Vietnam, the Philippines, Guam and California: Connecting the Dots of U.S. Military Empire

In the 2015 Asia Lecture at the York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR), Dr. Yen Le Espiritu views the Vietnamese refugee flight— from Vietnam to the Philippines to Guam and then to California, all of which routed the refugees through United States (U.S.) military bases—as a critical lens through which to map, both discursively and materially, the legacy of U.S. military expansion into the Asia Pacific region and the military’s heavy hand in the purportedly benevolent resettlement process. She makes two related arguments: the first about military colonialism, which contends that it was (neo)colonial dependence on the U.S. that turned the Philippines and Guam into the “logical” receiving centers of the Vietnamese refugees; and the second about militarized refuge, which emphasizes the mutually constitutive nature of the concepts “refugees” and “refuge” and shows how both emerge out of and in turn bolster U.S. militarism

Gender, Migration, and Work

Since the 1960s, the Philippines has sent the largest number of professional immigrants to the United States, the majority of whom are Filipino health care practitioners. Linking U.S. imperialism and migration to the United States, this article argues that the overrepresentation of nurses among contemporary Filipino immigrants is the result of intertwined influences of U.S. (neo)colonialism in the Philippines, the establishment of Americanized professional nursing training in the Philippines, the recurring shortage of nurses in the United States, and the aggressive recruitment of Filipino nurses by Philippine and U.S. agencies. The global historical relations that set the context for Filipino nurse migration has ramifications for the personal and family lives of Filipina health professionals. Accordingly, the second half of the paper explores how marriage and family relations are reconstituted in the United States when it was the wives who pioneered migration.Sexe, migration et travail : les professionnels Philippins de la santé aux Etats-Unis.Depuis les années 1960, les Philippins ont envoyé un grand nombre d’immigrants professionnels vers les États-unis, la majorité d’entre eux étant des praticiens de la santé. En liant l’impérialisme américain et la migration aux États-Unis, cet article avance que la sur-représentation des infirmières parmi les immigrants philippins actuels est le résultat d’influences imbriquées : le néo-colonialisme américain aux Philippines, l’établissement de centres de formation d’infirmières aux Philippines, le manque récurrent d’infirmières aux États-Unis et le recrutement « accrocheur » des infirmières par l’État Philippin et les agences américaines. Les liens historiques qui sont à l’origine du contexte de la migration des infirmières philippines ont des ramifications dans les vies personnelles et familiales des professionnelles de la santé. Par conséquent, la deuxième partie de l’article traite de la façon dont les relations familiales et matrimoniales se reconstituent aux États-unis lorsque les épouses étaient les premières à partir en migration.Sexo, migración y trabajo : las profesionales filipinas de la sanidad en Estados UnidosDesde los años 1960, un gran número de inmigrantes profesionales filipinos, la mayoría de entre ellos practicantes de la sanidad, se ha instalado en Estados Unidos. Asociando el imperialismo americano y la migración a Estados Unidos, este artículo sugiere que la representación de las enfermeras entre los inmigrantes filipinos actuales es el resultado de diferentes influencias que se imbrican unas con otras: el neo-colonialismo americano en Filipinas, el establecimiento de centros de formación de enfermeras en Filipinas, la carencia recurrente de enfermeras en Estados Unidos y la contratación de « enganchador » de enfermeras por el Estado Filipino y las agencias americanas. Lo

"'Asianness Under Construction:' The Contours and Negotiation of Panethnic Identity/Culture among Interethnically Married Asian Americans."

Based on life-history interviews of interethnically married U.S.-raised Asians, this article examines the meaning and dynamics of Asian American interethnic marriages, and what they reveal about the complex incorporative process of this “in-between” racial minority group into the U.S.. In particular, this article explores the connection between Asian American interethnic marriage and pan-Asian consciousness/identity, both in terms of how panethnicity shapes romantic/ marital desires of individuals and how pan-Asian culture and identity is invented and negotiated in the process of family-making. My findings indicate that while strong pan-Asian consciousness/ identity underlies the connection among intermarried couples, these unions are not simply a defensive effort to “preserve” Asian-ethnic identity and cultur against a society that still racializes Asian Americans, but a tentative and often unpremeditated effort to navigate a path toward integration into the society through an ethnically based, albeit hybrid and reconstructed identity and culture, that helps the respondents retain the integrity of “Asianness.

Militarized Refuge : A Transpacific Perspective on Vietnamese Refuge Flight to the United States

特集：移民・難民・市民権 : 環太平洋地域における国際移民Special Topic: Immigrants, Refugees, Citizenship : International Migration in the Pacific Regio