In my last post, I looked at books that examine immigration at the institutional level. To complement that list, below are some recently-released books that highlight the issue of immigration on the community and individual level and provides a more ethnographic and personal account of how political, economic, and legal dynamics operate in the daily lives of immigrants and the neighborhoods in which they live. A book’s inclusion is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily mean a full endorsement of its contents.

Achieving Anew: How New Immigrants Do in American Schools, Jobs, and Neighborhoods, by Michael J. White and Jennifer E. Glick (Russell Sage Foundation)

Can the recent influx of immigrants successfully enter the mainstream of American life, or will many of them fail to thrive and become part of a permanent underclass? Achieving Anew examines immigrant life in school, at work, and in communities and demonstrates that recent immigrants and their children do make substantial progress over time, both within and between generations.

From policymakers to private citizens, our national conversation on immigration has consistently questioned the country’s ability to absorb increasing numbers of foreign nationals–now nearly one million legal entrants per year. Using census data, longitudinal education surveys, and other data, Michael White and Jennifer Glick place their study of new immigrant achievement within a context of recent developments in assimilation theory and policies regulating who gets in and what happens to them upon arrival.

They find that immigrant status itself is not an important predictor of educational achievement. First-generation immigrants arrive in the United States with less education than native-born Americans, but by the second and third generation, the children of immigrants are just as successful in school as native-born students with equivalent social and economic background. As with prior studies, the effects of socioeconomic background and family structure show through strongly. On education attainment, race and ethnicity have a strong impact on achievement initially, but less over time.

Looking at the labor force, White and Glick find no evidence to confirm the often-voiced worry that recent immigrants and their children are falling behind earlier arrivals. On the contrary, immigrants of more recent vintage tend to catch up to the occupational status of natives more quickly than in the past. Family background, educational preparation, and race/ethnicity all play a role in labor market success, just as they do for the native born, but the offspring of immigrants suffer no disadvantage due to their immigrant origins.

Although the picture is mixed and the continuing significance of racial factors remains a concern, Achieving Anew provides compelling reassurance that the recent wave of immigrants is making impressive progress in joining the American mainstream. The process of assimilation is not broken, the advent of a new underclass is not imminent, and the efforts to argue for the restriction of immigration based on these fears are largely mistaken.

Working in the Shadows: A Year of Doing the Jobs (Most) Americans Won’t Do, by Gabriel Thompson (Nation Books)

What is it like to do the back-breaking work of immigrants? To find out, Gabriel Thompson spent a year working alongside Latino immigrants, who initially thought he was either crazy or an undercover immigration agent. He stooped over lettuce fields in Arizona, and worked the graveyard shift at a chicken slaughterhouse in rural Alabama. He dodged taxis—not always successfully—as a bicycle delivery “boy” for an upscale Manhattan restaurant, and was fired from a flower shop by a boss who, he quickly realized, was nuts.

As one coworker explained, “These jobs make you old quick.” Back spasms occasionally keep Thompson in bed, where he suffers recurring nightmares involving iceberg lettuce and chicken carcasses. Combining personal narrative with investigative reporting, Thompson shines a bright light on the underside of the American economy, exposing harsh working conditions, union busting, and lax government enforcement—while telling the stories of workers, undocumented immigrants, and desperate US citizens alike, forced to live with chronic pain in the pursuit of $8 an hour.

Taking Local Control: Immigration Policy Activism in U.S. Cities and States, edited by Monica Varsanyi (Stanford University Press)

With the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States at an all-time high and Congressional immigration reform seemingly at a standstill, cities and states across the nation have leapt into the fray, creating a wide range of policies—some more controversial than others—to address illegal immigration within their jurisdictions. These policies, both anti- and pro-immigrant in nature, run the gamut. Some call for the involvement of city police in immigration enforcement, debates over day laborer markets, the establishment of employer sanctions laws, and the implementation of anti-immigrant ordinances. Other policies call for cities and states to declare themselves “sanctuaries” for undocumented immigrants, passing laws to extend locally-funded health care and social services, offer English language training, and improve wages and working conditions.

While these state and local immigration policies continue to receive wide coverage in the popular press, they have received very little attention in the scholarly literature. This volume aims to fill the gap by offering perspectives from political scientists, legal scholars, sociologists, and geographers at the leading edge of this emerging field. Drawing on high profile case studies, the contributors seek to explain the explosion in state and local immigration policy activism, account for the policies that have been considered and passed, and explore the tensions that have emerged within communities and between different levels of government.

This timely entrant into the study of state and local immigration policy also illuminates the significant challenges and opportunities of comprehensive immigration reform, highlights the range of issues at stake, and charts a future research agenda that will more deeply explore the impacts of these policies on immigrant communities.

Immigrants Raising Citizens: Undocumented Parents and Their Young Children, by Hirokazu Yoshikawa (Russell Sage Foundation)

There are now nearly four million children born in the United States who have undocumented immigrant parents. In the current debates around immigration reform, policymakers often view immigrants as an economic or labor market problem to be solved, but the issue has a very real human dimension. Immigrant parents without legal status are raising their citizen children under stressful work and financial conditions, with the constant threat of discovery and deportation that may narrow social contacts and limit participation in public programs that might benefit their children.

Immigrants Raising Citizens offers a compelling description of the everyday experiences of these parents, their very young children, and the consequences these experiences have on their children’s development. It challenges conventional wisdom about undocumented immigrants, viewing them not as lawbreakers or victims, but as the parents of citizens whose adult productivity will be essential to the nation’s future. The book’s findings are based on data from a three-year study of 380 infants from Dominican, Mexican, Chinese, and African American families, which included in-depth interviews, in-home child assessments, and parent surveys.

The book shows that undocumented parents share three sets of experiences that distinguish them from legal-status parents and may adversely influence their children’s development: avoidance of programs and authorities, isolated social networks, and poor work conditions. Fearing deportation, undocumented parents often avoid accessing valuable resources that could help their children’s development such as access to public programs and agencies providing child care and food subsidies. At the same time, many of these parents are forced to interact with illegal entities such as smugglers or loan sharks out of financial necessity. Undocumented immigrants also tend to have fewer reliable social ties to assist with child care or share information on child-rearing.

Compared to legal-status parents, undocumented parents experience significantly more exploitive work conditions, including long hours, inadequate pay and raises, few job benefits, and limited autonomy in job duties. These conditions can result in ongoing parental stress, economic hardship, and avoidance of center-based child care which is directly correlated with early skill development in children. The result is poorly developed cognitive skills, recognizable in children as young as two years old, which can negatively impact their future school performance and, eventually, their job prospects.

Immigrants Raising Citizens has important implications for immigration policy, labor law enforcement, and the structure of community services for immigrant families. In addition to low income and education levels, undocumented parents experience hardships due to their status that have potentially lifelong consequences for their children. With nothing less than the future contributions of these children at stake, the book presents a rigorous and sobering argument that the price for ignoring this reality may be too high to pay.

Nowhere to Be Home: Narratives From Survivors of Burma’s Military Regime, edited by Maggie Lemere and Zoe West (McSweeney Publishing)

Decades of military oppression in Burma have led to the systematic destruction of thousands of ethnic minority villages, a standing army with one of the world’s highest number of child soldiers, and the displacement of millions of people. Nowhere to Be Home is an eye-opening collection of oral histories exposing the realities of life under military rule. In their own words, men and women from Burma describe their lives in the country that Human Rights Watch has called “the textbook example of a police state.”

Below are some recently-released books that highlight the issue of immigration on the institutional level and how political, economic, and legal dynamics operate at the level of social institutions. A corresponding overview of books that look at immigration at the community and individual level is coming shortly. A book’s inclusion is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily mean a full endorsement of its contents.

Immigration Worldwide: Policies, Practices, and Trends, edited by Uma A. Segal, Doreen Elliott, and Nazneen S. Mayadas (Oxford University Press)

The ease of transportation, the opening of international immigration policies, the growing refugee movements, and the increasing size of unauthorized immigrant populations suggest that immigration worldwide is a phenomenon of utmost importance to professionals who develop policies and programs for, or provide services to, immigrants. Immigration occurs in both the wealthy nations of the global North and the poorer countries of the global South; it involves individuals who arrive with substantial human capital and those with little. It has far-reaching implications for a nation’s economy, public policies, social and health services, and culture.

The purpose of this volume, therefore, is to explore current patterns and policies of immigration in key countries and regions across the globe and analyze the implications for these countries and their immigrant populations. Each of its chapters, written by an international and interdisciplinary group of experts, explores how country conditions, policies, values, politics, and attitudes influence the process of immigration and subsequently affect immigrants, migration, and the nation itself.

No other volume explores the landscape of worldwide immigration as broadly as this does, with sweeping coverage of countries and empirical research, together with an analytic framework that sets the context of human migration against a wide backdrop of experiential factors that take shape long before an immigrant enters a host country. At once a sourcebook and an applied model of immigration studies, Immigration Worldwide is a valuable reference for scholars and students seeking a wide-ranging yet nuanced survey of the key issues salient to debates about the programs and policies that best serve immigrant populations and their host countries.

