A transnational amendment to assimilation theory: country of origin’s racial status versus transnational Whiteness
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: In the twentieth century, European migrants’ ethnic and racial status changed as they joined the mainstream. Assimilation theory identified socioeconomic mobility as the driver of this outcome. More recently, non-European migrants have also achieved socioeconomic parity with the mainstream. Yet, a puzzle has emerged: unlike earlier European migrants these non-Europeans remain “racialized”. They are both a part of, and excluded from, the majority group. This paper proffers a transnational amendment to assimilation theory. While socioeconomic parity matters so too does the similarity between the imagined racial status of the origin and host country. Groups originating from geographies that are imagined as outside of transnational Whiteness remain a “racial minority”. Groups originating from geographies that are imagined as within transnational Whiteness are already White and, thereby, assimilated. To delineate this transnational approach to assimilation and inclusion, we provide examples from Europeans’ and non-Europeans’ assimilation trajectories.
Source: Ethnic and Racial Studies
Authors: Aryan Karimi, Rima Wilkes
Institution: University of British Columbia
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4321370703