UC San Diego

Neoliberalism continues to plague higher education and shape how institutions operate day to day. Often, the adoption of such logics thwart racial justice efforts. In addition, one of the many functions of neoliberalism is how the political ideology leads to the commodification of labor. As a result, racially diverse populations, including Asian Americans experience significant challenges, including being reduced and extracted for their racialized labor for capitalistic gain.There is a dearth of research regarding Asian American advocacy initiatives in higher education, and even less scholarship examined through neoliberal logics. This case study seeks to understand how neoliberalism shapes Asian American advocacy initiatives at one large, public, higher education institution located in California. Findings from this study reveal insights towards how Asian American advocacy initiatives are shaped by neoliberalism, which include neoliberal racial gaslighting, labor extraction, and continuous instability. In addition, the findings of this study identify how Asian American advocacy initiatives navigate and respond to neoliberal logics, such as assembling support for Asian Americans with university parts, building capacity, and working to center coalition.