International Migration in the Age of Crisis and Globalization: Historical and Recent Experiences, by Andrés Solimano (Cambridge University Press)

The international mobility of people and elites is a main feature of the global economy of today and yesterday. Immigration augments the labor force in receiving countries and provides many of the bodies and minds that are essential to any vibrant economy. Talented people are critical to the transfer of knowledge, ideas, fresh capital, contacts, and entrepreneurial capacities. This book is based on a blend of theory, varied country examples, and rich historical material ranging from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century.

It discusses the conceptual underpinnings of the push and pull factors of current migration waves and their impacts for development on the source and receiving countries. The analysis reviews the historical context under which various migration experiences have taken place – both in periods of internationalism and in periods of nationalism – in order to contribute to debates on the desirability of and tensions and costs involved in the current process of international migration and globalization. These issues are relevant during both times of economic slumps and times of economic growth.

Weapons of Mass Migration: Forced Displacement, Coercion, and Foreign Policy, by Kelly M. Greenhill (Cornell University Press)

At first glance, the U.S. decision to escalate the war in Vietnam in the mid-1960s, China’s position on North Korea’s nuclear program in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the EU resolution to lift what remained of the arms embargo against Libya in the mid-2000s would appear to share little in common. Yet each of these seemingly unconnected and far-reaching foreign policy decisions resulted at least in part from the exercise of a unique kind of coercion, one predicated on the intentional creation, manipulation, and exploitation of real or threatened mass population movements. In Weapons of Mass Migration, Kelly M. Greenhill offers the first systematic examination of this widely deployed but largely unrecognized instrument of state influence. She shows both how often this unorthodox brand of coercion has been attempted (more than fifty times in the last half century) and how successful it has been (well over half the time). She also tackles the questions of who employs this policy tool, to what ends, and how and why it ever works.

Coercers aim to affect target states’ behavior by exploiting the existence of competing political interests and groups, Greenhill argues, and by manipulating the costs or risks imposed on target state populations. This ‘coercion by punishment’ strategy can be effected in two ways: the first relies on straightforward threats to overwhelm a target’s capacity to accommodate a refugee or migrant influx; the second, on a kind of norms-enhanced political blackmail that exploits the existence of legal and normative commitments to those fleeing violence, persecution, or privation. The theory is further illustrated and tested in a variety of case studies from Europe, East Asia, and North America. To help potential targets better respond to–and protect themselves against–this kind of unconventional predation, Weapons of Mass Migration also offers practicable policy recommendations for scholars, government officials, and anyone concerned about the true victims of this kind of coercion–the displaced themselves.

Not Fit for Our Society: Immigration and Nativism in America, by Peter Schrag (University of California Press)

In a book of deep and telling ironies, Peter Schrag provides essential background for understanding the fractious debate over immigration. Covering the earliest days of the Republic to current events, Schrag sets the modern immigration controversy within the context of three centuries of debate over the same questions about who exactly is fit for citizenship. He finds that nativism has long colored our national history, and that the fear–and loathing–of newcomers has provided one of the faultlines of American cultural and political life.

Schrag describes the eerie similarities between the race-based arguments for restricting Irish, German, Slav, Italian, Jewish, and Chinese immigrants in the past and the arguments for restricting Latinos and others today. He links the terrible history of eugenic “science” to ideas, individuals, and groups now at the forefront of the fight against rational immigration policies. Not Fit for Our Society makes a powerful case for understanding the complex, often paradoxical history of immigration restriction as we work through the issues that inform, and often distort, the debate over who can become a citizen, who decides, and on what basis.

Asian Immigration to the United States, by Philip Q. Yang (Polity Press)

In her research on popular culture of the Vietnamese diaspora, Nhi T. Lieu explores how people displaced by war reconstruct cultural identity in the aftermath of migration. Embracing American democratic ideals and consumer capitalism prior to arriving in the United States, postwar Vietnamese refugees endeavored to assimilate and live the American Dream. In The American Dream in Vietnamese, she claims that nowhere are these fantasies played out more vividly than in the Vietnamese American entertainment industry.

Lieu examines how live music variety shows and videos, beauty pageants, and Web sites created by and for Vietnamese Americans contributed to the shaping of their cultural identity. She shows how popular culture forms repositories for conflicting expectations of assimilation, cultural preservation, and invention, alongside gendered and classed dimensions of ethnic and diasporic identity.

The American Dream in Vietnamese demonstrates how the circulation of images manufactured by both Americans and Vietnamese immigrants serves to produce these immigrants’ paradoxical desires. Within these desires and their representations, Lieu finds the dramatization of the community’s struggle to define itself against the legacy of the refugee label, a classification that continues to pathologize their experiences in American society.

Here are some more announcements, links, and job postings about academic-related jobs, fellowships, and other related opportunities for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.

Call for Participants: BBC Documentary on Viet Nam War

Dear Sir,

I am a BBC journalist writing from London. I work on a history programme called “Witness”, which focuses on significant events in the recent past. The hundreds of subjects that we have looked at have included the trial of Nelson Mandela, the bombing of Hiroshima and the beginnings of the civil rights movement in America — to name just a few. Our programme is broadcast to a large audience around the world.

And in the weeks ahead we very much hope to focus on the stories of those who fled Vietnam by boat at the end of the war there in the 1970s. We are simply looking for interviewees who might be willing to tell us — in quite strong English — what they went through. I realise that, for some, remembering such traumatic events this will not be at all easy. But we would like to be able to remind our listeners around the world what the Vietnamese boat people endured. We want to record their story for our archive.

Would you, I wonder, be able to put me in touch figures in the Vietnamese refugee community who might be able to help in our search for interviewees? They can contact me through my email below.

Yours,
Alan Johnston
alan.johnston@bbc.co.uk

JACL Scholarships: Deadlines Approaching

The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is kicking off its Scholarship Program for the 2011 academic year. At the national level, JACL offers over 30 awards, with an annual total of over $60,000 in scholarships.

JACL Membership, which is required for applications, is open to anyone of any ethnic group. Membership dues can be paid online or with the application. The 2011 National JACL Scholarship Program informational brochure and applications are posted on the JACL website.

JACL Scholarship applications for Undergraduate, Graduate, Law, Creative & Performing Arts, and Financial Aid. The deadline for these applications is April 1, 2011. These are to be sent directly by the applicants to: National JACL Scholarship Program, c/o Portland JACL, P.O. Box 86310, Portland, OR 97286.

For additional information regarding the JACL National Scholarship Program, please contact Patty Wada at (415) 345-1075 or ncwnp@jacl.org.

Youth Justice Leadership Program

Youth Justice Leadership Institute Seeks Applicants for 2011-2012 Program Year

The National Juvenile Justice Network seeks applicants for the pilot year of its Youth Justice Leadership Institute. The Institute’s mission is to create the foundation for a more effective juvenile justice reform movement by developing a strong base of well prepared and well trained advocates and organizers who reflect the communities most affected by juvenile justice system practices and policies.

The Institute’s inaugural year will focus on cultivating and supporting professionals of color. The Institute is a robust, year long program that includes leadership development, training in juvenile justice system policies and practices, and advocacy skills development. The Institute will bring fellows together twice during the year, attach each fellow to a mentor and envelope fellows within the larger juvenile justice reform community.

If you are a professional of color and are interested in applying for the Institute, please visit our web site to download our application packet or contact the Institute’s Coordinator, Diana Onley-Campbell, at diana@juvjustice.org. Applications are due on April 26, 2011.

Call for Papers: ‘The Chinese Shop’ Conference

The “Chinese shop” in all its manifestations (laundry, bakery, restaurant, general store, etc.) has been integrally connected to Chinese migration and the experience of overseas Chinese. Indeed, the Chinese shop has been both a site of economic and symbolic exchange – a complex locus of power and performative societal tensions and identifications. As such, the consideration of Chinese shop space provides an intriguing staring point from which to investigate many key socio-political issues for Chinese diasporic communities.

Hosted at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, this conference aims to bring together an interdisciplinary group of scholars to investigate how the space and place of the Chinese shop (broadly defined) has been conceived of and experienced for overseas Chinese. In particular, it seeks to explore the transformative socio-cultural, economic and political processes that create the space and place of the Chinese shop both within Chinese diasporic communities and in terms of encounters between the Chinese and their host societies.

We encourage panels and papers with diverse disciplinary approaches to this theme, including those that consider the Chinese shop within transnational, hemispheric and/or comparative contexts. Topics might include, but are not limited to the following:

• The representation and imagination of shop space
• The political contestations and designations of shop space
• Theoretical deliberations on the spatial dimensions of the Chinese shop
• The shop as gendered space
• The shop as racialized space
• The historical, social and economic implications of the Chinese shop
• The impact of nationalism, globalization, colonialism, and/or imperialism on Chinese shop space

The deadline for abstracts is Friday, April 29th, 2011. Abstracts and CVs can be submitted online by clicking on the “Submit Abstracts” link in the menu on the right-hand side of the page. Additional questions can be addressed to Dr. Anne-Marie Lee-Loy at: aleeloy@ryerson.ca.

