Immigrant Leaders Research Articles

"We Are the Ones Who Are Out in Front": Women's Leadership in the Immigrant Rights Movement

"We Are the Ones Who Are Out in Front": Women'sLeadership in the ImmigrantRightsMovement RuthMilkman and VeronicaTernquez A striking feature of the contemporary immigrant rights move ment in the United States is the extensive presence of women in formal leadership roles. Women are not only highly visible as grass roots and mid-level leaders but also as executive directors of lead ing immigrant rights organizations and in other high-level positions. In this regard, the immigrant rights movement is an anomaly, since men dominate the top leadership roles in most US social movements and the organizations linked to them.1 The immigrant rights movement is national in scope, as was revealed by the massive 2006 street marches across the nation pro testing proposed changes to US immigration law. Prominent female immigrant rights leaders can be found throughout the United States.2 We focus here on the role of female leaders in Los Angeles, where a disproportionate share of immigrant rights organizations are head quartered. Home to the nation's single largest concentration of unau thorized immigrants, southern California has the immigrant move ment's deepest base of popular support. And unlike regions with more diverse foreign-born populations, the immigrant community in the Los Angeles area is highly cohesive, due to its relative linguistic homo geneity: Mexicans and Central Americans comprise the majority of the area's foreign-born population and an even greater proportion of its unauthorized immigrants.3 In recent years, moreover, Los Angeles FeministStudies38, no. 3 (Fall 2012). © 2012 by Feminist Studies, Inc. 723 724 Ruth Milkman and Veronica Terriquez has become the nation's leading laboratory of immigrant labor orga nizing, especially among Latinos.4 The LA immigrant rights movement includes four major seg ments: (a) service-sector labor unions with substantial foreign-born memberships; (b) immigrant hometown associations (HTAs) and ethnic organizations; (c) community-based organizations (CBOs), including "worker centers" as well as umbrella organizations that func tion as coalition-builders; and (d) student immigrant rights groups.5 The nature and extent of women's leadership varies considerably among these segments, as we show below. The variation enriches our analysis, exposing the dynamics of women's leadership in the move ment as a whole. Our inquiry focuses specifically on Latinas, who pre dominate among top-level female immigrant leaders in Los Angeles. The contemporary immigrant rights movement has two key dimensions. It is a civil rights movement, seeking a path to legal status and other fundamental rights for the nation's unauthorized immi grants. But it is also a labor movement, in the broadest sense of the term, promoting economic advancement for immigrants and their children. However, women's prominence among high-level leaders in the immigrant rights movement differentiates it from other US civil rights and labor movements, in which women are typically lim ited to intermediate and lower level positions while men monopolize the top leadership roles.6 In earlier Latino movements, similarly, men comprised the overwhelming majority of high-level leaders, as for example in the United Farm Workers and the Chicano movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Why is the immigrant rights movement different? We propose a three-pronged explanation. First, an ample supplyof female leaders has been generated by the migration process itself—which, as many commentators have noted, often improves the status of female immi grants and draws them into the public sphere. Second, because the immigrant rights movement is relatively new and has grown dramat ically since the late 1980s, it has generated extensive demandfor new leadership—in the context of a late twentieth century political cul ture that is broadly supportive of gender equity. The third factor is the feminist consciousness of immigrant women leaders themselves. Although more often expressed behind closed doors than in public, feminism Ruth Milkman and Veronica Terriquez 725 has served as a vital resource for many of these women, helping them overcome obstacles along the path to leadership roles. Gender and Migration The literature on the gender dynamics of immigration from Latin America to the United States offers a starting point for our analysis. One key finding in that literature is that, despite the difficulties asso ciated with the migration process, it...

LEARNING TO BE TRANSNATIONAL

Scholars and practitioners of heritage language education commonly hold two assumptions about heritage language: first, that heritage language is an official national language of a nation-state from which group originally migrated; and second, that heritage language is a vulnerable language on the verge of getting swept away by the national language of the nation-state of a migrant's current residence. This article questions these two assumptions by examining Japanese language education and speech practices among Okinawan-Bolivians in a rural agricultural community called Colonia Okinawa. Okinawan-Bolivians’ heritage language education and speech practices suggest that immigrants who were marginalized in the nation-states of their migratory/ancestral origin, like Okinawans, consciously transform their linguistic heritage from a sub-national one to a national one in order to gain socioeconomic advantages in their migratory destination. Furthermore, when immigrant community leaders deem the international standing of the country of their migratory origin higher than their host country's status, such as Okinawan- Bolivian leaders in Colonia Okinawa, they regard heritage language education as a crucial means to maintain their community members’ political, economic, and symbolic powers over other local residents. By ethnographically portraying the ways in which Japanese is taught and spoken in Colonia Okinawa, this article highlights the shifting scales and locations of the immigrant community's “ancestral homeland” and draws attention to the multiple meanings of the language the community designates as its “heritage.”

