
The Border Within
Vietnamese Migrants Transforming Ethnic Nationalism in Berlin
- 216 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
When the Berlin Wall fell, Germany united in a wave of euphoria and solidarity. Also caught in the current were Vietnamese border crossers who had left their homeland after its reunification in 1975. Unwilling to live under socialism, one group resettled in West Berlin as refugees. In the name of socialist solidarity, a second group arrived in East Berlin as contract workers. The Border Within paints a vivid portrait of these disparate Vietnamese migrants' encounters with each other in the post-socialist city of Berlin. Journalists, scholars, and Vietnamese border crossers themselves consider these groups that left their homes under vastly different conditions to be one people, linked by an unquestionable ethnic nationhood. Phi Hong Su's rigorous ethnography unpacks this intuition. In absorbing prose, Su reveals how these Cold War compatriots enact palpable social boundaries in everyday life. This book uncovers how 20th-century state formation and international migrationātogether, border crossingsāgenerate enduring migrant classifications. In doing so, border crossings fracture shared ethnic, national, and religious identities in enduring ways.
Frequently asked questions
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- 1. Border Crossings
- 2. Making Northerners and Southerners
- 3. Making Refugees and Contract Workers
- 4. Ranking the Ethnic Nation
- 5. Choosing Friends and Picking Sides
- 6. Buddhist Meditations in Northern and Southern Accents
- 7. After Border Crossings
- Acknowledgments
- Appendix: Research Notes
- Notes
- References
- Index