From the Land of Hibiscus : Koreans in Hawai‘i, 1903–1950

In 1903, 102 Koreans migrated to Hawai‘i in search of wealth and fortune—the first in their country’s history to live in the Western world. Thousands followed. Most of them, however, found only hardship while working as sugar plantation laborers. Soon after their departure, Korea was colonized by Japan, and overnight they became "international orphans" with no government to protect them. Setting aside their original goal of bettering their own lives, these Korean immigrants redirected their energies to restoring their country’s sovereignty, turning Hawai‘i into a crucially important base of Korean nationalism. __From the Land of Hibiscus__ traces the story of Koreans in Hawai‘i from their first arrival to the eve of Korea’s liberation in 1945. Using newly uncovered evidence, it challenges previously held ideas on the social origins of immigrants. It also examines their political background, the role of Christian churches in immigration, the image of Koreans as depicted in the media, and, above all, nationalist activities. Different approaches to waging the nationalist struggle uncover the causes of feuds that often bitterly divided the Korean community. Finally, the book provides the first in-depth studies of the nationalist activities of Syngman Rhee, the Korean National Association, and the United Korea Committee. **Contributors:** Yŏng-ho Ch’oe, Anne Soon Choi, Sun-Pyo Hong, Do-Hyung Kim, Lili M. Kim, Richard S. Kim, Brandon Palmer, Judy Van Zile, Mahn-Yŏl Yi.

Transnational economic integration has been described by globalization boosters as a rising tide that will lift all boats, an opportunity for all participants to achieve greater prosperity through a combination of political cooperation and capitalist economic competition. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has championed such rhetoric in promoting the integration of China, Southeast Asia’s formerly socialist states, and Thailand into a regional project called the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). But while the GMS project is in fact hastening regional economic integration, Jim Glassman shows that the approach belies the AD's idealized description of "win-win" outcomes. The process of "actually existing globalization" in the GMS does provide varied opportunities for different actors, but it is less a rising tide that lifts all boats than an uneven flood of transnational capitalist development whose outcomes are determined by intense class struggles, market competition, and regulatory battles.

Glassman makes the case for adopting a class-based approach to analysis of GMS development, regionalization, and actually existing globalization. First he analyzes the interests and actions of various Thai participants in GMS development, then the roles of different Chinese actors in GMS integration. He next provides two cases illustrating the serious limits of any notion that GMS integration is a relatively egalitarian process - Laos' participation in GMS development and the role of migrant Burmese workers in the production of the GMS. He finds that Burmese migrant workers, dam-displaced Chinese and Laotian villagers, and economically-stressed Thai farmers and small businesses are relative "losers" compared to the powerful business interests that shape GMS integration from locations like Bangkok and Kunming, as well as key sites outside the GMS like Beijing, Singapore, and Tokyo. The final chapter blends geographical-historical analysis with an assessment of uneven development and actually existing globalization in the GMS.

Contents Introduction 1. The Early Korean Immigration: An Overview 2. Korean Immigration to Hawai‘i and the Korean Protestant Church 3. Syngman Rhee in Hawai‘i: His Activities in the Early Years, 1913–1915 4. Images and Crimes of Koreans in Hawai‘i: Media Portrayals, 1903–1925 5. The March First Movement of 1919 and Koreans in Hawai‘i 6. Local Struggles and Diasporic Politics: The 1931 Court Cases of the Korean National Association of Hawai‘i 7. The Unification Movement of the Hawai‘i Korean Community in the 1930s 8. How Koreans Repealed Their “Enemy Alien” Status: Korean Americans’ Identity, Culture, and National Pride in Wartime Hawai‘i 9. “Unity for What? Unity for Whom?”: The United Korean Committee of North America, 1941–1945 10. Korean Dance in Hawai‘i: A Century in the Public Eye Contributors Index