Multiculturalism in the United States: A Comparative Guide to Acculturation and Ethnicity

(, 2nd edition)

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Discusses how American culture has been shaped by and has affected immigrants Interest in ethnic studies and multiculturalism has grown considerably in the 12 years since the publication of the first edition of this work. Co-editors Ratner and Buenker have revised and updated their work to reflect the changes, patterns, and shifts in immigration, showing how American culture affects them and is affected by them. Common topics that helped determine the degree and pace of acculturation for each ethnic group are addressed in each of the 17 essays, providing the reader with a comparative reference tool. Seven new ethnic groups are included: Arabs, Haitians, Vietnamese, Koreans, Filipinos, Asian Indians, and Dominicans. New essays on the Irish, Chinese, and Mexicans are provided as are revised and updated essays on the remaining groups from the first edition. The contribution to American culture by people of these diverse origins reflects differences in class, occupation, and religion. The authors explain the tensions and conflicts between American culture and the traditions of newly arrived immigrants. Changes over time within both the cultures brought to America and the host culture are also discussed. Essays on representative ethnic groups include African Americans, American Indians, Arabs, Asian Indians, Chinese, Dominicans, Filipinos, Germans, Haitians, Irish, Italians, Jewish, Koreans, Mexicans, Polish, Scandinavians, and the Vietnamese. Updated and expanded edition of a successful work by the same authors Includes additional ethnic groups

Reviews

Each of the essays is well documented and includes a very solid bibliographic essay of three to five pages. The final chapter is an extensive bibliographic essay on ethnicity and acculturation. The index is reasonably useful too. The essays will be sufficient for lower-level undergraduates; upper-level undergraduates and graduate students will find the bibliographic essays excellent springboards for further research. Recommended. All academic levels/libraries. * Choice *
The bibliographical essays that accompany all the chapters, whether they adhere to ethnographic, historical or cultural studies approaches, help ensure that editorial aims about understanding the diversity and similarities between various ethnic groups are fulfilled. This second edition of Multiculturalism provides scholars in ethnic studies and related fields with an excellent point of departure for further study. Overall, it is a valuable reference guide to multicultural America. * Journal of American Studies *
[C]omprehensive in scope and contemporary in scholarship. * Catholic Library World *
This new edition is an excellent reference tool for high school and undergraduate students. A collection of engaging essays shows how changes in American society (such as wars, the rise in nativism, or the expansion of certain industries) affect immigration patterns, and how the immigrants have in turn influences the broader culture.[i]n-depth introduction. * Multicultural Review *
Twenty American academics, historians, and librarians contribute 18 chapters to a comparative reference text covering 17 of the major ethnic groups from Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin American that have populated the U.S. over the past two centuries. The new edition has been revised throughout, and substantially expanded to include essays on seven groups not covered in the first edition: Arabs, Asian Indians, Dominicans, Filipinos, Haitians, Koreans, and Vietnamese.Academic but accessible to the general reader. * Reference & Research Book News *
[P]rovides a starting point for beginning students of race, immigration, or United States culture, in supplying succinct chapters on a sampling of the country's ethnic populations. * Ethnic & Racial Studies *
[S]hould be very helpful for teachers and AP classes in social studies. * Gale Reference for Students *
An outstanding college-level reference. * MBR Bookwatch *

Author Bio

JOHN D. BUENKER is a Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. LORMAN A. RATNER is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.