Contemporary Ethnic Geographies in America / Edition 2

by Christopher A. Airriess Ball State University

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442218550
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/28/2015
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	426
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the 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

Editorial Reviews

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.

Sarah 'sgood 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.

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.

Choice 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

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