Women of courage: Leadership experiences of female Nigerian immigrants in Texas

AbstractA phenomenological hermeneutical research design served to explore the immigration and leadership experiences of 22 female Nigerian immigrants in Texas through analysis and interpretation of narrative data from one‐on‐one interviews and focus group interviews. The findings suggest that the process of adapting to American society and the work environment is not easy for female Nigerian immigrants. They must assimilate into American work culture and work harder to access leadership opportunities, despite their belief that equal skills should mean equal opportunity. Leadership experiences in America and Nigeria differ. Nigerian women's accents may generate negative reactions from native‐born workers, and immigrant leaders may experience differential treatment. Adjustment to the host country and leadership success for Nigerian immigrant women in the United States depends on strong family support and networking.

De Europa a las Américas: Dirigentes y liderazgos (1880–1960)

De Europa a las Américas: Dirigentes y liderazgos (1880–1960)

Familias in the Heartland: Exploration of the Social, Economic, and Cultural Realities of Latino Immigrants

This survey of 957 Latino immigrant adults in urban and suburban communities in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area explores the migration experiences, employment contexts, family structures, and integration processes of an emerging and rapidly growing immigrant population. The study is an example of community-driven research, conducted by a nonprofit community development and immigrant rights organization in close partnership with local immigrant leaders.

Immigrant Participation in Decision‐Making Processes at the Local Level: A Comparison of Immigrants and Veterans in Israel

ABSTRACTThe issue of new immigrants' participation in policymaking and planning processes at the local level has not been adequately addressed. On the basis of qualitative research, the article examines a variety of different characteristics of immigrant participation in policymaking and planning in Israel. In particular, the research investigates aspects of participation, such as level of influence and typical tactics, of immigrant leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States (specifically, Russia, the Ukraine, and Belarus) and Ethiopia. In addition, a comparison with veteran leaders in the same city examines whether the characteristics of the immigrants' participation express (a) adjustment to the character of the existing participation in their new city, (b) reliance on the character of participation common in their countries of origin, or (c) participation focusing on the immigrants' position within the power structure of the city. The findings show that the third pattern is prevalent. The article suggests reasons for the emergence of immigrants' participation characteristics, the advantages and limitations of this kind of participation, and means for dealing with the limitations.

Solidarity projects of Mexican migrants in the United States and their prospects

Collective remittances and impact from the 3x1 ProgramThe remarkable increase in family remittances received in 2004 Mexico, over 16.6 billion dollars according to the Bank of Mexico1, and expected to reach 20 billion dollars in 2005,2 created great expectations. It generated a debate of the impact of these remittances on the economic development of Mexico and its different regions. A valuable point of reference, for the future development of the Mexico, could be based on the long history of Zacatecas residents' emigration to the United States. In addition, it must be considered the silent integration brought by the creation of the binational labor market that has been on the making for the past last fifty years. It must also be taken into account the addiction to remittances on the part of the state economy and the accelerated rate of the region's incorporation into the international migration process. The latter has brought diverse consequences, including dependence to the resources generated by Mexicans working outside the country.Recently, the phenomenon of international migration to the United States has generalized to the entire country -reflecting the precarious state of the Mexican economy, and the growing integration of the two countries. A significant number of studies have been conducted, in Mexico and in other countries, focusing on the causes and consequences of the phenomenon. In particular, what has become clear is the potential of remittances through the transnational transfer of wages. The shift improves the livelihood of the family of the immigrant in food consumption, health, education and housing.3 On one side, this has a positive impact on the population where these resources are received. There is also a negative effect because social inequality is generated between the recipients and those who do not. Nevertheless, significant experience has been gained by Zacatecans who have channeled collective remittances (contributions by members of Zacatecan clubs in the United States) to finance public infrastructure projects in their communities of origin. This practice has been taking place since the 1960s, and more details will be provided later in this article.Zacatecans have a long history of emigration to the United States. It is now more than 100 years old. Recently, this history led to the formation of Zacatecan clubs. At the core of the process is migrants' shared sense of belonging to their places of origin and their linkages to their communities of destination. Both instances motivate Zacatecanos to engage in joint activities for the benefit of their places of origin. There is an antecedent to these clubs, specifically in Southern California during the 1960s. Then, immigrants organized in Los Angeles to provide solidarity assistance to the sick, those injured in accidents, and to help return the dead to their homeland.4 During this stage, initial efforts developed to carry out projects in public infrastructure. These included repairing plazas, churches, sports facilities, and cemeteries. Such activities were financed exclusively by immigrant contributions. Some Zacatecan immigrant leaders refer to this stage as the 0x1 period: immigrants' dollars were the only financial support. In the 1970s, progress was made by combining funds from some local governments with resources from immigrants. In this way, community projects used a 1x1 modality.During the last 15 years, the Zacatecan Clubs that originated in California, and then spring up in different places of the United States: Illinois, Texas, Colorado, and Nevada, among other locations, have moved to a new phase of development. At the beginning of the 21st century, clubs of Zacatecans could be identified as one of the most important developments of Mexican hometown associations in the U.S. This is because of the number of clubs established (more than 230) and the systematic financial assistance for public infrastructure projects they provided to their communities of origin. …

