Anthropology and migration : essays on transnationalism, ethnicity, and identity

Brettell's new book provides new insight into the processes of migration and transnationalism from an anthropological perspective. She analyzes macro and micro approaches to migration theory, utilizing her extensive fieldwork in Portugal and many other countries. Key issues she discusses include: immigrant incorporation vs. assimilation models; the impacts on individual, household and community as well as institutions and states; ethnic group composition; illegal immigration; city vs. suburban enclaves; ethnic entrepreneurship; the role of religion; men and women as migrants; and the use of oral histories in understanding immigration and the mediation of new social boundaries. This book will be indispensable to instructors and researchers in anthropology, race and ethnic studies, immigration studies, urban studies, sociology, and international relations.

Brettell's new book provides new insight into the processes of migration and transnationalism from an anthropological perspective. It has been estimated at the turn of the millennium that 160 million people are living outside of their country of birth or citizenship. The author analyzes macro and micro approaches to migration theory, utilizing her extensive fieldwork in Portugal as well as research in Germany, Brazil, France, the United States and Canada. Key issues she discusses include: the value of immigrant incorporation vs. assimilation models; the impacts on individual, household and community as well as institutions and states; the role of ethnicity and ethnic groups; the effects of clandestine or illegal immigration; the differing commitments to host vs. sending communities; the shift from city enclaves to suburban areas; the constraints and opportunities that lead to ethnic entrepreneurship; the role of religion in transnational linkages; and the differing experiences of men and women as migrants. Brettell also explores the relevance of life histories and oral narratives in understanding the immigration process and the mediation of boundaries in a new society. This book provides a fresh perspective on the contemporary experience of migration and will be indispensable to instructors and researchers in anthropology, race and ethnic studies, immigration studies, urban studies, sociology, and international relations.

Contents List of Tables Introduction: Anthropology, Migration, and the Portuguese Diaspora PART I: SITUATING THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: MACRO, MESO, AND MICRO APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF MIGRATION 1 The Emigrant, the Nation, and the State in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Portugal: An Anthropological Approach 2 Migration Stories: Agency and the Individual in the Study of Migration PART II: RETURN MIGRATION, TRANSMIGRANTS, AND TRANSNATIONALISM 3 Emigrar para Voltar: A Portuguese Ideology of Return Migration 4 Emigration, the Church, and the Religious Festa in Northern Portugal PART III: CITIES, IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES, AND ETHNIC IDENTITY 5 Is the Ethnic Community Inevitable?: A Comparison of the Settlement Patterns of Portuguese Immigrants in Toronto and Paris 6 Ethnicity and Entrepreneurs: Portuguese Immigrants in a Canadian City PART IV: GENDER AND MIGRATION 7 Emigration and Household Structure in a Portuguese Parish, 1850–1920 8 Women Are Migrants, Too: A Portuguese Perspective 9 Conclusion: Toward a Comparative Understanding of Migration References Index About the Author