Berlin is perhaps the perfect location to study ethnic nationalism in the Vietnamese diaspora, as this study by the sociologist Phi Hong Su reveals. The once-divided city is symbolic of Cold War divisions. It has also hosted many refugees and immigrants from the likewise once-divided nation of Vietnam. This short yet discerning monograph gives a vivid account of the persistence of divisions—including their subtle impact on social identity and social differentiation among Vietnamese in the diaspora decades after the Vietnam War and the Cold War ended. Su achieves this by engaging in wide-ranging fieldwork, including interviews with dozens of southerners as well as northerners. It is one of the most important monographs on this subject published in the last decade, and it should be read widely.
In chapter 1, Su makes a crucial distinction between nationhood and nationalism: one that relates to the distinction between crossing external and internal borders....
University of California Press