Emmanuelle Le Texier, Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Internationales (CERI), Center for Comparative Immigration Studies and Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies
Abstract: American ghettos and barrios have been overlooked because of their low capacity for mobilization and political participation. In particular, barrio residents have been considered to be either culturally or structurally unable to participate in American politics. The use of such concepts as the “sub-culture of poverty” or the “underclass” has maintained a vision of these segregated spaces as non-political. Indeed, low voter registration and turnout, the lack of party campaigning, and a large proportion of disenfranchised individuals may characterize the …

Peter Andreas, Brown University
Abstract: In this paper I trace the changing practice and politics of North American border controls and analyze the implications of these changes for cross-border relations and continental integration. More than ever, I suggest, North American relations are driven by the politics of border control. I first examine U.S. border control initiatives before 9-11, and argue that these were politically successful policy failures: they succeeded in terms of their symbolic and image effects even while largely failing in terms of their deterrent effects. I then highlight the border-related economic, bureaucratic, and political repercussions of 9- 11. I …

Carmina Brittain, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
Abstract: This presentation analyzes how first generation immigrant students from China and Mexico experience American schooling within a transnational social space that is formed as immigrant children receive and share information about U.S. schools with their co-national (individuals born in their country of origin who reside in multiple localities across borders). This socialization with co-nationals crosses and overlaps boundaries in important and symbolic ways, establishing transnational social spaces in American schools. Framed as advice to immigrant children received from their co-nationals at three specific points in time: prior to immigrating, upon arrival to the …

Kristen Hill Maher, San Diego State University and Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
Abstract: What kinds of perceptions, attitudes and cultural logics underlie the growing markets for foreign domestic workers in industrializing and post-industrial states? Drawing from field research in both Southern California and in Santiago, Chile, this presentation examines the growing popularity of migrant women as household workers in these two regions. Despite their vast differences in the histories of migration and domestic service, their markets for foreign domestic workers share a number of critical similarities. Maher focuses particularly on common narratives about “the Mexican maid” and “la nana Peruana” …

Nathaniel H. Goetz, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
Abstract: When refugees seek out the protection of another country, they often wish to eventually return home. However the number of protracted refugee situations around the world is increasing. In addition, the needs of refugees caught in such unfortunate circumstances also change over time. While refugee camps seek to grant basic human rights and protections, refugees living in protracted situations experience much difficulty. One way to alleviate such problems is to provide refugees with a means of economic self-sufficiency and eventual social integration. This presentation looks at the causes, consequences, and responses to …

Philip Martin, The American Institute for Contemporary German Studies
Hans Dietrich von Loeffelholz, The American Institute for Contemporary German Studies
Thomas Straubhaar, The American …

Tanya Basok, University of Windsor
Abstract: According to several scholars, the emergence of supra-national human rights institutions have caused a fundamental shift from national citizenship (a nation-based notion of rights) to post-national citizenship )a more individual-based universal conception of rights based on an international human rights regime). The notion of “postnational citizenship” has been challenged by many researchers who have argued that universal principles of human rights cannot be implemented and enforced without the consent of nation-states. Although nation-states have demonstrated a certain degree of respect for universal principles, their commitment to the ideas of post-national citizenship are based on a …

Adrian Favell, University of California – Los Angeles
Abstract: Despite an economic union premised on free movement across Europe, population statistics consistently show that a very low percentage of Western Europeans migrate and settle permanently in other European countries. Middle class Europeans show a remarkable propensity to stay put in their native countries. One can only conclude that the European economic and social system functions in ways that scarcely resemble its founding principle of the free movement of peoples. This presentation reports on qualitative research in Brussels and Amsterdam which has sought to understand the choices, career trajectories, and personal problems …

Catherine Lee, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies and University of California – Los Angeles
Abstract: By examining the historical period from 1870-1920, this presentation will explore why most Chinese women were excluded from immigrating to the United States because they were assumed to be prostitutes while many Japanese women were allowed to immigrate as picture brides. Lee argues that the U.S. did not pass the Page Law of 1875 and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 or issue the Gentlemen’s Agreement in 1907 for geopolitical reasons alone, as some scholars have argued. Using archival evidence, she contends that attempts to resolve …

Kazuko Suzuki, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
Abstract: It is frequently acknowledged that the notion of ‘race’ is a socio-political construct that requires constant refurbishment. However, the process and consequences of racialization are less carefully explored. By examining the ideology about nationhood and colonial policies of the Japanese state in relation to Koreans, I will attempt to demonstrate why and how the Japanese state racialized its population. By so doing, I will argue that the state is deeply involved in racialization by fabricating and authorizing ‘differences’ and ‘similarities’ between the dominant and minority groups.
Working Paper #69»