Book

Book projects

1. “How Social Policy Expands Racial Boundaries: Discrimination, Solidarity, and Power in Multiracial America.” (based on dissertation)

   • Interviewed by Scope Conditions podcast (co-hosted by Alan Jacobs (UBC) and Yang-Yang Zhou (Dartmouth))

   • Winner of the 2022 Best Dissertation Award, Urban and Local Politics, APSA

   • Winner of the 2020 Best Paper Award, Asian Pacific American Politics, WPSA

   • Datasets: Asian American and Latino Advocacy and Community Service Organizations Dataset (1868-2016)

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the book argues that racial discrimination is not sufficient to explain when in-group solidarity emerges among minoritized populations. Despite the racial hierarchy in the United States, ethnic groups who have experienced discrimination have not always united politically. Before the late 1960s, national origin groups from Asia and Latin America did not come together as Asian Americans and Latinos. Their political strategy shifted during this historical juncture because of the policy changes. Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty programs expanded the American welfare state; however, these new safety net programs were implemented within the existing biracial framework. Street-level bureaucrats faced difficulty in classifying disadvantaged ethnic groups that did not fit into this prevalent image of the minority group. In response, non-target groups solved this collective problem by reinventing and organizing themselves in racial terms.

Asian American Advocacy, Service, and Hybrid Organizations. Source: Kim (2022)

Latino Advocacy, Service, and Hybrid Organizations. Source: Kim (2022)

Books

1. “Public Interest Data Science: Harnessing Data for Good.” (in Korean, Sejong Books 2023) [book website]

   • Selected as one of 70 finalists by the Korean Government in the popular social science category for 2024, the government purchased approximately 500 copies and distributed them to public libraries nationwide
   • Recommended by the National Assembly Library, Samsung Global Research’s executive education program (SERICEO), the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)
   • Featured in The Chosun Ilbo, Maeil Business Newspaper, The Korea Economic Daily, Kyunghyang Shinmun, Hankyoreh (major Korean newspapers across the ideological spectrum)
   • Regular op-eds based on the book in Chosun Ilbo’s Civic Section (a major conservative newspaper) and Weekly Kyunghang (a major liberal magazine)