Rethinking National Identity in the Age of Migration

Rethinking National Identity in the Age of Migration
Author: Migration Policy Institute
Publisher: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2012-11-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3867934746

Greater mobility and migration have brought about unprecedented levels of diversity that are transforming communities across the Atlantic in fundamental ways, sparking uncertainty over who the "we" is in a society. As publics fear loss of their national identity and values, the need is greater than ever to reinforce the bonds that tie communities together. Yet, while a consensus may be emerging as to what has not worked well, little thought has been given to developing a new organizing principle for community cohesion. Such a vision needs to smooth divisions between immigration's "winners and losers," blunt extremism, and respond smartly to changing community and national identities. This volume will examine the lessons that can be drawn from various approaches to immigrant integration and managing diversity in North America and Europe. The book delivers recommendations on what policymakers must do to build and reinforce inclusiveness given the realities on each side of the Atlantic. It offers insights into the next generation of policies that can (re)build inclusive societies and bring immigrants and natives together in pursuit of shared futures.

Immigrants and National Identity in Europe

Immigrants and National Identity in Europe
Author: Anna Triandafyllidou
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2003-08-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1134517556

The author reviews main theories of nationalism and criticises their lack of elaboration on the role of 'Others' in nation formation. Drawing upon anthropological, sociological and social psychological perspectives, she develops a dynamic, relational perspective for the study of national theory.

Immigration and National Identities in Latin America

Immigration and National Identities in Latin America
Author: Nicola Foote
Publisher:
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2014
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780813060002

"This groundbreaking study examines the connection between what are arguably the two most distinguishing phenomena of the modern world: the unprecedented surges in global mobility and in the creation of politically bounded spaces and identities."--Jose C. Moya, author of Cousins and Strangers "An excellent collection of studies connecting transnational migration to the construction of national identities. Highly recommended."--Luis Roniger, author of Transnational Politics in Central America "The importance of this collection goes beyond the confines of one geographic region as it offers new insight into the role of migration in the definition and redefinition of nation states everywhere."--Fraser Ottanelli, coeditor of Letters from theSpanish Civil War "This volume has set the standard for future work to follow."--Daniel Masterson, author of The History of Peru Between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, an influx of Europeans, Asians, and Arabic speakers indelibly changed the face of Latin America. While many studies of this period focus on why the immigrants came to the region, this volume addresses how the newcomers helped construct national identities in the Caribbean, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. In these essays, some of the most respected scholars of migration history examine the range of responses--some welcoming, some xenophobic--to the newcomers. They also look at the lasting effects that Jewish, German, Chinese, Italian, and Syrian immigrants had on the economic, sociocultural, and political institutions. These explorations of assimilation, race formation, and transnationalism enrich our understanding not only of migration to Latin America but also of the impact of immigration on the construction of national identity throughout the world. Contributors: Jürgen Buchenau | Jeane DeLaney | Nicola Foote | Michael Goebel | Steven Hyland Jr. | Jeffrey Lesser | Kathleen López | Lara Putnam | Raanan Rein | Stefan Rinke | Frederik Schulze

Fear, Anxiety, and National Identity

Fear, Anxiety, and National Identity
Author: Nancy Foner
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2015-10-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1610448537

Fifty years of large-scale immigration has brought significant ethnic, racial, and religious diversity to North America and Western Europe, but has also prompted hostile backlashes. In Fear, Anxiety, and National Identity, a distinguished multidisciplinary group of scholars examine whether and how immigrants and their offspring have been included in the prevailing national identity in the societies where they now live and to what extent they remain perpetual foreigners in the eyes of the long-established native-born. What specific social forces in each country account for the barriers immigrants and their children face, and how do anxieties about immigrant integration and national identity differ on the two sides of the Atlantic? Western European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have witnessed a significant increase in Muslim immigrants, which has given rise to nativist groups that question their belonging. Contributors Thomas Faist and Christian Ulbricht discuss how German politicians have implicitly compared the purported “backward” values of Muslim immigrants with the German idea of Leitkultur, or a society that values civil liberties and human rights, reinforcing the symbolic exclusion of Muslim immigrants. Similarly, Marieke Slootman and Jan Willem Duyvendak find that in the Netherlands, the conception of citizenship has shifted to focus less on political rights and duties and more on cultural norms and values. In this context, Turkish and Moroccan Muslim immigrants face increasing pressure to adopt “Dutch” culture, yet are simultaneously portrayed as having regressive views on gender and sexuality that make them unable to assimilate. Religion is less of a barrier to immigrants’ inclusion in the United States, where instead undocumented status drives much of the political and social marginalization of immigrants. As Mary C. Waters and Philip Kasinitz note, undocumented immigrants in the United States. are ineligible for the services and freedoms that citizens take for granted and often live in fear of detention and deportation. Yet, as Irene Bloemraad points out, Americans’ conception of national identity expanded to be more inclusive of immigrants and their children with political mobilization and changes in law, institutions, and culture in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement. Canadians’ views also dramatically expanded in recent decades, with multiculturalism now an important part of their national identity, in contrast to Europeans’ fear that diversity undermines national solidarity. With immigration to North America and Western Europe a continuing reality, each region will have to confront anti-immigrant sentiments that create barriers for and threaten the inclusion of newcomers. Fear, Anxiety, and National Identity investigates the multifaceted connections among immigration, belonging, and citizenship, and provides new ways of thinking about national identity.