Negotiating Identities: States and Immigrants in France and Germany

Immigration is even more hotly debated in Europe than in the United States. In this pivotal work of action and discourse analysis, Riva Kastoryano draws on extensive fieldwork--including interviews with politicians, immigrant leaders, and militants--to analyze interactions between states and immigrants in France and Germany. Making frequent comparisons to the United States, she delineates the role of states in constructing group identities and measures the impact of immigrant organization and mobilization on national identity. Kastoryano argues that states contribute directly and indirectly to the elaboration of immigrants' identity, in part by articulating the grounds on which their groups are granted legitimacy. Conversely, immigrant organizations demanding recognition often redefine national identity by reinforcing or modifying traditional sentiments. They use culture--national references in Germany and religion in France--to negotiate new political identities in ways that alter state composition and lead the state to negotiate its identity as well. Despite their different histories, Kastoryano finds that Germany, France, and the United States are converging in their policies toward immigration control and integration. All three have adopted similar tactics and made similar institutional adjustments in their efforts to reconcile differences while tending national integrity. The author builds her observations into a model of ''negotiations of identities'' useful to a broad cross-section of social scientists and policy specialists. She extends her analysis to consider how the European Union and transnational networks affect identities still negotiated at the national level. The result is a forward-thinking book that illuminates immigration from a new angle.

Developing Young Leadership Within the Ethiopian Immigrant Group in Israel

When over 8000 Ethiopian Jews fled to Israel in 1982 and 1994, whole communities were uprooted from a longstanding traditional way of life. Their abrupt introduction to a Western-style Israeli culture, different language and customs contradicted their almost mystical expectations of their religious homeland, resulted in a culture shock that threatened their entire way of life—especially the hierarchical leadership of elders that they were accustomed to. This article offers a glimpse into the Ethiopian Jews' life prior to the migration, as well as the Israeli reality they now face. Our project, initiated in 1996 and lasting one year, sought to locate and train young immigrant Ethiopian leaders to help bridge the gap between their communities and their new life-preserving Ethiopian values and traditions while promoting adaptation. This article outlines the development of the model, from the conception of the idea through the formation of the multidisciplinary team, the establishment of criteria for locating and selecting the target leadership population, the training process, and the final evaluations and conclusions during the year-long operation of the project.

Terrains of blood and nation: Haitian transnational social fields

As have a growing number of political leaders of emigrant-sending countries, Haitian government officials and immigrant leaders have envisioned Haiti as a transnational nation-state. This article explores the ways in which the vision of Haiti as a transnational nation builds upon the experiences, needs and aspirations of both persons living in Haiti and those who have settled in the United States. Using a concept of 'transnational social field', we examine how family obligations and the experiences of immigration are understood through a language of blood and descent that links individuals to broader concepts of a transnational homeland. Rather than celebrating transnational connections, this essay concludes by warning that the ideologies which undergird 'long distance nationalism' are problematic.

Book Review: American Immigrant Leaders, 1800–1910: Marginality and Identity

Book Review: American Immigrant Leaders, 1800–1910: Marginality and Identity

American Immigrant Leaders, 1800-1910: Marginality and Identity.

American Immigrant Leaders, 1800-1910: Marginality and Identity.

