Religions in Asian America : Building Faith Communities

Presents an overview of the religious practices of Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian Americans. This work explores how these communities work through issues of gender, race, transnationalism, income disparities and social service, and the passing along an ethnic identity to the next generation.

The flux of Asian immigration over the last 35 years has deeply altered the United States'' religious landscape. But neither social scientists nor religious scholars have fully appreciated the impact of these growing communities. And Asian immigrant religious communities are significant to the study of American religion not only because there are more than ten million Asian Americans. Asian American religions differ substantially from models drawn from European religions, pushing for new wider understandings. Religions in Asian America provides a comprehensive overview of the religious practices of Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian Americans. How these new communities work through issues of gender, race, transnationalism, income disparities and social service, and the passing along an ethnic identity to the next generation make up the common themes that reach across essays about the varying communities. The first sociological overview of Asian American religions, Religions in Asian America is necessary reading for those interested in Asians, ethnicity, immigration or religion in the United States.