Book Café

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.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

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

About the Speakers

Pyong Gap Min is a professor of sociology at Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is the author of four books, including Ethnic Solidarity for Economic Survival: Korean Greengrocers in New York City (2008), which has won two national book awards, and Caught in the Middle: Korean Communities in New York and Los Angeles (1996). He is the editor or co-editor of seven books, including Mass Migration to the United States: Classical and Contemporary Periods (2002), Encyclopedia of Racism in the United States (2005) and Asian Americans: Contemporary Trends and Issues (2006). Min’s latest book, The Intergenerational Transmission of Ethnicity through Religion: A Comparison of Korean Protestants and Indian Hindus, will be published in 2009 by New York University Press. Min holds an undergraduate degree in history from Seoul National University as well as an MA in history and doctorates in educational philosophy and sociology from Georgia State University.

Aiyoung Choi is an organizational consultant for nonprofit community organizations working on social justice issues. An active volunteer, Choi currently serves on the boards of Union Theological Seminary, New York Women’s Foundation, Manhattan Country School and Jezebel Film Productions. She is a founding board member of Asian Women Giving Circle and chair emerita and current board member of the Korean American Family Service Center. She has been honored with the 2008 Manhattan Borough President’s Distinguished Leadership Award, the 2006 Inspiration Award from the Asian Professional Extension as well as New York City Council’s Outstanding Service to the City Award in 2004 and the Everyday Hero Award from New York Newsday in 2003. Choi has recently completed Motherland, a documentary film on the Korean diaspora in Cuba.

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