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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Rethinking Geographies Of Assimilation, Caroline Nagel
Rethinking Geographies Of Assimilation, Caroline Nagel
Caroline R. Nagel
This commentary argues for a reconsideration of the concept of assimilation in geographical research. Whereas critics of assimilation theory have often misrepresented assimilation research, those working within the assimilation framework have seldom explored societal understandings of “sameness.” This commentary advocates that geographers look at assimilation not only in terms of spatial patterns but also in terms of the discursive and material practices through which dominant and subordinate groups negotiate the terms of social membership. The need to arrive at a richer understanding of assimilation becomes more pressing as the assimilability of migrants becomes an increasingly salient topic of debate.
‘We’Re Just Like The Irish’: Narratives Of Assimilation, Belonging, And Citizenship Among Arab American Activists, Caroline Nagel, Lynn Staeheli
‘We’Re Just Like The Irish’: Narratives Of Assimilation, Belonging, And Citizenship Among Arab American Activists, Caroline Nagel, Lynn Staeheli
Caroline R. Nagel
This paper examines narratives of assimilation and belonging as activists attempt to position Arab-Americans as citizens and full members of the American polity. In interviews with activists, the experience of the Irish as immigrants and citizens was often invoked as the paradigmatic example of how immigrants are incorporated as citizens—an example that activists promoted as one that Arabs would follow. By invoking the Irish experience, activists hope to remind Americans that immigration history is not one of effortless assimilation, but is rather characterized by systematic exclusion and marginalization. In so doing, they articulate narratives of assimilation and belonging that draw …