Studies of religion among our nation's newest immigrants largely focus on how religion serves the immigrant community — for example by creating job networks and helping retain ethnic identity in the second generation. In this book Ecklund widens the inquiry to look at how Korean Americans use religion to negotiate civic responsibility, as well as to create racial and ethnic identity. She compares the views and activities of second generation Korean Americans in two different congregational settings, one ethnically Korean and the other multi-ethnic. She also conducted more than 100 in-depth interviews with Korean American members of these and seven other churches around the country, and draws extensively on the secondary literature on immigrant religion, American civic life, and Korean American religion. Her book is a unique contribution to the literature on religion, race, and ethnicity and on immigration and civic life.
Readership: Academics and students of Sociology and Religion
Elaine Howard Ecklund, Dr. Assistant Professor of Sociology and Associate Director of the Center on Race, Religion and Urban Life, Rice University
""Ecklund does not patronize her subjects by asking only under what circumstances the dominant society will accept them. Instead she engages them in the question of how they can change the society for the better." —"
""Elaine Howard Ecklund has written a marvelous account of religion's crucial role among one of America's fastest-growing immigrant populationsGiven the right circumstances, Ecklund shows, Korean American congregations provide far more than simply a refuge for their members and are poised to facilitate civic engagement that will alter the face of middle-class communities." —" - Robert Wuthnow, author of America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity
""As the first book on both second-generation Korean evangelicals and civic participation among the post-1965 immigrant groups, it makes a significant contribution to the growing literature on the new immigrants and their religions. Written in engaging style, it should serve as an ideal reader for classes dealing with Asian American and new immigrant religious experiences." —" - Pyong Gap Min, author of Caught in the Middle: Korean Communities in New York and Los Angeles
Chapter 1:: Religion and Civic Life for Korean Americans Chapter 2:: A Theoretical Interlude: Connecting Institutions and Identities Chapter 3:: Religion, Race, and Ethnicity in Two Churches Chapter 4:: Models of Civic Responsibility Chapter 5:: Civic Identities Chapter 6:: Civic Models and Community Service Chapter 7:: Evangelicalism and Politics for Korean Americans Chapter 8: Implications for Institutional Change Appendix A: Data and Methods Appendix B: Interview and Survey Guides Endnotes Bibliography
