Choi Hee An, A Postcolonial Relationship: Challenges of Asian Immigrants as the Third Other. Albany (State University of New York Press) 2022, 192 pp., ISBN 9781438486574, $99 (Paperback: $33.95).

In contemporary theological discourse, postcolonial studies emerges as a dialogue partner to untangle the complex realities within the matrix of colonial power today. It is devoted to unmasking and interrogating history, while at the same time raising silenced voices to disrupt the dominant narratives. Choi Hee An has been one of those voices who pursue this task through her work in postcolonial practical theology. Having experienced theological education in both Korea and the United States as well as being an ordained minister in Korean immigrant church, she knows how problematic the label “Asian” or “Asian American” is. In line with her previous works, this book is part of her latest endeavor to tackle challenges experienced by Asian immigrants. Her preceding works provide some clarifications on important definitions found in this book. Her first work, A Postcolonial Self: Korean Immigrant Theology and Church, constructs the notion of self in postcolonial settings from the Korean immigrant identity. Here, she defines colonialism as “a physical, psychological, and even spiritual exercise of a nation’s sovereign power beyond its borders ...” (6). Meanwhile, in the second book, A Postcolonial Leadership: Asian Immigrant Christian Leadership and Its Challenges, she expands her inquiry to “Asian immigrants,” analyzing leadership theories within the United States and Asian immigrant leaders. She uses this term as a broad definition that encompasses various categories, including first and second-generation Asian immigrants or people who call themselves Asian American (5).

This present book revolves around similar issues, with the focus on Asian immigrants as “the third other.” Asian immigrants often find themselves caught between the black/white and native/alien binary relationship. When these binaries set the criterion for social struggle in the United States’s context, Asian immigrants are rendered as either invisible or displaced, since they are not part of the Black (black/white binary) or Latinx (native/alien binary) community. Moreover, they can also be categorized as white who enjoy certain privileges, while at the same time not recognized as they are not white enough. Within this context, Choi aims to carry the task of not only dismantling these segregative binaries but also constructing further understanding and practice to build a community of belonging (3).

This book consists of four chapters. In the first chapter, Choi lays out how the black/white and native/alien binaries shape the landscape of social struggle in the United States. The black/white binary is seen as a social construction to establish racial segregation and maintain white privilege. Within this binary, Black people have experienced oppression and subjugation. However, Choi rightly points out that, while many efforts have been made in the struggle for racial justice, as long as it remains constricted in this binary, it will always preserve white superiority. One example is how white people who join the anti-racist work are driven by “white guilt/shame” just to make them feel morally good and pure (25). In a similar vein, the native/alien binary draws the line on who can belong to the community based on who meets the national interest. Immigrants are seen as those who threaten national security and the economy. In this sense, both black/white and native/alien binary operate to maintain hegemony and privilege while at the same time excluding others who are invisible within the spectrum.

The second and third chapter tries to pinpoint Asian immigrants within the binaries. Choi uses the term “racial triangulation” to show that Asian immigrants are often found “in-between and in-neither whiteness and blackness” (61). Two opposite poles of the binary are used as a lens to objectify those who do not fit into these categories. In the black/white binary, the struggle for racial justice only belongs to Black people who inherits the long history of slavery and oppression. Meanwhile, in the native/alien binary, Asian immigrants are perceived as the model minority group of foreigners who manage to thrive and enjoy certain privileges. As a result, the intersection between both binaries puts Asian immigrants in a liminal position. These binaries also place racial groups to compete against each other for survival. Choi points out that, in the end, there is only one group that benefits from this binary: white people who becomes “the standard” (64).

In the fourth and closing chapter, she offers constructive suggestions on how Asian immigrants can negotiate and navigate their identity in what she defines as “postcolonial relationships.” It entails looking at “the third other” as a positionality that can be both deconstructive and transformative. Asian immigrants can disrupt binary relationships and open a way to weave new dynamics of identities and relationships that can cultivate belongingness. Choi then suggests forgiveness and hospitality as two practices to transform this binary relationship into postcolonial relationships. By acknowledging the pain and wound in one’s self and community, Asian immigrants open the doors of reconciliation, offering a radical hospitality that invites others to transgress the boundaries by becoming servants for others.

In this well-organized book, Choi offers a fresh analysis in the intersection of postcolonial studies and practical theology. She has identified binary thinking as a foundational aspect upon which the present racial struggle is founded. She rightly points out that these binaries turn out to be unstable and therefore need to always be interrogated and disrupted. Especially, her analysis of the “white guilt/shame” strikes to the heart of how coalition work could not be accomplished without the involvement of all groups. Furthermore, by seeing Asian immigrants as “the third other,” Choi offers an interesting take to see the pattern of this “hybrid space” in society, similar to what the postcolonial thinker Homi Bhabha observes. As her argument shows, this “third other” can be perceived as a space to assert differences and inferiorities, while at the same time holding the potential to disrupt and transform the binaries. Choi reminds us that it is important not only to see the problem but to imagine new ways of being and becoming, discerning those spaces where we can creatively acknowledge and transgress those boundaries. It is a call to be with those who also find themselves as the “third other.” Choi’s book has managed to achieve what she originally wanted to do: to dismantle and transform the binaries. Readers will find clear and straightforward arguments, backed up by fragments of stories that are helpful to reflect on. This book is useful not only for the Asian/Asian American community but also for social activists working in multi-cultural settings.