Digital Commons Network^™

November Roundtable: Multiculturalism And Integration Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Germany's Integration Blinkers. What's So Bad About Parallel Societies?” by Henryk M. Broder, Spiegel Online, November 20, 2010

and

“Angela Merkel: German Multiculturalism has Utterly Failed,” by Matthew Weaver, The Guardian, October 17, 2010

Multiculturalism And The Struggle Of National Normative Challenges, Marc Alexander C. Gionet

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Globalization has not translated into a set of universal monolithic values. As populations relocate for various reasons, increasingly less effort is required not only to stay connected, but to remain within the home community via satellite television, radio, telecommunications, and locally concentrated diaspora. Henryk M. Broder has described such a phenomenon as the development of “ parallel societies, ” which result from immigrants’ failure or lack of interest in integrating into a host community. The question that many commentators have attempted to answer is: does the development of parallel societies, or even additional cultural diversity, represent a threat or a …

Citizenship, Rights, And Culture, Alison Brysk

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Shortly after German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s repudiation of multiculturalism, the Soros Foundation announced the winners of its Fellowships for New Americans—an award for graduate study for foreign-born students whose career paths show initiative, accomplishment, and “commitment to the values expressed in the U.S. Constitution.” Dozens of America’s best and brightest are pursuing degrees in law, medicine, public policy, business, and the arts that will immensely enrich our national and global communities.

European Identity Struggles In The Age Of Austerity, Par Engstrom

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The economic crisis has coincided with a discernible rise of right-wing populist parties in a number of European countries. This was most recently seen in elections in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Right-wing populist parties also hold parliamentary seats in Austria, Denmark, Finland, and Norway, and they have been part of coalition governments in Italy and Switzerland for some time. In France, Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front, although not represented in parliament, wields considerable political influence, and may receive an additional electoral boost should Le Pen’s daughter, Marine Le Pen, inherit the party leadership. True, these parties still enjoy only …

Diaspora In Global Development: First Generation Immigrants From Kenya, Transnational Ties, And Emerging Alternatives, Maria M. Kioko

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Transnational ties form an important aspect of immigrants' experiences. Using ethnographic accounts of 38 first generation immigrants from Kenya this study analyzed (a) why and how participants maintain ties, (b) characteristics of the ties, and (c) the degree to which ties influence immigrants' experiences. Findings revealed that participants connected to Kenya through social, economic, and political transnational practices. Ties took on a U-shaped curve with the highest intensity at points of arrival and after extended stay in the United States. While participants had moved spatially, their values and attitudes remained static resulting in "particularistic" development efforts. This demonstrated how ethnicity, …

Key Dynamics Of Assimilation Among First-Generation Turkish Immigrants Residing In Romania, Hasan Aydin

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

The purpose of this study was to examine the consequences of integration and assimilation of first-generation young adults (over 18 years old) who are Turkish immigrants in Romania. This is a qualitative study with 31 first-generation Turkish immigrants in two different Romanian cities. The participants were interviewed and were asked open-ended questions relating to their culture, religion, and language. The comparative analyses of the two cities indicate that the processes and intensity of assimilation differ widely. The participants' degree of assimilation or integration was related to various things, such as histories prior to migration, reason for relocation, and particular characteristics …

Becoming American: The Socio-Economic And Cultural Landscape Of Kenyan Immigrants In Chicago, Il, Cyril O. Wilson, Chapurukha M. Kusimba

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This study reports the emerging patterns of migration and settlement of Kenyans into the Chicago metropolitan area. Like most African immigrant communities in North America, economic downturn, political instability, and socio-economic polarization in African countries necessitated an appreciable quantum of emigration of Kenyans following the attainment of Africa's political independence in the 1960s. Most of the findings on housing characteristics, education, employment, patterns of family life, socio-cultural interaction, challenges encountered by new immigrants, and related phenomena evince parallels with other studies on African immigrants in North America.

Je E(S)T L’Autre, Nadia Duchêne

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Immigration and otherness represent core concerns in contemporary society and, as such, give rise to debate and discussion in many disciplines. the question of otherness also arises as a recurrent and key subject in the field of literature. Tahar Ben Jelloun’s novel Partir is replete with the ambivalence of otherness: attraction/aversion; difference/similarity; lack/exile; native/foreigner; close/distant; normal/deviant and as such provides a laboratory where the expression of otherness in discourse can be dissected. We will examine the perception and the issue of otherness in the novel as well as the strength of its representations.

Reconstructing Citizenship In A Global Economy: How Restricting Immigrants From Welfare Undermines Social Rights For U.S. Citizens, Rupaleem Bhuyan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Scrutiny of immigrants' use of public benefits is a reoccurring theme in U.S. politics. Yet while the tough stance on immigrants taps into popular anti-immigrant sentiment, the consequences of such scrutiny are shared by all welfare recipients. Drawing upon interpretive policy frames, I examine how new requirements to verify citizenship and identity for Medicaid directly impacts social entitlements for both citizen and non-citizen populations. Analysis of state reports and policy studies of citizenship verification requirements for Medicaid illustrate that verification costs may exceed the costs of fraudulent misuse by unqualified immigrants. I argue that devolutionary shifts in welfare and immigration …

[Review Of] Alyshia Galvez, Guadalupe In New York: Devotion And Struggle For Citizenship Rights Among Mexican Immigrants, Stephanie Reichelderfer

Ethnic Studies Review

Alyshia Galvez's Guadalupe in New York is an important contribution to a growing body of sociological and anthropological work devoted to immigrants and their fight for basic human rights in the United States. Galvez, a cultural anthropologist, uses interviews and observations to study the process of guadalupanismo (worship of Mexico's patron saint, Our Lady of Guadalupe) among recent Mexican immigrants in New York City. Between 2000 and 2008, Galvez gathered information on Marian worship by following members of comités guadalupanos, or social groups organized by parish, and explains her methodology in a useful appendix. Galvez argues that through these comités, …

[Review Of] Joanna Dreby, Divided By Borders: Mexican Migrants And Their Children, Leonard Berkey

Ethnic Studies Review

Most of the recent books on the children of immigrants, whether they focus on new arrivals (Learning a New Land, 2008) or on children born in the United States (Inheriting the City, 2008), have concentrated on these youngsters' adaptation to American society, their performance in school and the workplace, and their attempts to renegotiate ethnic identity in a new land. Joanna Dreby's Divided by Borders is different. She explores what happens to the children of Mexican immigrants to the U.S., and to the migrants themselves, when those children are left behind in Mexico.

Immigration And Domestic Politics In South Africa: Contradictions Of The Rainbow Nation, Vernon D. Johnson

Ethnic Studies Review

The region of Southern Africa has been part of the global capitalist system since its inception in the late 15th century, when Portugal incorporated Angola and Mozambique into its empire. In 1652 the Dutch East India Company established a "refreshment station" at the Cape of Good Hope for ships travelling between Europe and the Far East.1 From that time the region has experienced several periods of deepening incorporation into the global system.