Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Rethinking Heterolocalism: The Case Of Place-Making Among Albanian-Americans, Merita Bushi

Geography Honors Projects

The theory of heterolocalism explores how immigrants connect to their new setting without clustering among co-ethnics. This research explores the role that Albanian-American organizations in Chicago and New York have in immigrant place-making and building a sense of community through semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The focus on institutions shifts the discourse from individual behaviors to networks. The Albanian case study is used to argue that segmented heterolocalism is more nuanced and thus describes the sociospatial behavior of immigrants in a way that resonates more closely with immigrants and incorporates their sense of community in a place.