Question:
Book Review: Tang’s Ethnography – “Unsettled”.
An overview of all aspects of ethnography.
Each chapter’s main ideas and arguments will be identified. Then, you will connect them with Ken Guest’s topics with a bit of critical thinking.
Include in your report what you liked the most about those chapters.
Answer to Question: ANTH111 Cultural Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology, a study of humans, is broadly concerned with studying the different cultures of people of diverse cultural backgrounds and ethnicities.
The study focuses mainly on the sociocultural aspects of human life and highlights the diversity within each community.
The Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia has prompted me to write about the cultural and anthropological history of Cambodians.
Eric Tang’s book “Unsettled”, by Eric Tang, explores the relationships between African Americans living in refugee communities and African Americans who were subject to governmental violence.
Eric Tang, a scholar-activist, concentrated on two key issues facing the country, namely.
the intercontinental Refugee Crisis and the rising movement against the violation of police laws in the cities of the United States.
Eric Tang wrote the book. It tells the story Ra Pronh (a Cambodian woman) who arrives in Bronx with her family, as a refugee of the Thai refugee camp (Contreras).
Tang used Ra’s historical past to tell the story.
Eric Tang strongly criticized the government throughout the book for creating situations that force people to leave all their property, family and homes.
Tang accused the government of creating such problems in their governmental laws. However, Tang did no reveal the identity and the readers are unable to recognize the accused government organizations (Clymer).
The book opens by detailing the US’ role in the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia, 1975-1979.
Tang blamed America for the paradox of allowing only Southeast Asian refugees into the country, pointing out that the 1980 Refugee Act was not allowed.
Instead of pleading for peace and freedom the writer claims these refugees have only discovered a new continuation of their “unbroken status of captivity”.
In the next chapters, Tang describes the daily life of refugees living in refugee camps. The readers are then able to see the struggle these refugees went through for survival (Ledgerwood).
The book is not only a comprehensive overview of their lives but also highlights the resistance tactics these refugees used in order to escape from oppression (Forrant).
The book closes with a detailed summary of the violence and harassments these refugees experienced while living in migrant camps.
The book closes with a detailed summary, which shows that even the refugee agency was able to exploit their circumstances to fulfill their own needs.
Tang ends the book by reminding us that the persistence of poverty in Cambodia over the past three decades is evidence they are still captives and that no refugee can be freed or saved.
This concludes by stating that the book, “Unsettled” depicts the cultural background perspectives of the Cambodians.
ReferencesClymer, Kenton. “Eric Tang.
Unsettled. Cambodian Refugees living in New York City’s Hyperghetto. (2016): 1322-1323.Contreras, Randol.
Eric Tang.
Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 2015, 234pp. $24.95 (paperback). ISBN: 9781439911655.” (2017): 116-118.Forrant, Robert.
“Eric Tang: Unsettled – Cambodian Refugees in New York City Hyperghetto.” (2016): 177.Lau, Christie Yee, et al. “Book Reviews.” Amerasia Journal42.3 (2016): 155-166.Ledgerwood, Judy.
Eric Tang. Unsettled: Cambodian Refugees living in New York City’s Hyperghetto.
Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees 32.2. (2016).Tang, Eric.
Unsettled, Cambodian Refugees in New York City Hyperghetto. Vol. 171.
Temple University Press (2015)