Reinventing Citizenship

"A fascinating addition to the literature on the War on Poverty."—Journal of American History

"Reinventing Citizenship leaves the reader with the opportunity to question how contemporary efforts to address poverty and economic inequality might resonate within a transnational context."—Law, Culture, and the Humanities Journal

"Reinventing Citizenship is important for exploring the little-known differences and similarities between black welfare activists in Los Angeles and their Korean counterparts in Japan, and for its rare demonstration of the transnational ties that bound them."—American Historical Review

"Reinventing Citizenship is a work of solid research, whose comparative approach compels readers to think about state welfare and social movements in the late 1900s globally and expansively, something Americanists should do more in general."—Pacific Historical Review

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. Reinventing Citizenship 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 neighborhoods in both locations, African Americans and Koreans sought not only to be recognized as citizens but also to become legitimate constituting members of communities.

Local activists in Los Angeles and Kawasaki ardently challenged the welfare institutions. By creating opposition movements and voicing alternative visions of citizenship, African American leaders, Tsuchiya argues, turned Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty into a battle for equality. Koreans countered the city’s and the nation’s exclusionary policies and asserted their welfare rights. Tsuchiya’s work exemplifies transnational antiracist networking, showing how black religious leaders traveled to Japan to meet Christian Korean activists and to provide counsel for their own struggles.

Reinventing Citizenship reveals how race and citizenship transform as they cross countries and continents. By documenting the interconnected histories of African Americans and Koreans in Japan, Tsuchiya enables us to rethink present ideas of community and belonging.

Kazuyo Tsuchiya is associate professor of American history and culture in the Department of English at Kanagawa University.

Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction: Los Angeles and Kawasaki as Arenas of Struggle over Citizenship1. Between Inclusion and Exclusion: The Origins of the U.S. Community Action Program2. Fostering Community and Nationhood: Japan's Model Community Program3. Struggling for Political Voice: Race and the Politics of Welfare in Los Angeles4. Recasting the Community Action Program: The Pursuit of Race, Class, and Gender Equality in Los Angeles5. Translating Black Theology into Korean Activism: The Hitachi Employment Discrimination Trial6. Voicing Alternative Visions of Citizenship: The "Kawasaki System" of WelfareConclusion: The Interconnectedness of Oppression and Freedom

AcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex