201
Harvard Educational Review Vol. 89 No. 2 Summer 2019
Copyright © by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
Asian Americans, Affirmative Action,
and the Political Economy of Racism:
A Multidimensional Model of
Raceclass Frames
OIYAN A. POON
Colorado State University
MEGAN S. SEGOSHI
Independent Scholar
LILIANNE TANG
California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo
KRISTEN L. SURLA
Michigan State University
CARESSA NGUYEN
Sarah Lawrence College
DIAN D. SQUIRE
Northern Arizona University
Utilizing a critical raceclass theory of education, OiYan A. Poon and colleagues ana-
lyze interviews with Asian Americans who have publicly advocated for or against
affirmative action and acknowledged how their understandings of racial capitalism
informed their perspectives and actions. Limited research has considered Asian Amer-
ican subjectivity in examining what shapes their diverse perspectives on affirmative
action. This study adds to research on the racial politics of the debate, which has
increasingly centered Asian Americans and their interests, and introduces a multidi-
mensional model of raceclass frames representing different political perspectives and
choices around affirmative action: abstract liberalism, ethnocentric nationalism, con-
scious compromise, and systemic transformation. The model offers insights on Asian