Richard Alba

Strangers No More: Immigration and the Challenges of Integration in North America and Western Europe Richard Alba

Jacket Description/Back:"This brilliant book, by two of the most eminent scholars of immigration, compares the integration of immigrants on both sides of the Atlantic. Alba and Foner provide a cogent account of the history, sociology, economics, and politics of immigrant integration, and challenge many things we thought we knew about the subject. This is a tour de force."--Mary C. Waters, Harvard University"Integration is not just about the desires of immigrants or availability of jobs--it is fundamentally about institutions and policies that shape incorporation. In this deft tour de force exploring six countries and multiple areas of life, "Strangers No More" reveals that simple narratives of integration break down in the face of complex institutional arrangements. A must-read for students and scholars alike."--Irene Bloemraad, University of California, Berkeley"Although all developed nations have become countries of immigration, prior studies have only analyzed immigrant assimilation on a country-by-country basis. "Strangers No More" undertakes the first comprehensive look at immigrant integration in six diverse nations. Revealing broad similarities and stark differences in the forces that shape immigrant outcomes, this book is essential reading for all students of international migration in the world today."--Douglas S. Massey, coauthor of "Climbing Mount Laurel""In many societies throughout the world, immigrants and their descendants are growing to become the lion's share of the population. How have diverse immigrant groups and their subsequent generations fared in this transition? Alba and Foner offer no simple answers, but rather show complex relations of contextual factors, processes, and outcomes. Looking at six nations on both sides of the Atlantic, this comparative work is a masterly exploration."--Steven Vertovec, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity"With its unique scope, this excellent book is a must-read for anybody interested in immigration. It deals with two continents, various immigrant groups, and many fields of inclusion. There is no other book like it."--Jan Willem Duyvendak, University of Amsterdam"This accessible and ambitious book thoughtfully compares the experiences and outcomes for immigrants in six host countries--Canada, France, Germany, Britain, Netherlands, and the United States. Exploring how national and local policies impact the reception and lives of immigrants, the authors demonstrate that no country has all the answers when it comes to immigration. This work fills a real gap in the literature and will have an impact."--Caroline B. Brettell, Southern Methodist UniversityTable of Contents:"Preface" vii 1 Strangers No More: The Challenges of Integration 1 2 Who Are the Immigrants? The Genesis of the New Diversity 19 3 Economic Well-being 47 4 Living Situations: How Segregated? How Unequal? 68 5 The Problems and Paradoxes of Race 98 6 Immigrant Religion 118 7 Entering the Precincts of Power 143 8 Educating the Second Generation 169 9 Who Are the "We"? Identity and Mixed Unions 197 10 Conclusion: The Changing Face of the West 221"Notes" 247"References" 267"Index" 315Biographical Note: Richard Alba is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His books include "Blurring the Color Line "and" Remaking the American Mainstream." Nancy Foner is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her books include "From Ellis Island to JFK" and "In a New Land."Jacket Description/Flap:"Integration is not just about the desires of immigrants or availability of jobs--it is fundamentally about institutions and policies that shape incorporation. In this deft tour de force exploring six countries and multiple areas of life, "Strangers No More" reveals that simple narratives of integration break down in the face of complex institutional arrangements. A must-read for students and scholars alike."--Irene Bloemraad, University of California, Berkeley"Although all developed nations have become countries of immigration, prior studies have only analyzed immigrant assimilation on a country-by-country basis. "Strangers No More" undertakes the first comprehensive look at immigrant integration in six diverse nations. Revealing broad similarities and stark differences in the forces that shape immigrant outcomes, this book is essential reading for all students of international migration in the world today."--Douglas S. Massey, coauthor of "Climbing Mount Laurel""In many societies throughout the world, immigrants and their descendants are growing to become the lion's share of the population. How have diverse immigrant groups and their subsequent generations fared in this transition? Alba and Foner offer no simple answers, but rather show complex relations of contextual factors, processes, and outcomes. Looking at six nations on both sides of the Atlantic, this comparative work is a masterly exploration."--Steven Vertovec, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity"With its unique scope, this excellent book is a must-read for anybody interested in immigration. It deals with two continents, various immigrant groups, and many fields of inclusion. There is no other book like it."--Jan Willem Duyvendak, University of Amsterdam"This accessible and ambitious book thoughtfully compares the experiences and outcomes for immigrants in six host countries--the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Britain. Exploring how national and local policies impact the reception and lives of immigrants, the authors demonstrate that no country has all the answers when it comes to immigration. This work fills a real gap in the literature and will have an impact."--Caroline B. Brettell, Southern Methodist UniversityPublisher Marketing:"Strangers No More" is the first book to compare immigrant integration across key Western countries. Focusing on low-status newcomers and their children, it examines how they are making their way in four critical European countries--France, Germany, Great Britain, and the Netherlands--and, across the Atlantic, in the United States and Canada. This systematic, data-rich comparison reveals their progress and the barriers they face in an array of institutions--from labor markets and neighborhoods to educational and political systems--and considers the controversial questions of religion, race, identity, and intermarriage. Richard Alba and Nancy Foner shed new light on questions at the heart of concerns about immigration. They analyze why immigrant religion is a more significant divide in Western Europe than in the United States, where race is a more severe obstacle. They look at why, despite fears in Europe about the rise of immigrant ghettoes, residential segregation is much less of a problem for immigrant minorities there than in the United States. They explore why everywhere, growing economic inequality and the proliferation of precarious, low-wage jobs pose dilemmas for the second generation. They also evaluate perspectives often proposed to explain the success of immigrant integration in certain countries, including nationally specific models, the political economy, and the histories of Canada and the United States as settler societies."Strangers No More" delves into issues of pivotal importance for the present and future of Western societies, where immigrants and their children form ever-larger shares of the population.

Contributor Bio:  Alba, Richard Richard Alba is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at City University of New York and is the author of many books, including (with Victor Nee) Remaking the American Mainstream: Assimilation and Contemporary Immigration and Ethnic Identity: The Transformation of White America. Contributor Bio:  Foner, Nancy Nancy Foner is Professor of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Purchase. She is the author of "From Ellis Island to JFK: New York's Two Great Waves of Immigration "(2000) and "The Caregiving Dilemma: Work in an American Nursing Home" (1994), among others. She is the editor of "New Immigrants in New York" (1987) and coeditor, with Ruben Rumbaut and Steven Gold, of "Immigration Research for a New Century: Multidisciplinary Perspectives" (2000).