Those Asian American woke kids: Asian American hashtag activism, identity, and interracial solidarity
Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering
; 83(11-B):No Pagination Specified, 2022.
Article
in English
| APA PsycInfo | ID: covidwho-2045207
ABSTRACT
This dissertation examined the discursive strategies employed by Asian American activists engaged in interracial solidarity activity on Twitter. In light of the recent anti-Asian racism due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the long-standing model minority stereotype, studying Asian American identity and activity is a timely and relevant endeavor. The study contributes to a rich understanding of race relations in the United States beyond the black-white binary and furthers research on Asian American representation and use of social media for activism purposes. I use theories of racial formation and racial triangulation to make sense of the current racial order. I also conceptualize Twitter as a space conducive for the creation and maintenance of counterpublics through its affordances and build upon scholarly work on racial biases and representations online. I use critical discourse studies, discourse tracing, and guided interviews to answer the research question, how do Asian Americans express solidarity with other people of color online? I select three hashtags for analysis:
#Asians4BlackLives, #JusticeForAkaiGurley, and #NotYourWedge. I also conducted interviews with seventeen respondents who participated in at least one of the hashtags above. I found in my analysis that Asian American activists employ several discursive strategies that redefine Asian American identity and position in the racial order. Because I theorize race as context specified and mutually constitutive, I found that in expressing interracial solidarity Asian American activists must interrogate their own racializations and challenge a racial order in which Asian Americans as a group are used to uphold white supremacy. They do this by creating alternative racial projects and use their racial identities as a mechanism or technology to accomplish their goals. However, challenging the racial order involves provisional and liminal redefinitions of identity and position. I also problematize the educational and class barriers to Asian American activism within the context of the model minority stereotype and techno-Orientalist perspectives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
Hashtag activism; Race; Social media; Asian American children; Cultural identity; Interracial solidarity; *Activism; *Asians; *Social Media; *Solidarity; *Cultural Identity; Ethnic Identity; Minority Groups; Racial and Ethnic Groups; Communication Systems [2700]; Social Processes & Social Issues [2900]; Human Adulthood (18 yrs & older); us
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Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
APA PsycInfo
Language:
English
Journal:
Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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