Scholarship, ICPSR Quantitative Methods Summer Program

A scholarship fund has been established in honor of Warren E. Miller for participation in the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) 2011 Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research. Professor Miller was not only one of the most prominent figures in modern social science research. He was also the founder of both ICPSR and the ICPSR Summer Program.

The Warren E. Miller Scholarship Fund will provide financial support to outstanding pre-tenure scholars (assistant professors and advanced graduate students) in the social and behavioral sciences so they may attend one or both of the four-week sessions in the 2011 ICPSR Summer Program. Recipients of the Miller Scholarship will receive a fee waiver to cover Program enrollment and a stipend to help with expenses while staying in Ann Arbor. Applicants to the Warren E. Miller Scholarship should have professional interests in one or more of the following areas of research (or in related fields):

• Developing a common approach to understanding electoral behavior within or across nations
• Understanding the process of democratization in electoral systems
• Understanding the link between global politics and local electoral behavior
• Understanding how context influences political behavior
• Understanding how globalization causes change in political behavior

Application materials for the Miller Scholarship should be submitted electronically, through the ICPSR Summer Program’s online Portal on the Summer Program’s website. Applicants should register for the 2011 Summer Program using the online form and select classes in one or both of the four-week sessions. Note that course selections may be modified and changed later. But, the Miller Scholarship Committee may use an applicant’s preferred courses as a criterion in the selection process for the scholarship. Along with a completed registration, an application must include:

1. A current vita
2. A cover letter from the student, explaining how participation in the ICPSR Summer Program will contribute toward completion of the Ph.D.
3. Two letters of recommendation. For applicants who are faculty members, one of these letters should come from his or her Department Chair. For graduate student applicants, one of the letters should come from his or her faculty advisor or dissertation chairperson. Letters of recommendation should be e-mailed directly to sumprog@icpsr.umich.edu. Letter writers should include “MILLER SCHOLARSHIP RECOMMENDATION” and the applicant’s name in the subject line of the e-mail message.

The application deadline for the Warren E. Miller Scholarship is April 29, 2011. Further information about the ICPSR Summer Program, including course descriptions and the 2011 schedule, is available on the Program website. Also, you should feel free to contact the ICPSR Summer Program by e-mail (sumprog@icpsr.umich.edu) or by telephone (734-763-7400) if you have any questions.

Call for Papers: Critical Refugee Studies

Conference on Critical Refugee Studies
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
November 3-4, 2011

Displacement of populations affects the uprooted as well as communities that receive them. Recognized by international proxy after World War II, the identity category of refugee has a history as long as the incidence of warfare and other crises that result in displacement. This conference uses the 20th century invention of the category of refugee as a means to compare the experiences of displaced persons across time and space.

We invite papers that chronicle and reflect on the experiences and representations of refugee populations. In particular, we are interested in work that expands the idea of the refugee to create comparisons and parallels with the experiences of other groups. Papers that define the term refugee broadly and creatively are most welcome. Among the questions we invite:

• How do refugee identities compare to those of other migrants?
• As local and global political contexts change, how do refugees conceptualize notions of citizenship and home?
• How are refugee identities in dialogue with concepts of place/displacement?
• What is the role of memory and the creation of refugee texts?
• How is the refugee experience mediated/mass mediated?

Abstracts by May 15, 2011 to: criticalrefugee-studies@uwm.edu.

Speakers:

• Michael Rios, Director, Sacramento Diasporas Project, University of California-Davis
• Romola Sanyal, Lecturer in Global Urbanism, Newcastle University
• Ghita Schwarz, New York Legal Aid, Author, Displaced Persons
• Shirley Tang, Asian American/American Studies University of Massachusetts, Boston
• Dinaw Mengestu, Author, The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears; How to Read the Air (To Be Confirmed)

Call for Papers: Disability in Asian America

Amerasia Journal Special Issue Call for Papers: The State of Illness and Disability in Asian America
Guest Editors: Professor Jennifer Ho (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) and Professor James Kyung-Jin Lee (University of California, Irvine)

We seek critical essays and articles as well as creative non-fiction and first-person accounts that engage with the intersections of Asian American discourse and illness/disability studies, for a special issue of Amerasia Journal, scheduled for publication in 2012.

Since, as scholar Michael Berube observes, “the definition of disability, like the definition of illness, is inevitably a matter of social debate and social construction,” we are interested in how these social constructions of disability and illness coincide, collide, and converge with those of ethnicity and race, along with other axes of intersectionality such as gender, sexuality, class, region, religion, age, and education.

Critiquing the narrow perspective of the discipline, scholar Chris Bell has noted “the failure of Disability Studies to engage issues of race and ethnicity in a substantive capacity, thereby entrenching whiteness as its constitutive underpinning.” One goal of this special issue is to provide another forum in which to challenge entrenched whiteness within Disability and Illness Studies as well as to bring to the foreground the state of illness and disability within the Asian American community. Contributors to this special issue may consider the following questions:

• What is the role of illness and disability within Asian American narratives—be they in fiction, non-fiction, or cinematic form—and/or how is the ill or disabled Asian American body represented within these narratives?
• How are illness and disability regarded within Asian American communities and cultural productions?
• What are the special needs of Asian Americans who face life threatening and chronic illnesses?
• What kinds of accommodations do Asian Americans with disabilities find most challenging in light of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds and/or as a result of their racialization as non-white Americans?
• How might Asian American experiences of disability and/or illness invite a reimagination of what constitutes a “good” life practice or way of living, and what kinds of social transformations would be necessary to make this so?

Submission Guidelines and Deadlines:
Due Date for one-page abstracts: June 15, 2011. Due Date for solicited final papers: January 2012. Publication Date: Fall 2012. The editorial procedure involves a three-step process: The guest editors, in consultation with the Amerasia Journal editors and peer reviewers, make decisions on the final essays:

1. Approval of abstracts
2. Submission of papers solicited from accepted abstracts
3. Revision of accepted peer-reviewed papers and final submission

Please send correspondence regarding the special issue on illness and disabilities studies in Asian American Studies to the following addresses. All correspondence should refer to “Amerasia Journal Disabilities Studies Issue” in the subject line.

Professor Jennifer Ho: jho@email.unc.edu
Professor James Kyung-Jin Lee: jkl@uci.edu
Arnold Pan, Amerasia Journal: arnoldpan@ucla.edu

Call for Papers: Mixed-Status Immigrant Families

“In Between the Shadows of Citizenship: Mixed Status Families”

Guest Editors: Mary Romero, Professor, Arizona State University, Justice and Social Inquiry and Jodie Lawston, Assistant Professor, California State University San Marcos, Women’s Studies

Despite the fact that immigration stories are increasingly featured in U.S. popular media discourse and an immigrant justice movement continues to strengthen, little scholarship has focused on the experiences of immigrants and their families, and especially, families who are mixed status in that they are comprised of both citizens and noncitizens. This edited volume aims to examine the experiences of immigrants and mixed status families in terms of work and education, raids, deportations, and detention, and resistance toward anti-immigrant sentiment. We welcome and encourage work that examines not just the experiences of immigrants in the U.S., but the experiences of immigrants around the globe.

The questions we are interested in exploring include but are not restricted to the following: What forms of work do immigrant women engage in to support their families? What are the struggles of undocumented students? How do raids, deportations, and detention affect families? How do such phenomena affect mixed status families? What are the experiences of immigrants, particularly women and children, in detention? How have changes in laws affected undocumented immigrants and their children? What strategies have justice movements used to protect undocumented men, women, and children? How are countries around the world approaching immigration and undocumented immigration, and how does that compare to U.S. policies? We seek explorations and answers to these questions that engage notions of gender, race and ethnicity, place, and culture as well as documentation and analysis of leadership and activism.

The following topical areas broadly outline the subject matter that we see as most relevant to this volume. These can be used as starting points for papers, but authors are not restricted to them:

• The effects of detention on immigrant families, particularly in separating those families
• The impact of family reunification
• The intersection of work and immigration status
• The effects of immigration status on students
• The effects of raids and/or deportations on families
• Changes in laws and resulting effects on immigrants’ lives
• Immigrant justice work
• Comparative studies of issues related to immigration in different parts of the world
• The intersections of race, class, gender, and with immigration status

We are interested in both academic papers and testimonies from immigrant women on the above topics.

Submission Process: Proposals for academic papers or testimonies, no longer than three pages, should be emailed to Jodie Lawston at jlawston@csusm.edu by Wed. June 15, 2011. Author(s) must include all identifying information on the proposal, including name, title, institutional affiliation, address, phone numbers, and email. After the deadline, we will review proposals and contact authors as to which manuscripts we are interested in reviewing for the book. Proposals must include the subject matter of the paper, methods used for your analysis, and the argument you plan to make based on your data.

