Expressing ethnicity: a Vietnamese community in Kansas

Abstract

This paper attempted to establish the usefulness of the sociologist Joane Nagel’s approach to the study of ethnicity within the discipline of anthropology. While others within the field of anthropology have acknowledged Nagel’s view, its application has been few. By reviewing the primordialist and circumstantialist debate over ethnicity within anthropology, the foundation will be laid to access the applicability of Nagel’s approach for resolving issues about ethnicity that still remain years after the debate. Considering that Nagel’s approach places importance on both the individual and those with whom the interaction takes place, the issue of transnationalism or continuation of multiple ties with another nation will be addressed when applying Nagel’s perceptive to a Vietnamese community in Kansas. The conclusions of this study revealed that Nagel’s approach to ethnicity does serve as a satisfactory model for understanding ethnicity, and transnationalism was found to be present among the Vietnamese community in Kansas.