Identity formation and negotiation processes of Okinawan students who studied in the United States, 1945-1972

Abstract

During the United States' Occupation of Okinawa from 1945 to 1972, more than a thousand Okinawans studied abroad in the United States. This dissertation approaches the US study abroad programs established for Okinawans during the US Occupation of Okinawa as a central site of postwar Okinawan leadership formation under the US and Japan's hegemony. It explores the experiences of those who studied in the United States under the programs, and the impact of these experiences on the construction of their distinctive identities. By using a combination of three different qualitative research methods--a qualitative analysis of the program participants' life stories, a documentary analysis of the official US documents related to the US study abroad program, and ethnographic research in Okinawa--I demonstrate how the political relationships among the US, Japan, and Okinawa at the macro level, as well as the study abroad participants' interactions with people in Okinawa and the United States at the micro level, have influenced their identity formation and identity negotiations. In particular, I show how the specific period when they studied in the United States, the socio-geographical contexts of the places where they studied, and the type of workplace in which they worked upon returning to Okinawa mediate the experiences and the processes of their identity formation and negotiations.