ABSTRACT
Scholars of American politics increasingly recognize the multidimensionality of oppression and the importance of community-based resistance led by members of intersectionally marginalized groups. Much less is known about the individuals who engage in community activism for social justice, how they became activists, and the challenges they face in the current political-economic context of rising neoconservativism and neoliberalism that is racialized and gendered. The following discussion examines these issues using the less-known case of Asian Pacific Americans and an intersectional approach. Although the dualistic, gendered, and racialized constructions of Asians as both “model minorities” and “yellow perils” make it difficult to build and sustain mass movements for social justice, the local political-economic contexts and personal experiences of community members matter. I suggest that an intersectional approach to the study of citizenship practice among progressive Asian Pacific American activists offers key insights into the ways in which groups marginalized by race, gender, ethnicity, class, and other social forces build and sustain communities of resistance and transformation towards social justice.
