Book Café

with

Pyong Gap Min
Professor of Sociology, Queens College and the Graduate Center of the CUNY
Author of Ethnic Solidarity for Economic Survival: Korean Greengrocers in New York City

Moderated by

Aiyoung Choi
Management Consultant

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Korean immigrants have a tradition of entrepreneurship that can be seen in the countless Korean grocery stores and produce markets throughout New York City. While these businesses have helped Koreans pursue the American dream, they have also enmeshed their owners in inter-group conflicts with distributors, customers, employees and labor unions that often separate along ethnic divisions of their own.

In his new book, Ethnic Solidarity for Economic Survival, Pyong Gap Min uses Korean produce retailers as a case study to explore how involvement in ethnic businesses can shape the social, cultural and economic unity of immigrant groups, especially in cases where it collides with the economic interests of other ethnic groups. Min returns to the racially charged events of the 1990s, when perceived economic invasion of ethnic neighborhoods fueled boycotts of Korean-owned stores. At the time, the Korean community responded with rallies, political negotiations, and publicity campaigns of their own. The disappearance of such disputes in recent years has been accompanied by a corresponding reduction in Korean collective action, suggesting that solidarity is situational. Min provides both a sophisticated empirical analysis and a riveting collection of stories highlighting the perennial themes of immigration, race, work, and the American dream.

Co-sponsored by yKAN

About the Speakers