Immigrant Origins of the Virginia Gentry: A Study of Cultural Transmission and Innovation

I N the middle decades of the seventeenth century, roughly i645 to I 67 5, a distinguishable group of immigrant leaders arrived in Virginia, where they founded families whose names would become identified with the pre-Revolutionary gentry. The careers of these men provide a unique perspective into the process of cultural transmission and innovation in the Anglo-American world, for their stories involve them in cultural interaction on three fronts: with their English backgrounds, with conditions they encountered in the colony, and with their legacy to subsequent generations of gentry families. Through them we can follow cultural evolution over space-from England to Virginia-and over time-from charter settlers to mid-century immigrant leaders and from the latter to their Virginia-born sons.1

American Immigrant Leaders, 1800-1910: Marginality and Identity.Victor R. Greene

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsAmerican Immigrant Leaders, 1800-1910: Marginality and Identity. Victor R. Greene Edward R. KantowiczEdward R. Kantowicz Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Sociology Volume 94, Number 2Sep., 1988 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/229022 Views: 1Total views on this site Copyright 1988 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

American Immigrant Leaders, 1800-1910: Marginality and Identity

American Immigrant Leaders, 1800-1910: Marginality and Identity

American Immigrant Leaders, 1800-1910: Marginality and Identity

American Immigrant Leaders, 1800-1910: Marginality and Identity

THE SEVENTEENTH OF MAY IN MID-ATLANTIC: OLE RYNNING'S EMIGRANT SONG

THE SEVENTEENTH OF MAY IN MID-ATLANTIC: OLE RYNNING'S EMIGRANT SONG Translated and edited by Theodore C. Blegen and Martin B. Ruud One of the best known names in the early history of Norwegian emigration to the United States is that of Ole Rynning . In the spring of 1837 Rynning, who was the son of a clergyman and well educated, joined a party of emigrants who crossed the Atlantic on the bark "ASgir " and made their way to Illinois, where they established the ill-fated Beaver Creek settlement. There on a sickbed in a log hut Rynning wrote his Sandfcerdig Beretning om Amerika, the manuscript of which was brought to Norway in 1838 by one of his comrades , was there published, and became the most influential of the many "America books." Rynning himself never saw a copy of his published book, for in the fall of 1838 he died, a victim of the fevers that scourged the settlement, and somewhere on the Illinois prairies his body was laid in a nameless grave. Meanwhile his little book and the story of his short career have made him an historical figure, and he ranks justly among the important American immigrant leaders of the nineteenth century. It has long been known that Rynning wrote a song that was sung by the emigrants on board the "iEgir " in midAtlantic on the Seventeenth of May, 1837. This song has even been described as the first venture into the realm of poetry by a Norwegian-American. It is not infrequently hazardous in historical matters to say that this or that is the first of its kind; and there may possibly be some question as to whether a Norwegian emigrant in mid-ocean can yet be 18 rynning's emigrant song 19 designated as a Norwegian-American. It may safely be asserted , however, that Rynning's song is one of the earliest known Norwegian emigrant songs. It has been generally supposed hitherto that Rynning's song consisted of only two stanzas. These have often been printed in Norwegian and several times translated into English. Actually, however, the song had five stanzas, only the second and fifth of which have been known. The full text is drawn from a detailed report of the crossing of the "ASgir" published in a newspaper in Norway in 1837 and based upon an interview with Captain Behrens, who brought the ship to America. This newspaper account not only gives us the text of the song; it also enables us to picture the scene of its singing. The "A2gir " with its eighty-four passengers had sailed from Bergen on April 7, 1837. Though a tragic fate awaited these emigrants in America, the crossing was not one of those dismal experiences so common in the first half of the nineteenth century. These Norwegians in fact had a merry time on the voyage, once the first attack of seasickness had passed. "With its passing, all anxiety seemed to disappear," the newspaper tells us. "Peasants who never before had seen the ocean saw that it was calm, lost all fear of its terrors, and saw the ship sailing on toward milder regions. The fiddle was brought out, and every evening sailors and young people danced to it with lusty abandon till the captain was forced to beg them to desist, since the ball-room floor (the deck) was being seriously injured by the huge nails in the soles of the dancing slippers of the young gallants and their ladies; unless, indeed, they were willing to dance in their stocking feet." On May 8 the "A5gir" narrowly escaped shipwreck when an English ship crashed into it broadside. "The rigging of the two ships got inextricably tangled; sails were torn to tatters; the outer planking was damaged; the seams were opened; the stern and the upper part of the ship more or 20 STUDIES AND RECORDS less battered. The mizzenmast was stripped clean, bolts and spikes ripped loose; in short, destruction seemed imminent ." But the ships were cleared after a time without disaster , and the "iEgir " continued on its way, its passengers naturally much shaken by the experience. The newspaper account continues: " But despite all the terrors...

SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN HISTORY: III

SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN HISTORY III Compiled by Jacob Hodnefield The publications listed below are approximately current, continuing the second list issued in Studies and Records, volume 6, and including the early part of the year 1932. The same policy in regard to the listing of publications has been followed as in previous lists. A new feature has been added at the close by supplementing the list proper with a few paragraphs of comment on items that do not lend themselves readily to separate entry. Criticism and suggestions are again invited, and members are requested to send copies of any publications in this field to the managing editor or to the archives of the Association at Northfield, Minnesota. ^ ^ Aasgaard, J. A. Address at seventieth anniversary of Luther college. Lutheran herald, 15: 1353-1355, 1357-1358 (October 27, 1931). The history of Luther college is reviewed in this article. Aasmund Olavson Vinje-etti. Jul i vesterland, 1931, p. 13-16. The genealogy of the Vinje family in Norway and America, principally in Minnesota. The article is signed "Hedleve." Anderson, L. O. Norské pionaersteder. Norsk ungdom, 20: 11-12 (February, 1932). An article on places of interest, with illustrations of the house of Hellik Brœkke, where in 1844 the first Norwegian Lutheran services conducted by an ordained minister took place; the Luther Valley parsonage first occupied by Pastor C. L. Clausen in 1846; the bell hung in the church in Rock County, Wisconsin, in 1857; and the old printing shop of Nordlyset , which dates back to 1853. Ash, Hans. Norge i Texas. Nordmanns-forbundet, 25:106108 (April, 1932). An account of a visit to the Norwegian settlement in and about Clifton, Texas, with some historical observations. 74 SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS 75 Bale, C. E . Fortieth anniversary, Concordia college; an historical sketch. Lutheran herald, 25:964-966, 987 (August 4, 1931). Concordia college at Moorhead, Minnesota, is one of the schools of the Norwegian Lutheran church of America. Barton, Albert O. Alexander Corstvet and Anthony M. Rud, N or wegian- American novelists . N orwegian- American studies and records, 6:146-152 (1931). Alexander Corstvet was the author of EUing (1901), and Anthony M. Rud was the author of The second generation (1923) . The article contains outlines of the stories. Bergesen, B. E. Hans Gerhard Stub. Jul i vesterheimen, 1931, p.[ll-12]. A biographical sketch with full-page portrait. Biegen, Theodore C. Leaders in American immigration. [Springfield, Illinois], Illinois state historical society, [1932] 14 p. " Reprinted from the Transactions of the Illinois state historical society, Publication no. 38." (1931.) Various immigrant leaders are discussed, but the greater part of the paper is taken up with the Norwegian group. The material here used is incorporated in the author's Norwegian migration to America, 1825-1860. Minnesota, Norwegian- American historical association, 1931. 413 p. This historical contribution has been reviewed in a number of periodicals, including Minnesota history, 12:304-806 (September, 1931), American economic review, 22:172-173 (March, 1932), and N orwegian- American studies and records , 6:162-167 (1931). with a foreword by Theodore C. Biegen. Norden, 3:10-12 (December, 1931) . A letter from Pastor Olaus Fredric Duus to his father, Ole Irgens Duus, in Krager0, Norway, dated January 8, 1856, at the Waupaca parsonage, Wisconsin. Blilie, J. A. Nybyggerlivet i Syd Dakota. Norden, 3:6-7 (February, 1931) . Reminiscences of pioneer life in South Dakota. B0e, A, Sophie. Lars Davidson Reque, pioneer. NorwegianAmerican studies and records, 6:30-52 (1931). The story of Lars Davidson Reque, 1818-1912, an immigrant from Voss, Norway, in 1839. The article is accompanied by a portrait. 76 STUDIES AND RECORDS [Boe, Lars O.] The Lutheran church in Minnesota and higher education. St. Olaf college bulletin, 27:1-11 (September, 1931) . In this bulletin the president of St. Olaf college analyzes the higher education situation among the Lutheran bodies in Minnesota, and, in part, outside of Minnesota, giving statistics of church membership, schools, attendance , and so forth, making suggestions in regard to the future and the course that the Lutheran church bodies in the state should pursue. Boeckmann, Egil. Eduard Boeckmann. Surgery, gynecology , and obstetrics, 53: 113-115 (July, 1931). A...