The Immigrant Sociologist: Paul Siu at Chicago

Paul Siu’s dissertation on the experience of Chinese laundry workers in the United States is a hallmark study in the Chicago sociology of migration. Siu joined the Chicago sociology program in 1932, defended his dissertation in 1953, and had it published as a book in 1987. This article identifies Siu’s key contributions and discusses the relationship between Siu’s work and the Chicago sociology of migration. An immigrant himself, Siu offered an approach to migration that was closer to the migrants: an immediate and often intimate window into the subjective dimension of migration. While Siu’s closeness to the migrants allowed him to collect the kind of firsthand data associated with Chicago sociology, it also revealed elements of the migrant experience that stretched the boundaries of Chicago’s analytical framework. Siu’s understanding of migration as temporary, in particular, departed from Chicago sociology’s emphasis on immigrant assimilation. This article seeks to reexamine Siu’s contribution and underline its value for current and future research on migration.