Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social Context and Perceived Membership- A Comparative Study of Latin Americans in New York and Madrid

纽约州立大学研究生院这篇博士论文研究不同的社会历史背景如何塑造移民同化的过程和社会成员的感知可能性。它从比较的角度审查这些问题，特别是在纽约市(历史上的移民目的地)和马德里(最近的移民目的地)。主要的研究问题是：移民子女认为他们居住的国家的社会群体之间的主要分界线是什么，这些边界的灵活性有多大？移民的子女在多大程度上认为他们可以获得社会国家成员资格，移民后裔或少数族裔身份在限制成员资格方面发挥了什么作用？研究方法既有比较的，也有定性的；分析主要基于对每个地区的拉丁美洲1.5和第二代成员的深入访谈。这一项目将有助于更好地了解接受国目前和未来可能出现的多样性进程。例如，比较框架和对感知边界的关注有助于研究社会边界的背景基础，这对种族和族裔融合的研究有直接影响。现有的跨大西洋比较研究往往侧重于融合和移民成功的衡量标准，如教育和经济成果。然而，感受到的归属感机会--本研究的重点--既反映了这些结果指标，也影响了这些结果指标。此外，由于主导同化理论的发展着眼于美国，他们关于社会边界的位置和突出程度的假设(例如，感知到的多样性的可允许性，以及现有少数群体的存在)可能不能准确反映其他背景。因此，它扩展了同化理论，以考虑其他社会历史背景下的边界和成员可能性。大多数关于欧洲移民的研究都集中在穆斯林人口上，但这项研究关注的是一个非穆斯林群体。这项研究增加了关于欧洲移民后裔人口的文献，它强调了种族和民族的作用，而不是宗教作为潜在的社会分歧。对欧洲拉丁美洲人的关注也有助于对拉丁美洲移民的研究，拉美移民一直压倒性地集中在移民到美国的问题上。最后，尽管西班牙？S作为欧洲的接受国相对突出，但对欧洲的研究大多集中在北欧和西欧。本文的研究？S将重点放在西班牙，从而有助于对移民地区多样性的研究，并提高对一个重点移民接收地的认识。

SES-1103126Richard AlbaJessica SperlingCUNY Graduate SchoolThis doctoral dissertation research studies the ways in which different socio-historical contexts shape the process of immigrant assimilation and perceived possibilities of social membership. It examines these issues in a comparative perspective, specifically in New York City (a historic immigrant destination) and Madrid (a recent immigrant destination). The principal research questions are: What boundaries do children of immigrants see as the dominant dividing lines between social groups in their country of residence, and how flexible are these boundaries? To what degree do children of immigrants feel receiving society national membership is available to them, and what role, if any, does immigrant-descent or ethno-racial minority status play in limiting membership? Research methods are both comparative and qualitative; analysis is principally based upon in-depth interviews with members of the Latin American 1.5 and second generation in each location.This project will contribute to an improved understanding of the current and possible future courses of diversity in receiving societies. For instance, the comparative framework and focus on perceived boundaries contributes to research on the contextual basis of social boundaries, and this has direct implications for research on racial and ethnic integration. Existing comparative transatlantic research often focuses on measures of integration and immigrant success, such as educational and economic outcomes. Yet perceived opportunities of belonging - the focus of this study - both reflect and affect these outcome measures. Moreover, since dominant assimilation theories were developed with an eye towards the U.S., their assumptions about the placement and salience of social boundaries (e.g., the perceived permissibility of diversity, and the presence of established minorities) may not accurately reflect other settings. It therefore broadens assimilation theory to consider boundaries and membership possibilities in other socio-historical contexts. Most research on migrants in Europe focuses on Muslim populations, but this study focuses on a non-Muslim group. This study adds to the body of literature on migrant-descent populations in Europe, and it highlights the role of race and ethnicity, rather than religion, as potential social divides. The focus on Latin Americans in Europe also contributes to the study of Latin American migration, which has been overwhelmingly focused on immigration to the United States. Finally, despite Spain?s relative prominence as a receiving country within Europe, most research on Europe has focused on Northern and Western Europe. This study?s focus on Spain will therefore contribute to the regional diversity of immigration research and improve understanding of a key immigrant receiving area.