Assimilation and the U.S. Host Society

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

SES-1121281 Tomas Jimenez Stanford University Abstract Assimilation and the U.S. Host Society How do host-society individuals - those who are US-born of US-born parents - participate in a relational process of assimilation which involves immigrants? For the last century, assimilation research has regarded the host society as shaping the assimilation of immigrants and their descendents. Recent theoretical innovations recognize that the variegated nature of U.S. society along ethnoracial and class lines may mean that immigrants and their children experience a segmented form of assimilation. Research based on classical assimilation theory and its newer variants do not account for how host-society individuals are themselves assimilating in a context shaped by immigration. The proposed project focuses on host-society individuals and examines how ethnoracial and class context shapes their experiences. It aims to make sense of a relational and potentially mutually influencing assimilation process. The study employs in-depth interviews with host-society individuals and observations in three areas in the southern part San Francisco Bay Area, CA ("Silicon Valley"): East Palo Alto, Cupertino, and Berryessa (a subsection of San José). Each area has a different ethnoracial and class profile, capturing the segmented nature of the contexts in which assimilation unfolds. The study flips the assimilation equation by examining how the outcomes normally associated with immigrant assimilation apply to host-society individuals. It examines their ethnoracial identity perceptions of ethnoracial boundaries, everyday practices, the ethnoracial composition of their social networks and their conceptions of American national identity vis-à-vis immigration. The sample of roughly 180 in-depth interview respondents (60 in each locale) will be divided into three age cohorts in order to assess how assimilation among host-society individuals unfolds across cohorts. The project also includes interviews with key informants in each locale and observational data. The project has the potential to transform the social-scientific understanding of assimilation by providing a fuller account of how both immigrants "guest" and native-born "hosts" participate in assimilation. Broader Impacts The project's broader impacts are related to immigration policy (including addressing how immigration may or may not be changing U.S. society). The project will contribute to greater public understanding of the influence of immigration on the United States.