Chinatown, N.Y.

Labor and Politics, 1930–1950

Peter Kwong

Hailed as a “fascinating, pioneering study” by Library Journal when it was first published in 1979, Chinatown, N.Y. is the groundbreaking and engrossing history of the rise and fall of labor movements in one of America’s most storied urban communities. Now with an expansive new introduction and epilogue bringing the story of New York's Chinatown up to the present day, Chinatown, N.Y. is both an illuminating history of Chinese labor and a provocative critique of the response of the U.S. left and the union movement to immigrant workers.

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Praise

“To his classic study of Chinatown in the 1930s to the 1950s, Peter Kwong has added an incisive analysis of the 1960s to the 1990s, which makes this book indispensable to anyone interested in New York’s history.”

—Mike Wallace, co-author of Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898

“A splendid work of class struggles and social movements that demystifies commonplace notions of a homogenous or socially isolated Chinatown. A must-read.”