Doctoral Dissertation Research--Bringing Culture Back In: Cultural Assimilation and the Second Generation in the Global City

博士论文研究--文化回归：全球化城市中的文化同化与第二代

• 批准号: 0402248
• 负责人: Mary Waters
• 金额: $ 0.75万
• 依托单位: Harvard University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-04-01 至 2005-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0402248&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Bringing; Culture

How are teenaged children of immigrants in the global cities of New York City and London assimilating culturally, and what does cultural assimilation even mean in the multiethnic neighborhoods of New York and London? Previous studies of immigrant assimilation have focused on political, economic, and social assimilation, as well as education and ethnic identity. However, no major study has emphasized the process of cultural assimilation for immigrant second generation youth, which is the focus of this dissertation. This dissertation has three components, all related to cultural assimilation. First, it looks at which aspects of the second generation's culture-consumption, attitudes toward education, modes of behavior, and beliefs-are linked to ethnicity. This project questions the common assumption that culture is always ethnicity-linked, by empirically looking at teenagers' cultural choices and behaviors. Second, this dissertation asks whether the local context matters significantly in shaping the cultural assimilation process for second generation youth, or if the globalization of youth culture has made youth in London and New York more similar than different. In other words, which aspects of culture are more local, more global, and more ethnicity-based? Finally, this dissertation research examines the cultural repertoires from which youth draw and the meanings their cultural expressions have for them. In order to answer these questions about second generation immigrant youth culture, I will conduct ethnographic research in two multiethnic secondary schools-one in London and one in New York City. I will conduct 20 interviews each with second generation Afro-Caribbean, second generation Indian, and native White students in each school. Finally, I will ask 100 students to complete surveys in each school. Thus I plan to obtain a total of 120 in-depth interviews, 200 surveys, and two school ethnographies-half in London and half in New York City. This project's broader impacts include the following: The research has implications for developing models of schooling and teacher training that can best serve children in multi-ethnic environments, which are increasingly prevalent. The project will provide teachers, parents, and policymakers greater understanding of youth culture and its relationship with how children engage with school by providing insights into such questions as: What is the relationship between a teenager's style and his/her attitudes toward education? How should cultural styles be understood by schools and teachers? What cultural scripts or behaviors, if any, might be causing certain groups (Afro-Caribbeans in the UK, African Americans in the US, boys in both countries) to underachieve, and to what extent do which cultural assumptions of teachers and administrators contribute to that underachievement? What cultural tools could be taught to underachieving groups to improve their academic achievement, and what types of professional development will help teachers help students? The individual school research sites will benefit from learning how their students think about their cultural identities, especially their attitudes toward education, feelings about success, and skills for achievement.

在纽约和伦敦这样的全球城市，十几岁的移民子女是如何在文化上同化的？在纽约和伦敦的多民族社区，文化同化到底意味着什么？先前对移民同化的研究主要集中在政治、经济和社会同化，以及教育和种族认同上。然而，对于移民二代青年的文化同化过程，目前还没有相关的研究，而这正是本文研究的重点。本文由三个部分组成，都与文化同化有关。首先，它着眼于第二代文化的哪些方面——消费、对教育的态度、行为模式和信仰——与种族有关。这个项目通过对青少年文化选择和行为的实证研究，质疑文化总是与种族联系在一起的普遍假设。其次，本文探讨的问题是，在塑造第二代青年的文化同化过程中，当地背景是否起着重要作用，或者青年文化的全球化是否使伦敦和纽约的青年更加相似而不是不同。换句话说，文化的哪些方面更本地化，更全球化，更以种族为基础？最后，本文研究了青年所借鉴的文化剧目及其文化表达对青年的意义。为了回答这些关于第二代移民青年文化的问题，我将在伦敦和纽约的两所多民族中学进行民族志研究。我将对每所学校的第二代加勒比黑人、第二代印第安人和本土白人学生分别进行20次采访。最后，我会让100名学生在每个学校完成调查。因此，我计划总共进行120次深度访谈，200次调查，以及两份学校人种志——一半在伦敦，一半在纽约。本项目更广泛的影响包括：本研究对发展学校教育和教师培训模式具有影响，这些模式最能服务于日益普遍的多民族环境中的儿童。该项目将帮助教师、家长和政策制定者更好地了解青少年文化及其与儿童如何参与学校的关系，提供以下问题的见解：青少年的风格与他/她对教育的态度之间的关系是什么？学校和教师应该如何理解文化风格？什么样的文化脚本或行为，如果有的话，可能会导致某些群体（英国的加勒比黑人，美国的非洲裔，两国的男孩）表现不佳，教师和行政人员的哪些文化假设在多大程度上导致了这种表现不佳？哪些文化工具可以教授给成绩不佳的群体以提高他们的学业成绩，哪些类型的专业发展可以帮助教师帮助学生？个别学校的研究网站将受益于了解他们的学生如何看待他们的文化身份，特别是他们对教育的态度，对成功的感受，以及取得成就的技能。