Affects of Solidarity: Remapping Asian America in Theory and Practice

Abstract

Abstract:This essay theorizes "affects of solidarity" as the basis for SWANA diasporic affiliations that trespass across national, ethnic and racial categories and the conventional borders of Asian American studies. Such affiliations contribute to the work of queering diaspora, making possible new orientations that defy the authenticity/assimilation binary. Japanese-American opposition to the targeting of Iranians during the 1979-1980 hostage crisis and the "maximal inclusion" practices that brought Arab, Iranian, and Afghan writers into the Asian American Writers Workshop in the post-9/11 period illustrate how affects of solidarity can remap the borders of Asia and the politics of Asian diasporic identity.