This is the third of my three-part list of the best documentaries that focus on immigration and are great choices for showing in high school and college immigration classes. This third and final part will focus specifically on issues related to socioeconomic attainment, mobility, and assimilation — the individual-, community-, and institutional-level processes involved as immigrants (regardless of their legal status) become integrated into the rest of U.S. society.

Part 1 focused on the historical and global context of immigration and Part 2 looked at unauthorized immigration. The following list is organized by topic and corresponds to the chronological order in which I discuss each topic in my “Sociology of Immigration” course. For each topic, I highlight the documentary that I tend to show the most often, followed by other videos that are good choices for that topic as well.

Socioeconomic Mobility and Settlement Patterns

What are the historical and contemporary patterns of educational, occupational, and income attainment on the part of immigrants and how do such patterns compare across waves of immigration, nationality/ethnic group, and in relation to U.S.-born racial/ethnic groups? Also, what are some recent developments regarding where immigrants settle, how they create their own communities and enclaves, and role of these ethnic communities in their overall assimilation process?

• Saigon USA: Summarizes the exodus of refugees out of Viet Nam, how many of them eventually settled in Orange County CA, the formation of the Little Saigon enclave, and the ways in which Vietnamese Americans reflect both old and new ways, and the ways in which they’re socially divided yet united as well.
• Bittersweet Roots: The Chinese in California’s Heartland
• Dinka Diaries
• Rain in a Dry Land
• Little Manila: Filipinos in California’s Heartland
• Chinatown: Strangers in a Strange Land
• Nuestra Comunidad: Latinos in North Carolina

Assimilation and Ethnic Identity

In this section, I focus on the assimilation and integration process on the individual level. Specifically, I look at the different forms of forms of assimilation that immigrants undergo, the factors that affect their own personal racial/ethnic/cultural identity, and how community- and institutional factors influence whether immigrants experience upward or downward assimilation through time.

• The Neo-African Americans: Using interviews and case studies, this documentary explores the experiences of African and Black Caribbean immigrants to highlight the inter-ethnic issues involved as African immigrants navigate the transition to U.S. society and where they fit into the larger “Black” community in the U.S.
• Africans in America: Unfolding of Ethnic Identity
• ‘Redlining’ episode of After the Immigrant
• Bronx Princess
• Discovering Dominiga
• Refugee
• aka Don Bonus
• Monkey Dance

Language, Religious, and Political Incorporation

This section explores assimilation and integration specifically related to native language retention vs. English acquisition among immigrants, their religious patterns and the roles that religious organizations play in their lives, and their patterns of participating in the political process at various levels and in particular, the prospects of immigrants leveraging their growing population size into greater political power.

• Latinos ’08: This question of Latino immigrants parlaying their growing numbers into more political power is at the heart of this excellent PBS documentary. It explores the demographic changes taking place within the Latino population and the communities in which they’re increasingly prominent, their history of activism, and some challenges they face internally and from more established racial/ethnic groups in the volatile world of politics.
• “The Governor” episode of Searching for Asian America
• “Muslim” episode of 30 Days (Season 1)
• A Village Called Versailles
• Mexican Americans: A Class Apart
• Made in L.A.

Emerging Issues and a Changing National Identity

In this final section of my “Sociology of Immigration” course, I reflect back on where immigrants to the U.S. have been — politically, economically, and culturally — and just as important, take a look at where immigration and immigration policy are headed as we move forward into the 21st century and in particular, as we become more culturally diverse, globalized, and transnational.

• California and the American Dream: The New Los Angeles: This documentary examines how Los Angeles transformed from a conservative, virtually all-White city into a vibrant and multicultural metropolis. Through historical and contemporary examples, it illustrates both the challenges and rewards involved in creating and managing such a diverse social, political, and economic space.
• “The City and the World” episode (#7) of New York: A Documentary Film
• Secrets of Silicon Valley
• Do You Speak American?
• American Made
• “Filipino Doctors” segment of Searching for Asian America

Here are some more announcements, links, and job postings about academic-related jobs, fellowships, and other related opportunities for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.

Part-Time Lecturers: Claremont Colleges

The Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies at the Claremont Colleges invites applications for part-time, visiting lecturer positions to teach one or two courses in Asian American Studies during the Fall 2011 semester. We welcome applicants who can offer “Contemporary Issues” and/or special topics courses which complement our curriculum, especially courses on Muslim, Pacific Islander, Southeast Asian, mixed race, or mixed ethnicity Asian Americans. Applicants should have a Ph.D. or be ABD, and have some teaching experience.

The Claremont Colleges (Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona, and Scripps) are liberal arts colleges located 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. We value diversity, and actively encourage applications from women and members of historically underrepresented groups. Please submit a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, proposed course syllabi, and contact information for three references via email to madeline.gosiaco@pomona.edu, followed by a hard copy of your application materials to:

Professor Kathy Yep
c/o Madeline Gosiaco
Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies
Claremont Colleges
Lincoln Building 1118
647 N College Way
Claremont, CA 91711

Review of applications will begin February 1, 2011. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Northeast Conference on Indonesian Studies

We invite you to join us for the 6th Biannual Northeast Conference on Indonesian Studies. NCIS is a one-day conference for the presentation of new research relating to religion, politics, economy, language, culture, and the environment in Indonesia.

February 19th, 2011
Luce Hall
Yale University
34 Hillhouse Avenue
New Haven, CT

Keynote Speaker:
Dr. J. Joseph Errington
Professor of Anthropology, Yale University
“Other Indonesians: The National Language in Some Out-of-the Way Places”

Please visit the conference website or contact the organizers at YIFconference@gmail.com with any questions.

Position: Visiting Associate Director, Asian American Resource and Cultural Center

The Visiting Associate Director provides primary leadership for AARCC programs (University of Illinois, Chicago) that address Asian American students academic, personal, and vocational needs, including the Asian American Mentor Program; coordinates center and campus programs and activities with a focus on Asian American awareness such as Asian American Awareness Month; advises individual students as well as student groups; acts as AARCC liaison to campus units, especially student affairs units; provides consultative services to students, faculty and staff engaged in diversity initiatives in relation to relevant Asian American issues; supervises center staff; assists the Director with administrative oversight of center operations and staff. This position is partially funded by the Asian American Native American-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) grant administered by the U.S. Department of Education.

Duties:

• Oversee and coordinate Asian American Mentor Program, including supervision of graduate assistants and undergraduate mentors.
• Coordinate campus educational programming such as Asian American Awareness Month and year-round guest speakers, events, workshops that focus on Asian American issues.
• Provide and/or supervise academic, organizational, social, and personal advising to Asian American students, including assistance with resource allocations for student-initiated programs.
• Serve as primary liaison between AARCC and student services, acting as primary representative of AARCC to these offices.
• Develop and present workshops and trainings for faculty, staff, and students on Asian American student needs and services.
• Serve as an AARCC liaison to the university on policy and practices in order to ensure that the campus serves Asian American students and addresses Asian American needs effectively.
• Assist with administrative oversight of AARCC, which may include human resources support, budget oversight, as well as facility management; responsible for following all University procedures and protocols in these and all other administrative areas. Authorizes expenditures (to assigned limits) in the Director’s absence.
• Serve as center liaison to external and internal associates in the absence of, or as designated by the Director. May represent the Director and AARCC on committees and at meetings.

Qualifications:
Master’s degree in Student Affairs field, Psychology, Social Work or Education; Experience in higher education and student affairs with expertise on Asian American students, student development theory, and knowledge of Asian American Studies required. At least five years of demonstrated experience in areas related to student academic advising, student organizational advising, campus programming, facilitation of workshops, development of resource materials, coordinating and presenting educational trainings and workshops. Counseling background highly desired; strong interpersonal skills, excellent oral and written communication skills: ability to work effectively with diverse populations.

To apply, please submit an online application with your resume, cover letter, and names of three references. Review of applications starts Feb. 10th, but the search will remain open until the position is filled. This is a visiting position partially funded by a grant, renewable depending on funding.

Part-Time Lecturers: Cal State Fullerton

The Asian American Studies Program at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) is recruiting qualified candidates to teach courses on a part-time basis (Job Control Number 23582H-11-050). Proud of its diversity, Cal State Fullerton is currently ranked 5th nationally in the number of bachelor’s degrees it grants to members of underrepresented groups.

Asian American Studies Program Goals: CSUF’s Asian American Studies Program aims: 1) to inform students about the history, challenges and triumphs of Asians and Pacific Islanders in America, including their contributions to this country; 2) to build interracial and interethnic understanding and cooperation; 3) to promote study and research in the area; 4) to contribute to Asian American communities in southern California to develop critical thinking and communications skills; and 5) to prepare students in selected career paths where knowledge and understanding of the Asian American and Pacific Islander experience is important.

Among the courses to be staffed are:

• Asian American Studies 101—Introduction to Ethnic Studies
• Asian American Studies 300—Introduction to Asian Pacific American Studies
• Asian American Studies 308—Asian American Women (face-to-face or online)Asian American Studies 320—Asian American Creative Expression (face-to-face or online)
• Asian American Studies 325—Asian American Film and Video (face-to-face or online)
• Courses focusing on specific Asian American ethnic groups

Faculty members will teach undergraduate courses and are expected to be available to their students for consultation one hour per week for each three units of classroom instruction. Most courses are three-units per semester, typically offered in a lecture-discussion or online mode (as indicated).

