Korean Immigrant Women and the Renegotiation of Identity: Class, Gender, and the Politics of Identity (The New Americans: Recent Immigration and American Society)

Park examines the process of identity transition and renegotiation among immigrant women. Taking the conceptualization of identity as a structural construct, connected to and reflected upon social inequalities, Park shows the ways in which immigrant women s pre-migration class, gender, and national identities are confronted and redefined in the host society. Using in-depth interviews with a sample of Korean immigrant women, she documents various fronts where renegotiation of identities takes place in the social contexts of the U.S. The analysis underscores the ways in which identity links individuals to social structures, and highlights the interplay between macro-identity categories and micro-identity practices.