MANUFACTURING ETHNICITY

Immigrants often depend on ethnic mutual assistance to make a start in this country. But the concept of ethnic solidarity can also be manipu lated by employers to gain better control over their co-ethnic employe es. In studying the predicament of Chinese immigrant workers in New Yo rk's Chinatown, and especially the Chinese illegals, this article show s that Chinese employers often invoke ethnic symbols to project an ima ge that only co-ethnics can be trusted, thus blocking the new immigran ts' attempts to seek better opportunities outside of their ethnic envi ronment. Ultimately, this article questions the validity of the ethnic enclave thesis.