Type of Document	Master's Thesis
Author	Lu, Alexander
URN	etd-04042007-171659
Title	An Examination of the Chinese Immigrant Social Movements during the Chinese Exclusion Era
Degree	Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department	Sociology
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Pedriana, Nicholas Committee Chair Chen, Xi Committee Member Weil, Fredrick Committee Member
Keywords	subterfuge mobilization merchant indeterminacy
Date of Defense	2007-03-26
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract This paper further develops a law-centered “political process” model of social movements by analyzing historical changes in American immigration law and the collective behavior of Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans during the Chinese Exclusion Era. I present an interactive political process framework that considers not only how the broader political environment enables and constrains a movement, but also how challengers respond by actively reshaping the environment. I revisit the political process model’s core concept of “political opportunity structure” by examining legal rules and institutions, generally, and the indeterminacy of law, specifically. I apply this framework to the Chinese community’s initial use of litigation to fight the exclusion laws and their move towards direct action techniques to exploit the ambiguities of the exclusion laws. In this respect, Chinese immigrants mobilized and created legal resources.
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