Hardback

eBook

Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America

Second Edition

Edited by Christopher A. Airriess

Ethnic diversity has marked the United States from its inception, and it is impossible to separate ethnicity from an understanding of the United States as a country and “Americans” as a people. Since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, the United States has experienced watershed transformations in its social, cultural, and ethnic geographies.

Considering the impact of these wide-ranging changes, this unique text examines the experiences of a range of ethnic groups in both historical and contemporary context. It begins by laying out a comprehensive conceptual framework that integrates immigration theory; globalization; transnational community formation; and urban, cultural, and economic geography. The contributors then present a rich set of case studies of the key Latin American, Asian American, and Middle Eastern communities comprising the vast majority of newer immigrants.

Each case offers a brief historical overview of the group’s immigration experience and settlement patterns and discusses its contemporary socioeconomic dynamics. All these communities have transformed—and been transformed by—the places in which they have settled. Exploring these changing communities, places, and landscapes, this book offers a nuanced understanding of the evolution of America's contemporary ethnic geographies.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 426 • Trim: 7⅜ x 10¼

978-1-4422-1855-0 • Hardback • September 2015 • $94.00 • (£72.00)

978-1-4422-1857-4 • eBook • September 2015 • $89.00 • (£68.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Human Geography, Political Science / American Government / General, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General, Social Science / Sociology / General

Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America

Second Edition

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Ethnic diversity has marked the United States from its inception, and it is impossible to separate ethnicity from an understanding of the United States as a country and “Americans” as a people. Since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, the United States has experienced watershed transformations in its social, cultural, and ethnic geographies.

Considering the impact of these wide-ranging changes, this unique text examines the experiences of a range of ethnic groups in both historical and contemporary context. It begins by laying out a comprehensive conceptual framework that integrates immigration theory; globalization; transnational community formation; and urban, cultural, and economic geography. The contributors then present a rich set of case studies of the key Latin American, Asian American, and Middle Eastern communities comprising the vast majority of newer immigrants.

Each case offers a brief historical overview of the group’s immigration experience and settlement patterns and discusses its contemporary socioeconomic dynamics. All these communities have transformed—and been transformed by—the places in which they have settled. Exploring these changing communities, places, and landscapes, this book offers a nuanced understanding of the evolution of America's contemporary ethnic geographies.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 426 • Trim: 7⅜ x 10¼

978-1-4422-1855-0 • Hardback • September 2015 • $94.00 • (£72.00)

978-1-4422-1857-4 • eBook • September 2015 • $89.00 • (£68.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Human Geography, Political Science / American Government / General, Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General, Social Science / Sociology / General

Author

Christopher A. Airriess is professor of geography at Ball State University.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, Maps, and Tables

1. Exploring Contemporary Ethnic Geographies, Christopher A. Airriess
2. Creating Contemporary Ethnic Geographies: A Review of Immigration Law, Ines M. Miyares
3. New Ethnic Landscapes: Place Making in Urban America, Brian J. Godfrey
4. Immigrants at Work, Michael Reibel and Christopher A. Airriess
5. Ethnic Festivals, Cultural Tourism, and Pan-Ethnicity, Michael Hawkins
6. Mexican Americans, Daniel D. Arreola and Alex Oberle
7. Caribbean Hispanics: Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans, Heike Alberts
8. Non-Hispanic West Indians: Race, Identity, and Incorporation, Milton Vickerman
9. Central Americans: Legal Status and Settledness, Ines M. Miyares
10. Andean South Americans: Settlement Patterns and Transnational Networks, Marie Price
11. Chinese Americans: Enduring Community and Increasing Diversity, Wei Li and Wan Yu
12. Korean Americans: Entrepreneurship and Religion, Jane Yeonjae Lee
13. Filipinos: The Invisible Ethnic Community, James A. Tyner
14. Asian Indians: Construction of Community and Identity, Emily Skop
15. Mainland Southeast Asia: Diversity of Conflict Migrants, Christopher A. Airriess
16. Immigrants from the Muslim World: Lebanese and Iranians, Elizabeth Chacko

Index
About the Contributors

Reviews

Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America is an excellent and distinctive volume. The theoretical backdrop is clear and cohesive, and each chapter provides illuminating examples of a broad and wide range of immigration and ethnic studies. This text is vital reading for social sciences and geography undergraduate and graduate students studying immigration, race, and ethnicity—no doubt, a fundamental source!
— Alan Marcus, Towson University

Many books on the market cover just one aspect of ethnicity or focus on a single ethnic group. Very few tie together the variety of ethnic experiences with detailed examples. The second edition of Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America accomplishes this feat by pulling together some superb ethnic geographers, treating each aspect of the ethnic experience with respect, and creating an overall volume that is greater than the sum of its parts. Everyone who teaches ethnic studies should have a copy of this book close at hand.
— David Kaplan, Kent State University

This volume will be extremely useful to those dealing with border studies, urban studies, urban planning, cultural diversity, geography of the United States, ethnic gateway communities, transnational communities, cultural networks, and conflict immigrants. (Previous Edition Praise)
— Sarah Osgood Brooks

Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America provides an academic audience with a rich and varied set of case studies framed by contemporary theoretical and historical perspectives in one accessible text. This book would serve as a welcome addition to both undergraduate and graduate courses in multiple disciplines within the social sciences. (Previous Edition Praise)
— Ethnic and Racial Studies

Impressive. . . . This unique volume provides a very useful assessment of the ethnic landscape of the U.S. utilizing the concepts of social and human geography, nicely supplementing the bulk of existing work on the contemporary immigrant U.S., which is primarily written by social scientists from other disciplines. Highly recommended. (Previous Edition Praise)
— Choice Reviews

Features

Reviews contemporary concepts and theories in immigration and ethnicity research

Traces the historical relationship between immigration law and ethnic geographies in the United States

Thematic chapters address the social and cultural impacts of new immigration

Eleven case-study chapters focus on a single ethnic group or pan-ethnic group, organized according to immigration, settlement, socioeconomic attainment, and transnational patterns

Rich in cultural and political analysis

Illustrated with maps, charts, and photos

New features
Updated maps and census information

Fully revised and current

Expanded focus on gender issues

Case studies integrate concepts and theories developed in the introductory section

Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America

Second Edition

Edited by Christopher A. Airriess

Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America

Second Edition

ALSO AVAILABLE