Ethnic Enclaves, Ethnic Communities, and Ethnic Linkages: Urban and Suburban Koreans in New York

• In Event: 469 - Section on International Migration Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 18. Ethnic Communities

Abstract

This paper examines the changing demographic and sociospatial aspects of ethnic enclaves focusing on urban and suburban Koreans in the New York metropolitan area. Traditionally, urban ethnic enclaves have been understood as temporary way stations for newly arrived poor immigrants facing cultural and language barriers. However, in the current era of globalization and migration, due to the forces created by the increasing influx of affluent immigrant populations and transnational capital from booming Asian economies, ethnic enclaves have evolved into ethnic communities, often established in suburban areas, transcending their traditional function. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, this paper explains the demographic and spatial factors that have created divergent patterns of ethnic concentration in a changing metropolitan context. Second, this paper evaluates the adequacy of the traditional notion of the ethnic enclave as a geographical container of ethnic linkages and as a hindrance to immigrant assimilation and suburbanization by offering the conceptual and empirical clarity of ethnic enclaves and ethnic communities in post-industrial and global cities. This paper relies on various sources of both quantitative and qualitative data such as aggregated and micro Census data of 2000 and 2010 and fieldwork data. This paper will enhance our understanding of the changing character of ethnic enclaves and challenge the traditional notion of spatial assimilation by reflecting on the impact of a globalized economy and the simultaneous occurrence of ethnic concentration and dispersion.

Author

• Sookhee Oh, University of Missouri-Kansas City