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

by Marycarol Hopkins

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780897893923
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/21/1996
Series:	Contemporary Urban Studies
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)
Lexile:	1340L (what's this?)

About the Author

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

Table 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

Editorial Reviews

An ethnographic account of a small community of Cambodian refugees in a medium-sized Midwestern city, examining the changing patterns of technology, kinship, community organization, and religion in the refugees' lives within the contexts of family, community, ritual, and institutions. Research was conducted between 1987 and 1995 using classic ethnographic methods, especially participant observation and extended informal interviews. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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