Qualifications:

• ABD Doctoral Candidate or M.A. with substantial graduate course work in relevant field is required
• Evidence of ability to work effectively with a wide and culturally diverse range of students and faculty
• Evidence of prior teaching, mentoring, or tutoring experience

Academic Calendar: The fall term begins in mid-August and ends in mid-December; the spring term runs from mid-January through the end of May.

Rank & Salary: These are non-tenure-track, temporary appointments to the classification of Lecturer. Salaries vary depending upon qualifications and experience. Typical starting salaries for part-time faculty range from $4147 to approximately $4533 for a three-unit class. Eligibility for health benefits is governed by the collective bargaining agreement and based on a number of factors including unit load (wtu’s/timebase, etc).

Application Procedures: Please submit a letter of interest, a current curriculum vita, CSU-1 form, documentation of teaching effectiveness, sample course syllabi, and three current letters of recommendation. In your letter of interest, please indicate your availability for teaching throughout the week. Send all materials directly to:

Dr. Eliza Noh, Coordinator
Asian American Studies Program
Recruitment Control Number
California State University, Fullerton
800 North State College Blvd.
P.O. Box 6868
Fullerton, CA 92834

In addition, please complete an Applicant Data Flow Form and enter the Job Control Number listed above. Application materials are reviewed on an on-going basis.

Postdoc: Research on Korean Family

The 5-year Korean Family in Comparative Perspective (KFCP) Laboratory for the Globalization of Korean Studies at the University of Illinois, funded by the Academy of Korean Studies, and housed in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, is pleased to announce a KFCP Postdoctoral Fellowship starting August 16, 2011. This one-year position, with the possibility of a one-year extension, is open to: (1) recent PhD recipients (within the last 3 years) and (2) those who will deposit their dissertation by August 15, 2011.

The KFCP Laboratory aims to bring the Korean family to the center of comparative East Asian and general family studies, highlighting Korea as a productive comparative case of interest to non-Koreanists across a range of disciplines and scholarly locations. KFCP Fellows must be scholars interested in comparative work on the Korean family. Scholars with primary expertise in the family of other East Asian countries (e.g., China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan) are particularly welcomed to apply. Scholars with primary research emphasis on the Koreas must have a concrete plan to conduct comparative research (i.e., with another country/region). The postdoctoral fellowship is open to scholars in any humanities or social science discipline.

The KFCP Laboratory is directed by anthropologist Nancy Abelmann and includes 3 KFCP Laboratory Fellows: Jungwon Kim (EALC and History, University of Illinois), Seung-Kyung Kim (Women’s Studies, University of Maryland), and Hyunjoon Park (Sociology, University of Pennsylvania). The Postdoctoral Fellow will be welcomed to an active Koreanist community at the University of Illinois that includes a biweekly Korea Workshop (that will actively engage the themes of the Laboratory). The KFCP Fellow will be provided the opportunity to participate in organizing a Korean Family Colloquium Series which graduate students will be able to attend for partial credit.

KFCP Laboratory Director, Fellows, and National Board Members will take an active role in nurturing the comparative scholarship of the Postdoctoral Fellow. The Postdoctoral fellow will also have the opportunity to “workshop” his or her manuscript/s with experts from both on and off campus. The KFCP Fellow will be paid $40,000 including benefits and some funds for domestic research-related travel. Application deadline: February 25, 2011.

Please submit your application electronically. Applications must include:

• A cover letter reviewing your research history, including your dissertation and other publications.
• A statement of interest in the Korean family in comparative perspective, including a publication plan that includes the submission of one article for each postdoctoral year (OR a single- or co-authored book manuscript) (this can be integrated into the cover letter).
• A statement of commitment to active participation in KFCP Laboratory events, including the Korean Family Colloquium Series (this can be a simple statement in the cover letter).
• One writing sample, 25-40 pages.
• Contact information for three referees who can speak to your scholarly work and abilities and to the feasibility of your research and publications plans for comparative work on the Korean family. Referees will be contacted electronically and asked to submit their letters.

Please address inquires to slcl-hr@illinois.edu.

Position: Sociology, Georgia State University

The Department of Sociology at Georgia State University invites applications for an anticipated tenure-track assistant professor position, beginning in August 2011, pending budgetary approval. We are looking for a scholar with substantive research interests in one of the three following specialty areas that complement our existing strengths: 1) family, health, and life course; 2) race and urban; or 3) gender and sexuality.

A successful candidate must have a demonstrated research agenda that can lead to external funding. Located in the heart of Atlanta, we are a Ph.D. granting department with a research-active faculty and a diverse graduate and undergraduate student body. We enthusiastically encourage applications from minority candidates. Applicants should submit: 1) a letter outlining their qualifications; 2) a curriculum vitae; 3) two samples of their scholarly work; 4) evidence of teaching effectiveness (e.g., course syllabi, student evaluations, and statement of teaching philosophy); and 5) three letters of recommendation. A Ph.D. is required at the time of appointment. An offer of employment will be
conditional on background verification. Send materials to: Recruitment Committee, Georgia State University, Department of Sociology, P.O. Box 5020, Atlanta, GA 30302-502. Deadline for application is February 28, 2011.

Summer Seminar: Rethinking International Migration

Applications are invited to “Rethinking International Migration,” a 2011 National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers. To be directed by Roger Waldinger, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles, this five week summer seminar will be held at the UCLA campus from June 13 through July 15, 2011.

The seminar is open to 16 NEH summer scholars, from a broad range of disciplinary backgrounds. Principally oriented to teachers of American undergraduate students, the seminar is open to qualified independent scholars, and will include two full-time graduate students. The seminar will be informed by a view that the study of migration resembles the process of migration itself: an activity that cuts across boundaries, in this case intellectual, not political, one best pursued by drawing insights and methods from a variety of disciplines.

Hence, this seminar will seek to expose NEH summer scholars to an interdisciplinary approach to migration studies, via focused discussions of three key areas at the core of migration debates: rights, citizenship, migration policy; the second generation; diasporas and transnationalism. Visit the program website for more information and the application form. The deadline is March 1, 2011.

This is the second of my three-part list of the best documentaries that focus on immigration and are great choices for showing in high school and college immigration classes. This second part will focus specifically on the issue of unauthorized immigration. We all know that unauthorized immigration has become one of the most controversial, hotly-debated, and emotionally-charged issues in American society today. In that context, these documentaries highlight various sides of the debate and taken together, will hopefully provide a more comprehensive picture of this complicate and often contradictory issue.

Part 1 focused on the historical and global context of immigration and Part 3 will look at socioeconomic attainment, mobility, and assimilation. The following list is organized by topic and corresponds to the chronological order in which I discuss each topic in my “Sociology of Immigration” course. For each topic, I highlight the documentary that I tend to show the most often, followed by other videos that are good choices for that topic as well.

Unauthorized Immigration: The Basics

As the name implies, this section lays out the basic historical, political, and economic foundation and concepts that frame the contemporary nature of unauthorized immigration. I focus much of the discussion on such immigration from Mexico but also stress that much of the unauthorized immigrant population are people who had official permission to enter the U.S., and with that in mind, why we as a society focus such a disproportionate amount of attention on those from Mexico.

• Farmingville: This video chronicles the events surrounding the influx of Mexican day laborers in the town of Farmingville, NY on Long Island. While the video is about 10 years old now, it still provides an excellent overview of the institutional factors that precipitated the arrival of so many day laborers, along with the individual-level tensions and hostilities that eventually resulted in the community.
• Letters from the Other Side
• Crossing Arizona
• Golden Venture
• The 800 Mile Wall
• PBS Frontline: Crimes at the Border

Nativism and Xenophobia

In this section, I describe historical and contemporary examples of how immigrants from various backgrounds and countries have encountered nativism, xenophobia, and racism upon their arrival. At the same time, I also focus on how such hostility and tensions have been magnified in recent years against unauthorized immigrants and the racial/ethnic connotations behind them.

• 9500 Liberty: Produced by acclaimed filmmakers Eric Byler and Annabel Park, this documentary describes how Prince William County, Virginia became ground zero in the national debate over unauthorized immigration several years ago. Specifically and as a preview of Arizona’s SB1070, it describes how newly-elected officials passed a law requiring police officers to question anyone they have “probable cause” to suspect is an undocumented immigrant.
• Lost in Detention (PBS Frontline)
• Walking the Line: Vigilante Immigration Enforcers
• Lest We Forget
• Dream in Doubt
• American Made

Immigration Reform

This section explores the various proposals, programs, and laws that attempt to address the unauthorized immigration issue. I cover the pros and cons of both the “enforcement only” and “comprehensive reform” approaches, as well as examining the variety of costs and benefits that unauthorized immigration have on American society and its economy.

