Racial Politics in an Era of Transnational Citizenship: The 1996 ‘Asian Donorgate’ Controversy in Perspective

Following 1996’s Asian Donorgate campaign finance controversy, Chinese Americans, and by proxy all Asian Americans, were depicted in U.S. public discourse as foreigners subversively attempting to buy influence with U.S. politicians. Racial Politics in an Era of Transnational Citizenship asks, Will the perception of the Asian American as the perpetual foreigner continue to reproduce itself uncritically, heightening during times of media-supported nationalism? Scholar Michael Chang’s incisive work contributes greatly to current debates on civil rights and on the meaning of citizenship and belonging among a transnational community and in a globalized world.