Migration, Globalization, and Ethnic Relations An Interdisciplinary Approach

During the last few years, a number of anthologies have attempted to familiarize their readers with the history, causes, and consequences of immigration. In our view, these anthologies, their salient accomplishments notwithstanding, have had limited success in two significant areas: First, they have seldom portrayed the rapidly changing nature of immigration in the context of globalization and its far-reaching consequences for the lives of immigrants and the restructuring of the U.S. economy and society. Second, most of the existing readers have been confined either to particular regions such as New York and Los Angeles or to particular topics in immigration such as immigration policy, immigrant women, and immigrants' labor-force participation. We have endeavored to surmount both of these limitations in this book. Our goal has been to put together an anthology that blends some of the classic essays on immigration with some of the most rigorous current scholarship examining various dimensions of immigration. Far from attempting to present an exhaustive array of topics in the ever-expanding immigration literature--which would have required the inclusion of issues such as refugees, second-generation immigrants, political participation, and the effect of immigration on sending societies--we have tried to include works that illustrate, with the help of appropriate case studies, the foremost theoretical and substantive foci of migration research. The twenty-seven essays in this book examine the integration of new immigrants into U.S. society and the influence of this integration on ethnic relations, social inequality, and social mobility of immigrants. They also examine the effect of immigration on immigrants' gender roles and family relations. The title of this book reveals another of its unique features, that is, the interdisciplinary nature of the collection. Some of the articles are written by anthropologists and are based on ethnographic accounts. Others are written by sociologists, urban analysts, and political scientists who have combined a variety of research methods and presentation styles to address multifarious dimensions of migration in their respective fields. Finally, we have done our utmost to be meticulous in our effort. No readings in this book have been abridged, which we consider essential for the preservation of the integrity of original sources. We would like to thank Prentice Hall's publisher Nancy Roberts for a most cooperative and collegial relationship throughout this project. Lee Peterson and Brenda Averkamp's continuous administrative and procedural guidance helped us stay on the publisher's "straight and narrow" We would be in remiss if we neglected to acknowledge the conscientious and meticulous labors of Brenda Averkamp of Carlisle Publishers Services and freelancer Key Metts. As the project editor and the copy editor of this project, respectively, they have left no stone unturned in order to ascertain that the final product is as accurate as humanly possible. Special thanks are due to Walter E Carroll (Bridgewater State University), Douglas V Davidson (Western Michigan University), and James L. Litwin (Owens Community College), the three reviewers who read our original prospectus and provided us with many helpful comments and suggestions. Finally, we would like to acknowledge Maryam Mobasher's tireless efforts in assembling a comprehensive bibliography for this book.Mobasher, Mohsen is the author of 'Migration, Globalization, and Ethnic Relations An Interdisciplinary Approach', published 2003 under ISBN 9780130483898 and ISBN 0130483893.