• “Immigration” episode of the reality TV show 30 Days (Season 2): Created by Morgan Spulock (the guy who made Supersize Me in which he only ate McDonalds fast food for 30 days), this particular episode follows the experiences of a conservative Cuban American who participates in the Minuteman vigilante border patrols. He then agrees to live with an unauthorized immigrant family for 30 days and in the process, learns more about the institutional and individual aspects of their lives. An extremely powerful portrayal that should be required viewing in all immigration courses.
• Alienated: Undocumented Immigrant Youth
• The Other Side of Immigration
• Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary
• The 800 Mile Wall

Women, Gender, & Family

This section highlights the immigration process and experiences of women, children, and families specifically. I examine the multi-level issues involved in transnational families where parents are separated from their children and the effects that workplace raids by Immigration Control and Enforcement agents have on unauthorized immigrant families.

• Maid in America: This documentary follows the lives of three Latina domestic workers in the Los Angeles area. Through looking at their daily lives, we see how they balance the satisfaction of earning money for them and their families, versus the emotional toil of being separated from much of their family, including their young children.
• Al Otro Lado/To The Other Side
• In the Shadow of the Raid: Postville, IA
• Which Way Home
• Detained: The New Bedford Raid
• Made in L.A.
• Destination America: A Woman’s Journey

This spring semester, I am again teaching my “The Sociology of Immigration” course, whose description reads, “This course examines who, why, and how different groups immigrate to the U.S. and what happens once they arrive — how they are received by mainstream society and how they adjust to their new country. Specific issues include settlement, education, identity, assimilation, discrimination, employment, language, marriage, legal status, and political participation.”

With that in mind, I would like to share my list of films, videos, and documentaries that I think are good choices for showing in introductory classes focused on immigration (the videos are most suited for college and advanced high school courses). As we all know, the political, economic, and cultural issues related to immigration are some of the most emotional, controversial, and hotly-debated topics in American society today. While the documentaries listed here tend to emphasize a comprehensive approach to immigration reform, they all do an excellent job in portraying and highlighting just how complex and even contradictory this issue is.

The following list is organized by topic and corresponds to the chronological order in which I discuss each topic in my “Sociology of Immigration” course. For each topic, I highlight the documentary that I tend to show the most often, followed by other videos that I consider to be good choices for that topic as well. This post focuses the the first few topics of my immigration course — the history and global context of immigration. Part 2 will focus on issues specific to unauthorized immigration and Part 3 will emphasize socioeconomic attainment, mobility, and assimilation.

Basic Concepts: The Racialized Landscape

In this first section of the course, I lay out the sociological framework and institutional nature of the U.S.’s racial/ethnic landscape, within which the issues of immigration are framed and structured. I focus on how, contrary to historical and contemporary ideals of being “colorblind,” American society has been and continues to be highly racialized and these mechanisms of racialization impact immigration.

• Race: Power of an Illusion (Episode 2): This excellent PBS series explores the social and political construction of race and perceived racial differences. As it relates to immigration, this episode takes an in-depth look at how the identity of “American” has been closely linked with Whiteness and the inherent barriers that people of color and immigrants have to overcome in order to formally and informally be considered “real” Americans.
• The Color of Fear
• Race, the World’s Most Dangerous Myth
• Understanding Race

Historical Patterns of Entry and Restriction

In this section, I summarize the major waves of immigration into the U.S. through the years, along with the evolution of immigration laws and regulation in U.S. history.

• Between Two Worlds: Produced by PBS and part of the Becoming American series, this episode examines the events leading up to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and its effects on Chinese Americans and their families who were kept apart by both ancient custom and U.S. law. It also describes way in which a few laws also provided relief as Chinese Americans turned to the courts for justice.
• Carved in Silence: Chinese Immigration During Exclusion
• Ancestors in the Americas: Chinese in the Frontier West
• Roots in the Sand
• The Italians in America
• Out of Ireland

Motivations & Incorporation: Past & Present

This section explores the multidimensional and multi-level process of how immigrants have been received by mainstream American society and how they have adapted to the challenges and opportunities in the first generation of life in the U.S. I also discuss the major theories of why and how immigration happens, particularly as they relate to global political, economic, and cultural forces.

• Mountain’s Mist and Mexico: Part of the After the Immigrant documentary series, this episode follows the stories of individual Mexican immigrants to illustrate the interconnected push and pull factors that have contributed to the long history of Mexicans in the U.S.
• The New Americans (5-part series)
• Bracero Stories
• Global Voices: Beyond the Border
• Refugee
• On the Other Side
• Shaolin Ulysses
• And the Pursuit of Happiness
• From a Different Shore: The Japanese-American Experience

The Global Context

Drawing on the global issues inherent in the immigration process, this section explores some examples of the variety of experiences and issues of immigration in other countries around the world. Students in my class find it useful to compare and contrast the experiences of immigrants in other countries to those of immigrants to the U.S.

• Dying to Leave: The Dark Business of Human Trafficking: This video illustrates how globalized forces can lead to desperation on the part of people, who then become unwittingly entangled in the illicit human trafficking business in many countries around the world.
• Crossroads: Inside the European Union
• Golden Venture
• Seoul Train
• Witness to a Secret War
• Return to the Border
• The Other Europe
• Tokyo: The Neon City
• Fortress Europe: Death on the Border

Not only are we nearing the end of the year but also the end of the first decade of the new millennium. I recently posted about the best and worst news events of 2010. In this post, I would like to take an even broader look at news events and other political, economic, cultural, and demographic trends of the last 10 years to identify what I consider the most important and significant issue that has affected racial/ethnic relations in the U.S. so far in the 21st century.

There are certainly many potential issues, trends, and events from which to choose. An obvious one are the 9/11 Attacks and the resultant War on Terrorism. As I’ve detailed since that fateful day in 2001, lives of Americans from all racial/ethnic backgrounds were literally changed overnight, not the least of whom were and are Arab and Muslim Americans, who have to balance their dual identities of being both Americans while also frequently being seen as “enemies in our own backyards.”

Another clear choice would have been the election of Barack Obama as the U.S.’s first non-White President. His campaign and eventual victory were certainly very historical moments in the racial/ethnic landscape of American society. For good and for bad, they further brought many underlying racial issues to the surface of American society and resulted in both more cohesion and divisions across racial/ethnic lines.

Further, a third good choice could be the emergence of Unauthorized Immigration as a divisive, hot button issue within American society. As the need for cheap labor increased, so did the numbers of immigrants from all over the world but particularly from Mexico and Central America arriving in the U.S. to fill that need. In the process, their presence led to numerous and ongoing debates and conflicts over whether their presence is good and bad for the country.

But in the end, I believe that one racial/ethnic issue in particular is even more significant than the others. This issue has become a underlying political, economic, and cultural dynamic that has exacerbated, intensified, and reinforced the effects of the other three that I mentioned above. In many ways, this issue has become a fundamental factor upon which many contemporary forms of racial/ethnic inequality and controversy are now based. That issue — the most significant racial/ethnic issue of the decade — is Globalization.

Globalization: Its Forms & Effects

Of course, there are different definitions of globalization. For my purposes, I define it as the contemporary and ongoing institutional process involving increasingly frequent and complex political, economic, and cultural interconnections and competition between countries and groups of citizens around the world.

Globalization can also take many specific forms. As I detail below, those that have had significant effects on racial/ethnic relations in the U.S. this first decade of the 21st century include demographic change, outsourcing and postindustrial occupational shifts, increased economic competition in the global marketplace, and decreased economic stability on the institutional and individual levels.

In taking each form one at a time, the first significant effect of globalization on American society and racial/ethnic relations is demographic change. For some time now, due to the continuation of high levels of immigration from non-European countries and the relatively high birth rates of non-White racial/ethnic groups, the U.S.’s population is gradually shifting from overwhelmingly White to more racially diverse and multicultural. In fact, the Census Bureau projects that if current trends are sustained, Whites will cease to be the majority population somewhere around 2050. Whites will still be the largest racial/ethnic group by far but for the first time in several centuries, non-Whites will comprise more than 50% of the U.S.’s population.

These demographic changes have already transformed the racial/ethnic composition of numerous cities, metropolitan areas, and states around the country. Further, such shifts have inevitably led to political and cultural transformations as well in these locations as well, such as the creation of new ethnic enclaves and communities where the majority of the population are Asian American, as one example. As social disorganization theory describes, such demographic changes have inevitably led to some resentment and tension between more established residents (predominantly White) and “newcomer” groups (who are predominantly non-White).

Globalization has also resulted in accelerating postindustrial trends in the occupational structure of the U.S. While the U.S.’s economy has been gradually shifting from one dominated by manufacturing to one focused more on services, in the past two decades, globalization seems to institutionalized a segmented labor market in which almost all new jobs that are created are located either near the top of the occupational structure (involving knowledge management and information technology, requiring high levels of education and job skills, and resultant high pay) or near the bottom (manual labor service sector jobs that require little education or job skills and involving low pay and job security). New middle-level (for example, “blue collar” skilled manufacturing) jobs are much less common these days.

