The Force of Regulation in the Land of the Free: The Persistence of Chinatown, Washington DC as a Symbolic Ethnic Enclave

Abstract

Like many other cosmopolitan cities, Washington, DC has a Chinatown, a site of leisure and consumption, based on the commodification and marketing of ethno-cultural diversity. The successful transformation of an ethnic precinct into a tourist attraction depends on supportive economic and social infrastructure as well as on the flourishing of small-businesses, commodifying ethnic features. For sure, this Chinatown does not represent the nodal point of a vibrant community. On the contrary, it is artificially kept alive by city planners and a handful of self-appointed Chinese spokespersons through its inclusion in DC's regulatory structures that strongly support and promote ethnic theming.

Citation

Lin Pang, C. and Rath, J. (2007), "The Force of Regulation in the Land of the Free: The Persistence of Chinatown, Washington DC as a Symbolic Ethnic Enclave", Ruef, M. and Lounsbury, M. (Ed.) The Sociology of Entrepreneurship (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 25), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 191-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0733-558X(06)25006-7