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As we develop our sociological imagination, sociologists concern themselves with three key, interconnected dimension of social life central to this book: inequalities, institutions, and identities. Social inequality occurs when resources are not distributed equally but instead tend to favor one group over another, due in part to historical and/or contemporary unfair treatment or opportunities. Sociologists attend to national, racial, gender, class, sexual, age, (dis)ability, and other bases of inequalities. Asian Americans, like African Americans, Latinxs, and Native Americans, can experience inequalities relative to whites. This can take place in the labor market, such as when Asian Americans encounter limited opportunities for upper management, despite ample experience and education (i.e. face the “glass ceiling” or “bamboo ceiling”). This can take place in the media, such as with limited and often stereotypical portrayals. This can take place in politics, such as when Asian Americans must defend themselves from attacks as being un-American by virtue of having Asian roots. And so on. Sociologists and scholars of Asian American Studies are committed to advancing social justice, which requires unearthing the causes and consequences of social inequality.

Online resource: Learn more about inequalities among actors at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/t-magazine/asian-american-actors-representation.html

The ways that Asian Americans experience inequalities depends on their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, and other social statuses. Asian-American women encounter different stereotypes than men, for instance. Post-9/11, South Asian and Arab Americans have faced greater scrutiny than have other ethnic groups within Asian America. Economic status, such as differences in the labor market and school system, is fundamental to a group’s well-being. Asian Americans with different education levels and skill sets will have varying advantages and disadvantages.

Online resource: See comedian Hasan Minhaj talk about 9/11 at https://youtu.be/15dejlEUqDM

The primary way that sociologists analyze inequalities is within social institutions, as noted above. Social institutions refer to a society’s publicly agreed upon ways to take care of its members’ needs. One can think of social institutions this way: as an individual, all one needs to survive is food, clothing, and shelter. Yet, for a society to survive and prosper, there must be a set of established means for individuals to pursue their interests and get along together. For example, there must be a means to raise children into the main norms and expectations of the society. This takes place within the institution of the family. There must be a means to train people for the occupations that the society will need. This takes place within the institution of education. There must be a means to organize the contrasting needs of large numbers of individuals. This takes place within the institution of politics.

A sociological imagination is one that recognizes that individuals’ lives are crucially shaped by social institutions (defined below) like media, the government, the family, and the economy. Even though we have distinctive biographies and unique identities, institutions shape our lives, and we participate in their transformation. Sociologists analyze how social institutions are constructed, what functions they intend to serve, who wins and who loses in how they are run, and how individuals engage in them and possibly change them. Because institutions are so central to how individuals relate to their environment, much of sociology is dedicated to understanding them.

This book attends to the main institutions relevant for the study of Asian Americans. Institutions place individuals in positions of relative privilege and/ or disadvantage based on social class, race and ethnicity, gender, and the like. We attend to possible inequalities but, moreover, to how Asian Americans experience institutions generally. Asian American Studies analyzes how Asian Americans experience institutions and how institutions have been shaped by Asian Americans. We consider how Asian Americans experience family life, how they take part in politics, how they practice religion, how they fare at school, how they are framed by the media, and more. Asian Americans inform how these institutions work from the vantage point of an ethnic/racial minority position. For example, given how Asian Americans practice their religion and are treated as religious people, what do we learn about how culturally tolerant the nation is? Is the educational institution premised on white privilege, even as some Asian Americans excel in school? From there we can consider how well institutions are serving society’s needs and what changes should be made to address possible problems.

Within institutions we come to learn about ourselves and develop our self-identities. How one sees oneself as an Asian American is her identity (or more accurately, one of her identities). Identity is a significant issue for all persons because everyone is a member of multiple sets of social groups (e.g. a family, school, workplace, political party, church, etc.) but has special relevance for racial minorities because of the ways US society has long categorized them. Asian Americans can identify with their ethnic group (i.e. Filipinx, Indian, Japanese, Vietnamese), their pan-ethnic (i.e. Asian-American) group, a religious group, and more. We develop our identities based on influences from our families, the media, schools, and other social institutions. So it is necessary to know how these institutions refer to Asian Americans. Other social categories, such as sexuality or gender, also shape our identities. Queer, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Asian Americans understand what it means to be Asian American differently than do straight Asian Americans. Our self-identities are central to our major lifestyle decisions, such as whom to befriend, where to live, how to raise our children, what rituals we perform, and so on.

Various complications arise in the identity development of racial minorities. How much choice do visible minorities have in their identity selections? For instance, can a Chinese American choose not to identify with his Chinese background if others keep referring to it? How do people of multiracial background choose to identify and form relations with others? Similarly, how do adopted Asian Americans make sense of their race if it differs from their adoptive parents and if they are not fully accepted by other Asian Americans? Can people (people who are non-Asian as well as those who are) bring together conflicting identities, such as “ethnic” and “American,” or are these kept apart? Do Asian Americans identify with only their ethnicity or also pan-ethnically? Answers to these questions inform what motivates individuals and how racial dynamics are shifting. While one chapter in this book concentrates on identity, the issues surrounding identity permeate multiple chapters.