The reconciliation between “assimilation” and “pluralism” is sought to help prevent further polarization among immigration researchers and is based mainly on two arguments. First, if assimilation and acculturation are distinguished, acculturation has proceeded more quickly than assimilation in both “old” and “new” immigrations. This reconciles traditional assimilationist theory with current pluralist — or ethnic retention — theory, which admits that acculturation (and accommodation) are occurring, but without assimilation. Second, the reconciliation can also be advanced by the recognition that the researchers of the old and new immigrations have studied different generations of newcomers and have approached their research with “outsider” and “insider” values, respectively.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlbaR.D.1990Ethnic Identity; The Transformation of White America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
2.
AlbaR.D. and NeeV.1996 “The Assimilation of Immigrant Groups: Concept, Theory and Evidence.” Social Science Research Council conference “Becoming American/America Becoming: International Migration to the United States, Sanibel, FL, January 18–21.
3.
BaconJ.1996Lifelines. New York: Oxford University Press.
4.
ChildI.L.1943Italian or American?New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
5.
ConzenK. N.1992 “The Invention of Ethnicity: A Perspective from the U.S.A.,” Journal of American Ethnic History, 12(1):3–41.
6.
GansH.J.1992 “Second-Generation Decline: Scenarios for the Economic and Ethnic Futures of the Post–1965 American Immigrants,” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 15(2):173–192.
7.
GansH.J.1979 “Symbolic Ethnicity,” Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2(1):1–20.
8.
GansH.J.1962The Urban Villagers. New York: Free Press.
9.
GibsonM.A.1988Accommodation with Assimilation: Sikh Immigrants in an American High SchoolIthaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
10.
GordonM.M.1964Assimilation in American Life: The Role of Race, Religion and National Origins. New York: Oxford University Press.
11.
HalleD.1984Americas Working Man. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
12.
HurhW.M. and KimK.C.1984Korean Immigrants in America. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
13.
KasinitzP1992Caribbean New York: Black Immigrants and the Politics of Race. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
14.
LiebersonS.1961 “A Societal Theory of Race and Ethnic Relations,” American Sociological Review, 21:902–910.
15.
MertonR.K.1973 “The Perspective of Insiders and Outsiders.” In The Sociology of Science: Theoretical and Empirical Investigations. Ed. MertonR. K.Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pp. 99–136.
16.
ParkR.E. and BurgessE.W.1921Introduction to the Science of Sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
17.
PortesA. and SchaufflerR.1994 “Language and the Second Generation,” International Migration Review, 28(4):640–661.
18.
RosenthalE.1960 “Acculturation Without Assimilation? The Jewish Community in Chicago,” American Journal of Sociology, 66:275–288.
19.
RumbautR.C.1997 “Paradoxes (and Orthodoxies) of Assimilation,” Sociological Perspectives, 40(3):483–551.
20.
RumbautR.C.1995 “The New Californians: Comparative Research Findings on the Educational Progress of Immigrant Children.” In California's Immigrant Children: Theory, Research and Implications for Educational Policy. Ed. RumbautR. C. and CorneliusW. A.San Diego, CA: Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California.
21.
RumbautR.C.1994 “The Crucible Within: Ethnic Identity, Self-esteem and Segmented Assimilation among Children of Immigrants,” International Migration Review, 28(1):748–794.
22.
RumbautR.C.1990 “Immigrant Students in California Public Schools: A Summary of Current Knowledge.” Report No. 11. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Center for Research on Effective Schooling for Disadvantaged Students.
23.
SenguptaS.1996 “To be Young, Indian and Hip,” The New York Times, June 30. Section 13:1.
24.
ShibutaniT. and KwanK.M.1965Ethnic Stratification: A Comparative Approach. New York: Macmillan.
25.
SollorsW., ed. 1989The Invention of Ethnicity. New York: Oxford University Press.
WareC.1935Greenwich Village, 1920–1930. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
28.
WarnerW.L. and SroleL.1945The Social Systems of American Ethnic Groups. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
29.
WatersM.1996 “Ethnic and Racial Identities of Second-Generation Black Immigrants in New York City.” In The Second Generation. Ed. PortesA.New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
30.
WatersM.1990Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
31.
WhyteW.F.Jr.1943Street Comer Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
32.
WirthL.1928The Ghetto. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
33.
WoldemikaelT.M.1989Becoming Black American: Haitians and American Institutions in Evanston, Illinois. New York: AMS Press.
34.
YanceyW., EricksenE. and JulianiR.1976 “Emergent Ethnicity: A Review and Reformulation,” American Sociological Review, 41(3):391–403.
35.
YingerM.J.1994Ethnicity: Source of Strength? Source of Conflict?Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
36.
ZhouM. and BankstonC.L.1994 “Social Capital and the Adaptation of the Second Generation: The Case of Vietnamese Youth,” International Migration Review, 28(4):821–845.
