Braving a New World - Cambodian (Khmer) Refugees in an American City

This ethnography, based on a five-year field study, presents a holistic view of a nearly invisible ethnic minority in the urban Midwest, Cambodian refugees. Hopkins begins with a brief look at Cambodian history and the reign which led these farmers to flee their homeland, and then presents an intimate portrait of ordinary family life and also of Buddhist ceremonial life. The book details their struggles to adjust in the face of the many barriers presented by American urban life, such as poverty, dangerous neighborhoods, and unemployment, and also by the conflict between their particular needs and American institutions such as schools, health care, law, and even the agencies intended to help them.

List of contents

Introduction
Material Culture: Meeting Basic Needs
Patterns of Kinship
Patterns of Social Organization
Ideology
Agents of Culture Change: Individuals and Institutions
Cambodian Children in American Schools
Conclusion
References
Index

About the author

MARYCAROL HOPKINS is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Northern Kentucky University.

Product details

• Authors: Marycarol Hopkins
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 21.10.1996
• EAN: 9780897893923
• ISBN: 978-0-89789-392-3
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); USA, Ethnic Studies, Anthropology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Refugees, South East Asia, United States of America, USA, Urban communities, Refugees and political asylum, Refugees & Political Asylum, Physical anthropology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / Asian Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General, Geography and World Cultures