Negotiating National Identity

Negotiating National Identity
Author: Jeff Lesser
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 1999
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780822322924

A comparative study of immigration and ethnicity with an emphasis on the Chinese, Japanese, and Arabs who have contributed to Brazil's diverse mix.

The 50% American

The 50% American
Author: Stanley Allen Renshon
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2005
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781589010673

President Bush's attempts to liberalize immigration laws in the United States have raised serious questions about our national identity. Just what does it mean to be an American? What exactly holds us together as a people? What, if anything, can be done to strengthen the national attachments of millions of new immigrants who arrive on our shores every year--especially in an age of terrorism? Political psychologist Stanley Renshon attempts to answer these questions by looking at recent immigration trends and how federal, state, and local governments have dealt with volatile issues such as language requirements, voting rights, and schooling. Concerned that America is not doing enough to help immigrants appreciate the history and culture of their new homeland, Renshon makes several dramatic policy proposals to help transform a) the current status of dual citizenship and b) foreign attachments to national attachments. For instance, Renshon argues that American citizens should be actively discouraged from voting in foreign elections--which many current immigrants are allowed to do--and that they should be discouraged from serving in a foreign military service. While some will interpret Renshon's project as a politically conservative manifesto against liberal cosmopolitanism--and, indeed, he is highly critical of multiculturalism at the expense of patriotism--he is hard to categorize. At two points he lauds Bill Clinton's "One America" program; he also savages the Wall Street Journal for advocating open borders, and critiques George W. Bush's immigration policies. This is bound to be controversial, and will likely find an enthusiastic audience among thinking conservatives.

The Face of the Nation

The Face of the Nation
Author: Keith Fitzgerald
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 1996-04-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0804764824

This innovative work provides both a historical account of the crazy-quilt of legislation dealing with immigration that Congress has passed over the years and a theoretical explanation, building on the "new institutionalism," of how these laws came to be passed. The author shows why immigration is a uniquely revealing policy arena in which a polity chooses what it will be, a collective decision that shapes a nation's identity and defines itself. The book focuses on three aspects of immigration policy: the regulation of admission to the United States for permanent residency, the regulation of admission of people fleeing political repression, and the efforts to cope with the flow of unsanctioned migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. It identifies the most puzzling features of contemporary immigration policy, asking, Where do these policies come from? Why do they have their special characteristics? The author seeks the answers in modern theories of public policy formation, especially the currently popular new institutionalism. He offers an enhanced version of this approach, which he calls "improvisational institutionalism," and applies it to the paradoxes of immigration policy.

Rethinking National Identity in the Age of Migration

Rethinking National Identity in the Age of Migration
Author: Migration Policy Institute
Publisher: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2012-11-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3867934746

Greater mobility and migration have brought about unprecedented levels of diversity that are transforming communities across the Atlantic in fundamental ways, sparking uncertainty over who the "we" is in a society. As publics fear loss of their national identity and values, the need is greater than ever to reinforce the bonds that tie communities together. Yet, while a consensus may be emerging as to what has not worked well, little thought has been given to developing a new organizing principle for community cohesion. Such a vision needs to smooth divisions between immigration's "winners and losers," blunt extremism, and respond smartly to changing community and national identities. This volume will examine the lessons that can be drawn from various approaches to immigrant integration and managing diversity in North America and Europe. The book delivers recommendations on what policymakers must do to build and reinforce inclusiveness given the realities on each side of the Atlantic. It offers insights into the next generation of policies that can (re)build inclusive societies and bring immigrants and natives together in pursuit of shared futures.

Immigration, Assimilation, and the Cultural Construction of American National Identity

Immigration, Assimilation, and the Cultural Construction of American National Identity
Author: Shannon Latkin Anderson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2015-11-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317328752

Over the course of the 20th century, there have been three primary narratives of American national identity: the melting pot, Anglo-Protestantism, and cultural pluralism/multi-culturalism. This book offers a social and historical perspective on what shaped each of these imaginings, when each came to the fore, and which appear especially relevant early in the 21st century. These issues are addressed by looking at the United States and elite notions of the meaning of America across the 20th century, centering on the work of Horace Kallen, Nathan Glazer and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Samuel P. Huntington. Four structural areas are examined in each period: the economy, involvement in foreign affairs, social movements, and immigration. What emerges is a narrative arc whereby immigration plays a clear and crucial role in shaping cultural stories of national identity as written by elite scholars. These stories are represented in writings throughout all three periods, and in such work we see the intellectual development and specification of the dominant narratives, along with challenges to each. Important conclusions include a keen reminder that identities are often formed along borders both external and internal, that structure and culture operate dialectically, and that national identity is hardly a monolithic, static formation.