by Janelle Wong

About Janelle Wong

Janelle Wong is Associate Professor of Political Science and Asian American Studies at the University of Maryland, where she also serves as the Director of the Asian American Studies Program. She is author of Democracy’s Promise: Immigrants and American Civic Institutions (2006) and co-authored (with S. Karthick Ramakrishnan, Taeku Lee, and Jane Junn) Asian American Political Participation: Emerging Constituents and Identities (2011) and (with Pei-te Lien and M. Margaret Conway) The Politics of Asia America: Diversity and Community (2004).

Politics

book Keywords for Asian American Studies

“Politics” is a term that is used broadly in Asian American studies. Scholars might refer to cultural politics or the politics of identity (Takagi 1994; Maira 2000; L. Lowe 1996), or they might refer to the political representation (J. Lai 2011; Lai and Geron 2006; W. Tam 1995) and participation of Asian Americans in civic, governmental, and institutional settings (Cain, Kiewiet, and Uhlaner 1991; Nakanishi 1991; Ong and Nakanishi 1996; Lien 1997; Janelle Wong et al. 2011). In part, the use of the term depends on the discipline, but for all, the term “politics” refers to processes or sites in which Asian American power is constructed, defined, negotiated, and deployed. That power may be in the form of and shaped by identity and culture, relations with dominant or marginalized groups, or civic and governmental influence.