Conversion and Conflicts Resolution: Religious Conversion to Christianity among Chinese and Indian Immigrants in America

• In Event: 165 - Section on Sociology of Religion Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 03. Immigration and Religion

Abstract

Previous studies show that there is an increase in post-1965 immigrants’ conversion to Christianity in the United States. Scholars argue that immigrants’ experience in their countries of origin influences their conversion process. In this paper, I demonstrate that immigrants’ experience in their countries of origin impacts their strategies for identity construction and conflicts negotiation. By comparing the religious conversion process of Chinese and Indian immigrants, I study how Chinese and Indian immigrants adopt similar yet slightly different strategies to construct their identities. The findings reveal that Chinese immigrants radically abandon their ascribed religious identities to construct their achieved religious identities while Indian immigrants make smooth transitions from ascribed religious identities to achieved religious identities. Moreover, both Chinese and Indian immigrants consume symbols to preserve their ethnic identities and attach their ethnic identities with their achieved religious identities as Christians. Drawing on these findings, this article broadens the theoretical framework to understand post-1965 immigrants’ religious conversion and identity construction process.

Author

• Di Di, Rice University