Introduction : Los Angeles and Kawasaki as arenas of struggle over citizenship -- Between inclusion and exclusion : the origins of the U.S. Community Action Program -- Fostering community and nationhood : Japan's model community program -- Struggling for political voice : race and the politics of welfare in Los Angeles -- Recasting the community action program : the pursuit of race, class, and gender equality in Los Angeles -- Translating Black theology into Korean activism : the Hitachi employment discrimination trial -- Voicing alternative visions of citizenship : the "Kawasaki system" of welfare -- Conclusion : the interconnectedness of oppression and freedom
Summary
In the 1960s and 1970s, the United States and Japan went through massive welfare expansions that sparked debates about citizenship. At the heart of these disputes stood African Americans and Koreans. This book offers a comparative study of African American welfare activism in Los Angeles and Koreans' campaigns for welfare rights in Kawasaki. In working-class and poor neighbourhoods in both locations, African Americans and Koreans sought not only to be recognised as citizens but also to become legitimate constituting members of communities