The New Normal: Economic Instability

What this means for racial/ethnic relations is that there is more economic competition for jobs that offer some opportunity for social mobility. In the past, White workers were able to count on these mid- and high-level jobs that would propel them and their families into the middle and upper classes through succeeding generations. But today, due to globalization (and other factors), Whites face more frequent and more intense competition for such jobs from immigrants and non-Whites.

This is important because one of the most consistent sociological patterns through the years has been that whenever you have economic competition, almost always it will eventually lead to racial/ethnic hostility. Taken together, this increased economic competition seems poised to become the norm in the near future due to the ongoing effects of globalization and related forces.

However, because many White Americans have grown accustomed (perhaps even feeling entitled) to economic security and a middle class standard of living, these fundamental institutional changes and feelings of economic insecurity are likely to be the biggest shock to them. Feeling destabilized themselves and perceiving that others (particularly immigrants, American non-Whites, and international non-Whites) to be benefiting at their expense, it is not surprising that many Whites would ultimately feel threatened, angry, and engage in some form of backlash or scapegoating.

Therefore, it is within this context that I feel that globalization is the most significant racial/ethnic issue of this past decade. The demographic shifts and economic instability brought on by globalization and felt by many Americans, but particularly White Americans, forms the foundation upon which much of the anti-immigrant and anti-minority tensions, hostility, and backlash of the past 10 years is based, along with magnifying its political, economic, and cultural effects.

The war on terrorism and much of the anti-Arab and anti-Muslim suspicions involve the conscious or unconscious fear of America’s majority White and Christian cultural dominance being threatened. In many ways, Barack Obama’s election as our first non-White President also symbolizes a loss of power for the majority White establishment. And much of the vehement opposition to unauthorized immigration again is based on the direct and indirect fear that non-Whites are “taking over” or “invading” the U.S., determined to “overthrow” its majority White culture.

So while there have been many notable and important news events in this past decade that have affected racial/ethnic relations, from a sociological point of view, one significant common thread among them all is that, to a large extent, they are based on the demographic, political, economic, and cultural effects of globalization and how such effects are perceived to be a threat to the institutional power and hegemony of the U.S. White majority population.

In case you’re the nostalgic type, here are some posts in this blog from December of years past:

• 2009: How Immigrants Contribute to American Society
  Within the partisan an emotional debates on the cultural and economic effects of immigration, several new studies point out that immigrants ultimately make several important contributions to American society.
• 2008: Shinseki and Cao: Newest Asian American Political Pioneers
  What the nomination of Eric Shinseki and the election of Joseph Cao mean for Asian Americans and their political power.
• 2007: New Opportunities for People of Color on TV?
  Do reality TV shows improve the inclusion and representation of people of color in American society and popular culture?
• 2006: Asian Americans Overrepresented at Univ. of CA
  Revisiting the thorny topic of academics, representation, and fairness for Asian Americans in college admissions.
• 2005: The New White Flight
  White students fleeing schools with large Asian student populations — and what the Asian students can learn from this.
• 2004: Transnational Assimilation
  Examples of how Asian Americans in the CA Bay area bridge the gap between Asia and America.
• 2003: N.Y. Met Executive is Fired Over Racist Remarks
  Blatant racism directed at Kim Ng, perhaps the most powerful Asian American figure in Major League Baseball.
• 2002: North Korea Stirs Up Trouble Again
  The more things change, the more they stay the same — the ongoing saga of North Korea and its threats of war against its Asian neighbors and the U.S.

As we near the end of 2010, it’s fitting to review the major events, developments, and trends in U.S. racial/ethnic relations during the past year. Therefore, below is my look back at some of the positive highlights as well as the setbacks in terms of achieving racial/ethnic equality and justice, with a particular focus on Asian Americans (my area of expertise). This list is not meant to be an exhaustive review of all racial/ethnic news in 2010, but rather the ones that I covered in this blog and ones that I believe have the most sociological significance.

The Best

• Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints, Their Fans, & Their City
  Celebrating the New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl victory and its larger significance for the city and its residents.
• For a Change: Good News in Racial, Ethnic, & Immigration Relations
  To counteract some of the bad news, there are several recent positive examples of racial, ethnic, and immigration news and relations.
• Harmony and Community in Yosemite
  An interaction in Yosemite shows how a pine cone can act as a powerful symbol of cross-racial and -national unity.
• Asian Americans, Education, & More Signs of Inclusion
  Several recent news articles related to Asian Americans point to more inclusion in higher education.
• 2010 Election: Results for Asian American Candidates
  A brief summary of how some Asian American candidates from both political parties fared in the 2010 midterm elections around the country.

The Worst

• Racial Contradictions in College Basketball
  Examining the larger sociological context of Harvard University star basketball player Jeremy Lin’s success and the contradictions of racism in professional sports.
• Vancouver Olympic Inclusiveness, Except for Asians
  Taking a critical look at the racial, ethnic, and cultural inclusiveness of the Winter Olympics’ Opening Ceremony and the extent to which Asian Canadians were included.
• Racial Incidents on Campus & The Failure of Colorblindness
  Recent racial incidents on college campuses highlight the fallacies and failure of being colorblind.
• White Backlash: Yes, It’s Real
  Exploring the racial basis for the growing White backlash movement.
• Immigration Reform: What Not To Do
  A sociological response to George Will’s simplistic suggestion for immigration reform.
• Updated List of White Backlash Examples
  Recent news stories that highlight the anti-minority, anti-immigrant White backlash movement.
• Arizona, Immigration Reform, and Where the Democratic Party Stands
  Analyzing the larger context of Arizona’s controversial stance on illegal immigration and where the Democratic Party stands on it.

The following are announcements about jobs for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes only and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.

Job Opportunity: Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies, The Claremont Colleges

The Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies at the Claremont Colleges and the Asian American Studies field group at Pitzer College invite applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Asian American Studies, to begin 1 July 2011.

The successful candidate should, by the beginning of the Fall 2011 semester, have a Ph.D. in ethnic studies, American Studies, or other disciplines or interdisciplinary studies appropriate to this subject. Candidates should have the ability to teach a community-based learning course and Asian American History. The department has identified a need for research and teaching expertise in Filipino, Muslim, Pacific Islander, South Asian, or Southeast Asian communities. We especially encourage candidates whose work takes place within frameworks of transnationalism and globalization.

Pitzer College, a member of the Claremont Colleges, has a strong institutional commitment to the principles of diversity in all areas and strongly encourages candidates from underrepresented social groups. We favor candidates who can contribute to the College’s distinctive educational objectives, which promote interdisciplinary perspectives, intercultural understanding, and concern with social responsibility and the ethical implications of knowledge and action. Pitzer College is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. For the successful applicant with the relevant interests, affiliations are possible with the intercollegiate departments of Africana Studies, Chicano/Latino Studies, and/or Women’s Studies.

To apply, send letter of application, curriculum vitae, selected evidence of excellence in teaching and research, statement of teaching philosophy, statement on social responsibility, a statement of research, and three letters of recommendation (at least one (1) of which addresses your teaching effectiveness) via email to “idaas_search@pitzer.edu.” Electronic documents should be sent in PDF format. Applications will be considered beginning September 17, 2010, until the position is filled.

Assistant Professor in Sociology, Univ. of Hawai’i West O’ahu

This position is responsible for teaching sociology courses in the Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences program. The teaching assignment is three courses per semester, including day, evening, and distance education courses. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to teaching a variety of sociology courses in areas consistent with personal interests and program needs. The successful candidate is also expected to engage in scholarly research and publication, committee service, student academic advising, and to participate in faculty governance.

Minimum qualifications: PhD from an accredited college or university in Sociology. (ABD candidates are eligible to apply, but must complete all degree requirements prior to the appointment.) Candidates must have a broad knowledge of sociology and a commitment to teaching excellence.

Desirable qualifications: Areas of specialization are open, but preference will be given to applicants prepared to teach at least two of the following: introductory sociology, social stratification, sociology of aging, medical sociology, sociological theory, writing-intensive courses, and demonstrated ability to teach using distance education technology.

To apply: Send a letter of application, curriculum vita, copies of transcripts (originals required at time of hire) and the names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of at least three professional references. All items become the property of the University of Hawai’i – West O’ahu. Application materials may also be e-mailed as an MS Word file attachment to delucchi@hawaii.edu. Closing date: Continuous – application review begins October 15, 2010.

Address:
University of Hawaii – West Oahu
Sociology Search Committee
96-129 Ala Ike
Pearl City, HI 96782

Inquiries: Dr. Michael Delucchi (phone: 808-454-4718, email: delucchi@hawaii.edu)

Lecturer in Asian American Studies, Univ. of California, Irvine

The Department of Asian American Studies at the University of California Irvine invites applications for a part-time Non Senate Faculty position with primary responsibility in teaching an upper division interdisciplinary course in Asian American Studies for 2010-11. Minimum base salary per course is $5579. The appointment dates would be as follows: Winter Quarter 2011 1/01/11-03/31/11 or Spring Quarter 2011 4/1/11 to 6/30/11.

