Xiaojian Zhao has written an important and provocative study about the significance of class and ethnic economy within post-1965 Chinese America. The passage of the Hart-Cellar Act in 1965, which for the first time in US history allocated an equal number of immigration slots for every country in the world, drastically changed the demographic composition of US Chinese immigrants, who had previously been subjected to exclusion or restricted entry, but who now had the opportunity to come to America in unprecedented numbers. In fact, people of Chinese ancestry arrived through a variety of legal channels, such as through immigration quotas allotted to a number of nations populated by members of the Chinese diaspora, through family reunification slots, and as political refugees. In addition, Zhao points out that Chinese also arrived by a variety of undocumented channels, including smuggling, trafficking and visa overstaying. Consequently, the diversity within the Chinese population in the US has grown exponentially. Prior to 1965, the Chinese American community was predominantly American-born and could trace their ancestry to the Guangdong region. After 1965, the Chinese population in the US has become overwhelmingly immigrant, with familial and cultural connections to various regions in China as well as to diverse nations globally.

In the midst of this variety, Zhao notes two central features of the new Chinese America: the persistence of ethnicity and the centrality of class. Although contemporary Chinese in the US are no longer segregated in urban Chinatowns, they tend to actively engage with Chinese through their social, economic, cultural, and at times political practices. The Chinese ethnic community and economy, however, is not homogeneous. In fact, Zhao argues that a central feature of the new Chinese America is the increased significance of class hierarchy. Those who have the economic and social capital to “succeed” in the US often rely upon the “have-nots” within the community, those who lack the linguistic skills, the financial assets, the educational resources, and, most importantly, the documented status to fully enter the labor market. This “underclass” provides the essential labor in restaurants, construction work, garment factories, and domestic service which enables their middle- to upper-class coethnics to compete economically and advance socially.

Despite its significance, the Chinese underclass tends to be rendered invisible by the prevalence of the model-minority discourse, promoted by American and Chinese American leaders, which celebrates the success stories of the ethnic community. At best, sensational accounts of the exploitation and sufferings of “smuggled” and victimized illegals occasionally surface in the maintream and ethnic media. However, the attention paid to the “problems” and “plights” posed by the undocumented population in the US tends to focus predominantly on Latino/as and less so on Asians.

Consequently, Zhao's study is a much-needed reminder of the need to recognize the significance of class hierarchy within the ethnic and increasingly globalized economy. In addition, her work emphasizes the need to hear the voices and understand the experiences of the undocumented underclass. Trained as a historian, Zhao meticulously collected and critically interpreted written data from the US Census, the ethnic and mainstream press, and Chinese business directories from throughout the country. In addition, she utilizes interdisciplinary methodologies drawn from sociology and anthropology to conduct interviews and fieldwork among Chinese in the US. In order to access a wide variety of members of the Chinese American community, Zhao could not rely upon traditional research methods. As she writes,

Because of Zhao's efforts, her book is rich with stories about the lived experience of being undocumented in the US. Zhao deftly incorporates their voices to offer analytical insights into the constructs of “ethnic economy” and the “underclass.” Her well-written study reminds us of the need to understand the full costs of economic success in this age of neoliberalism and globalization.