Structuring Diversity: Ethnographic Perspectives on the New Immigration
In the last decade, about 500,000 newcomers a year have legally entered the United States, many of them from Asia and Latin America. Drawn primarily to urban centers, these immigrants are the newest and most important force in the changing face of American cities. But how have they fared? Are they gaining access to, and a voice within, our most important institutions: corporations, school systems, city governments, and housing agencies? Is it necessary, or even possible, to change these institutions in order to fully integrate immigrants into American life? Working from Miami, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Monterey Park (California), and Garden City (Kansas), the contributors to this volume – whose research has been featured in the PBS documentary, “America Becoming” – explore such crucial questions from the perspective of both sociology and anthropology.
Louise Lamphere 