We are looking for applicants who can teach the “Vietnamese American Experience” course.

Applicants with a Ph.D. preferred. Applicants who are ABD or have a M.A.; M.F.A. or equivalent will be considered. UC graduate students must have filed their dissertation or have a degree in hand by mid- December 2011 to be eligible to teach in Winter Quarter 2011 and by mid-March 2011 to be eligible to teach in Spring Quarter 2011.

Send materials via e-mail attachment to Jim Lee at jkl@uci.edu, followed by a hard copy of your application materials:

Cover letter

• Curriculum vitae
• Teaching evaluation summaries (no raw data needed)
• Two letters of recommendations sent directly from the recommender
• Complete sample syllabus of the course you are proposing
• Indicate quarters available (Winter/Spring)

Applications will be accepted until positions are filled. However, to ensure fullest consideration, all applications materials should be submitted by August 31, 2010 to:

Jim Lee, Chair
Department of Asian American Studies
3000 Humanities Gateway
University of California Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-6900

Program Coordinators of Multicultural Affairs, Duke Univ.

The Duke Center for Multicultural Affairs has launched a search for two Program Coordinator positions for our office. Each Program Coordinator will be expected to be knowledgeable of the histories, cultural and developmental issues of Native American, African American, Latino-American, South Asian American, East Asian American and South East Asian American ethnic communities.

In addition the Program Coordinator will be expected to provide a comprehensive program of services in the areas of community engagement, multicultural education and leadership development to empower students and their organizations to create an inclusive multicultural student community. This individual will also offer student club/organization advising, design experiential training in diversity education and multicultural competency to prepare students to participate in a complex global community.

Interested applicants should apply online through the Duke Human Resources website and find job requisition # 400413331. Please also find the position description below.

Specific Duties:
Program Development

• Develop and implement programs that support academic persistence
• Create and implement programs that promote skill development in diversity education and multicultural competency
• Design programs that enhance knowledge and understanding of principles of social justice, activism and advocacy
• Deliver educational presentations and other co-curricular programming such as informal and formal discussions in and outside of the classroom, house courses, film series, etc. on the issues pertaining to multicultural competency and social justice education
• Evaluate and assess programmatic effectiveness through regular qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis such as focus groups, pre- and post-surveys, benchmark tracking, or other performance or outcome data

Student and Student Organization Advising

• Hire, train and supervise undergraduate, graduate and professional student staff, interns and volunteers who work in the CMA
• Advise multicultural student clubs and organizations
• Develop a leadership curriculum that prepares students to lead their multicultural student organizations
• Promote student group cross-cultural communication, inter/intra-group interaction and program collaboration

Administration

• Complete all administrative duties including but not limited to financial paperwork in accordance with University policy and reports as assigned by the Assistant Director
• Participate on the Campus Life Program Coordinator Group
• Develop and maintain relationships with campus, community and alumni organizations that support the mission of the Center for Multicultural Affairs
• Attend appropriate department, Division, and University meetings that support the goals of the Center for Multicultural Affairs
• Participate in the design and implementation of short and long-term strategic planning and annual budgeting for the Center for Multicultural Affairs

General Qualifications:
Minimum educational requirement: Master’s Degree in relevant field. Strongly prefer 2-3 years experience as multicultural educator in a higher education setting.

Specific Skills and Competencies:
Position requires knowledge and understanding of American ethnic student communities in higher educational settings and ability to work with a diverse group of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members. Candidate must have excellent written, verbal and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to work in a team environment. Outstanding organizational skills with ability to handle multiple projects/priorities and meet deadlines are required.

Policy Analyst, Citizenship & Immigration Services, Dept. of Homeland Security

Position: Policy Analyst (Research & Evaluation Division)
Department: Department Of Homeland Security
Agency: Citizenship and Immigration Services
Job Announcement Number: CIS-PJN-359063-OPP
Salary Range: $89,033.00 – $136,771.00 /year
Open Period: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 to Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Series & Grade: GS-0301-13/14
Position Information: Full Time Career/Career Conditional
Promotion Potential: 14
Duty Location: Washington DC
Who May Be Considered: United States Citizens

Job Summary: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services secures America’s promise as a nation of immigrants by providing accurate and useful information to our customers, granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of our immigration.

General Responsibilities of Policy Analysts:

• Analyze, develop and review a variety of technical reports
• Draft and review proposed legislation
• Ensure effective coordination and integration of recommended policy

You will provide expert advice, analysis, and services on complex and sensitive issues related to the agency’s immigration policies and programs. Your duties will include the following:

• Developing and managing quantitative and qualitative studies related to various immigration programs, policies, and petition types.
• Analyzing, developing and reviewing a variety of technical reports and assessment instruments for use within the Agency.
• Conducting and leading comprehensive studies on new and proposed policy initiatives, providing balanced information and analyses of the issues.
• Preparing written analyses based on quantitative or qualitative findings of immigration program/policy studies.
• Isolating and defining Agency conditions; developing study approaches, methods, techniques and hypotheses. Conducting and managing projects that may impact existing Agency processes, practices, or policy.
• Identifying and evaluating the advantages and disadvantages, risks and benefits, or strengths and weaknesses of particular policy proposals.
• Assessing the political and institutional environment in which decisions are made and implemented.
• Ensuring effective coordination and integration of study findings in support of recommended policy changes or agency strategic plans.
• Reviewing proposed legislation and drafting research reports and policy papers on research needs and study findings.
• Representing the agency in dealings with interested groups and organizations regarding sponsored research and evaluations.
• Participating with top agency officials and stakeholders in meetings, conferences, and symposia.

Sociology Professor, College of William and Mary

The College of William & Mary invites applicants for a tenure-eligible position to begin August 2011. Ph.D. in sociology or related field required. We seek a candidate with research and teaching expertise in the fields of race, ethnicity, or immigration studies. The successful candidate will assist in strengthening the department’s links with other programs in the College such as Africana Studies (including Black Studies) or Latin American/Latino Studies. Candidates with a comparative or international focus are encouraged to apply.

Application materials must be submitted electronically at the College’s online site at https://jobs.wm.edu. The following items are required, preferably in a PDF format: a curriculum vitae, a cover letter describing the candidate’s scholarship, teaching, and how these would enhance campus diversity, and three letters of reference (Applicants should submit the email addresses of recommenders via the online system). Review will begin October 1, 2010 and will continue until the position is filled.

Here are some more announcements and links out that have come my way relating to Asians or Asian Americans. As always, links to other sites are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of their contents.

Migration Information Source: Spotlight Reports

The Migration Policy Institute is a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. that studies immigration issues, trends, and policies in the United States and around the world. They also maintain an online journal called the Migration Information Source. They have recently compiled a collection of summary reports (“spotlights”) on numerous immigrant populations and communities in the United States, including about immigrants from Mexico, China, India, Vietnam, El Salvador, and other countries. Definitely worth a look.

Call for Participants: Documentary on Vietnamese Refugees

My name is Pat Clark and I am a graduate film student at San Diego State University. I am producing a documentary film which centers around individuals involved in the evacuation of Saigon April 29, 1975. I am interested in telling the story from both the American and Vietnamese perspective.

I have already secured interviews with a few individuals but I am looking to find as many as possible. If you know of anyone who would be willing to share their story on camera please give them my contact information or I would be happy to contact them and explain my project in greater detail. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. I appreciate your help!

Thanks,
Pat Clark
patclark1@gmail.com

Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington

The Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington is honored to be one of 25 finalists for a share of the $1 million National Trust for Historic Preservation/American Express Partners in Preservation grant for noteworthy historic sites in Puget Sound!

It’s fast and easy to help the JCCC win the grand prize: Vote for the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington – and please vote once a day until May 12! Please invite everyone you know to help by joining our Facebook page, our Twitter page, or our website.

As the legacy home to the oldest “continuously” operating Japanese Language School in North America and safe haven for displaced Japanese Americans after World War II, to today’s lively, active center of cultural programs, the NW Nikkei Museum, Japanese Language Library and more, the Partners in Preservation grant will help renovate the National Historic Register buildings and support the center’s Japanese heritage programs to grow and flourish.

Programs and issues we are actively addressing include Multiethnic and multicultural families and heritage, Asian American family genealogy and histories, local NW Nikkei history, LGBTQQIA in the API community, Shin Issei, incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans during WWII and many others.

Our past special events have included traditional arts, crafts, games and music including origami, making windsocks (koi nobori), family heritage day, calligraphy and lawn water games; NW Nikkei Museum exhibit of more than 1,700 wooden dolls (kokeshi); display of samurai armor (yoroi) and more, with special performances of Karate, Taiko and Judo.

Petition to Create National Immigrants Day

I have started a petition to designate a new federal holiday as National Immigrants Day to commemorate the contributions made by all nationalities of immigrants in the building of our country and would like to forward the link here to you for possible publicizing or signing.

Thank you,
Steve Johnson
sejn@att.net