size, help to shape the prevailing opportunities for leadership. The presence of ethnic Chinese in Little Saigon and of Chinatown in Boston do not have a determinating impact on these opportunities. Vietnamese American community-building is weakened without the presence of a main territorial place.; Efforts to create ethnic places are not likely to cease as time progresses. In the future, becoming American may require more, not fewer, attachments to ethnic places.