Negotiating New Ethnicities: Cultural Integration among Taiwanese Hakka Immigrants in California

This article examines how New Taiwanese Hakka immigrants in California negotiate ethnic identity amid intergenerational language decline. While much scholarship on the Chinese diaspora has focused on Cantonese-dominated migration, the Hakka, long recognized as a minority within a minority, remain underexplored. Drawing on interviews and participant observation with 20 families across three generations, this study explores how first-generation immigrants navigate social integration and language practices, and how cultural traditions such as language, cuisine, and festivals are transmitted or reconfigured among descendants. Findings show that while Hakka language use has diminished, situational and symbolic use persists as a marker of belonging. This enactment of new ethnicities, for instance, expressing Hakka identity through food, festivals, and community participation rather than fluent speech which illustrates how cultural identity is redefined in everyday life. Intra-ethnic relations further reveal divergent experiences of inclusion and exclusion shaped by migration timing and community dynamics. The study contributes to assimilation and diaspora theory by challenging deterministic models of language loss, demonstrating how hybrid ethnic identities are enacted through everyday cultural practices, and highlighting the heterogeneity of Chinese diasporic formations.