ABSTRACT

This paper uses grounded practical theory (GPT) to examine how members of a pan-Asian organization manage dilemmas surrounding race and the workplace. An action implicative discourse analysis of 20 hours of audio-recorded meeting interactions among members of an Asian American Chamber of Commerce (AACC) reveals two dilemmas: how to maintain solidarity among an ethnically diverse group and how to communicate a racialized business identity to external corporate donors. Participants managed dialectical tensions between similarities and difference through membership categorization, metadiscourse, humor, and code-switching. Analysis illustrates that AACC practices operate from a locus of difference that values ‘diversity’ as a shared identity and provides leeway for creatively constructing difference. This paper extends GPT as a framework that highlights race as central to communication problems in the workplace and discusses how a better understanding of complexities of Asian American identity negotiation can offer practical insights into present-day race relations and diversity initiatives.

摘要

本文使用扎根实践理论 (GPT) 来研究泛亚组织的成员如何管理围绕种族和工作场所的困境。对亚裔美国商会 (AACC) 成员之间 20 小时的录音会议互动进行的行动暗示话语分析揭示了两个困境：如何在不同种族的群体之间保持团结，以及如何将种族化的商业身份传达给外部企业捐助者。参与者通过成员分类、元话语、幽默和语码转换来管理异同之间的辩证张力。分析表明，AACC 实践是从将“多样性”视为共享身份的差异点运作的，并为创造性地构建差异提供了余地。