Immigration, Community and Ethnic Diversity Pathways, Circuits and Crossroads: New Research on Population, Migration and Community Dynamics Wellington, New Zealand, June 9-11, 2008 Wei Li Associate Professor Asian Pacific American Studies Program School of Geographical Sciences Arizona State University P. O. Box 875503, Tempe, AZ 85287-5503, USA Tel. 480/727-6556; Fax 480/727-7911; Email: wei.li@asu.edu Fulbright Visiting Research Chair Department of Political Studies and Department of Geography Queen s University, Canada (2006-2007) 1
Outline of Presentation 1. Structural contexts: Changing contemporary Asian immigration; 2. Immigrant communities revisited: concepts and examples in the four major Pacific Rim immigrant receiving countries; 3. Diversity reconsidered: ethnic diversity and community 2
Changing Immigrant Settlement Immigrants are traditionally viewed as mostly uprooted manual laborers, often poorly educated with minimum job skills, along with their families seeking job opportunities. Their residential areas often take the form of ghettos and ethnic enclaves and are located in rundown neighborhoods, mostly inner cities. At the meantime, white middle-class families composed of a working dad, a stay-at-home mom and their children dominate the traditional suburbs in metropolitan areas, especially in North America. If racial minorities did achieve their dream of social and economic upward mobility by suburbanizing, they are expected to be, and likely are, spatially dispersed and socio-economically assimilated into the mainstream society. Such images belie reality as many suburban areas have transformed to multiethnic ones under the influence of international geopolitical and global economic restructuring, changing national immigration and trade policies, and local demographic, economic, and political contexts. Many new immigrants with higher educational attainment, professional occupations, and financial resources settled directly into the suburbs without ever having experienced life in the inner city. This is different from prior generations of immigrants, who initially settled in inner city neighborhoods and moved out to the suburbs only after they moved up socio-economically; or their dream achieved only by offspring. 3
Structural Contexts, US Immigration Policy and Immigrant Characteristics 4
Table 1. Employment-Based Immigrants FY World India China Philippines 2004 155,330 24.7% 12.6% 10.0% 2003 82,137 25.0% 11.0% 11.9% 2002 174,968 24.5% 14.3% 7.2% 2001 179,195 11.8% 15.8% 6.7% 2000 107,024 14.4% 16.0% 9.5% 1999 56,871 9.4% 12.8% 6.8% 1998 77,517 12.3% 15.5% 5.0% 1997 90,607 9.7% 18.9% 7.8% 1996 117,499 8.4% 18.8% 7.6% 1995 85,336 8.4% 21.0% 11.9% 1994 123,291 6.8% 31.6% 7.8% 1993 147,012 7.1% 32.6% n.a 1992 116,198 8.3% 19.1% n.a 5
Table 2. H1-B Non-Immigrant Visas FY World India China Philippines 2004 387,147 21.6% 4.3% 1.3% 2003 360,498 21.1% 3.9% 1.5% 2002 197,537 32.9% 10.2% 4.7% 2001 331,206 48.8% 10.7% 1.7% 2000 257,640 48.4% 11.7% 1.9% 1999 302,326 32.6% 4.3% 1.4% 1998 240,947 26.0% 10.4% 1.6% 1997 n.d n.d n.d n.d 1996 144,458 20.2% 3.6% n.a 1995 117,574 19.0% 3.6% n.a 1994 105,899 16.0% 3.1% n.a 1993 93,069 12.3% 3.5% n.a 1992 110,193 7.5% 3.1% n.a 6
Table 3 Consequences of Current Immigration Policies, Domestic Integration Policies and Immig Community Forms United States (quota system) Canada (point system) Australia (point system) New Zealand (point system) higher % of familyreunification visas Low family reunification Low family reunification Low family reunification Heavily rely on temp skilled migrants Step-wise migration process for temp migrants with guaranteed jobs prolonged period before citizenship: non-citizens can t vote or run for office Disfranchising temporary visa holders Large mig intake Least rely on temp skilled migrants Unmet lower-skill labor market w/temp mig workers program Recognizing dualcitizenship non-citizens can t vote or run for office Heavily rely on temp skilled migrants mig intake tying to labor market need higher % of business migrant intake Heavily rely on temp skilled migrants mig intake tying to labor mkt need Int l students as potential mig Recognizing dual-citizenship non-citizens can vote or run for office [w/restrictions] Assimilation /melting pot Enclave; ethnoburb; heterolocal Multiculturalism Enclave; ethnoburb; dispersed Multiculturalism Enclave; ethnoburb? dispersed Biculturalism cultural diversity ethnoburb? 7 dispersed
Settlement Forms: Concepts Enclaves are "neighborhoods or sections of a community whose key institutions and business enterprises owned and operated by members of an ethnic group cluster together. (Jaret 1991, 327) Newer Forms of Communities: Ethnoburbs (multiethnic suburbs) are suburban ethnic clusters of residential areas and business districts in large metropolitan areas. They are multiracial communities in which one ethnic minority group has a significant concentration, but does not necessarily comprise a majority. Ethnoburbs appear to be characterized by an extensive spatial form, and an internally stratified socio-economic structure. As open systems, they involve both racial and intra-ethnic class conflicts. Ethnoburbs function as a settlement type that replicates some features of an enclave, and those of a suburb lacking a specific minority identity, and thus co-exist along with, while differing from, traditional ethnic ghettos/enclaves in contemporary urban America. (Li 1998, 482) 8
Structural Contexts of Contemporary Ethnic Economy and Ethnoburbs modified from Light and Bonacich 1988, 427, fig. 5 9
heterolocal communities Heterolocalism (Zelinsky and Lee 1998; Zelinsky 2001) [highly-skilled] Immigrants are scattered across an urban area and remain largely invisible because there are few significant clustering in any particular communities. They connect with each other by social-cultural activities and may form on-line communities. There are many ethnic institutions and businesses, but not spatially concentrated either. Nor do they display visible markers that identify them as ethnic. The quintessential ethnic enclave (i.e. Little India) has yet to develop, and the immigrants have yet to create a cohesive and manifest political identity. (Li and Skop, 2007; Skop, forthcoming; Skop 10 and Li 2003)
Reasons for newer communities Suburbanization of native-born minorities may form smaller suburban clusters in large metropolitan areas Asian economic growth produce more middle- to upperclass and well-educated population, some of whom join immigrant waves Receiving country immigration policy recruits skilled and investor immigrants these immigrants have financial resources to land directly to suburbs and choose better housing and good school districts form heterolocal communities Then chain migration resulted in further ethnic agglomeration. When the population reaches a critical mass and immigrants become increasingly heterogeneous, residential concentrations materialize and a wider range of ethnic-specific businesses and professional services proliferate. A more complete ethnic institutional structure emerges, as does a more collective political voice ethnoburbs 11
Comparisons These three immigrant community forms share similarities: - Many now locate in suburbs; - They all can serve as immigrant gateways; But they also differ in many ways: One form of immigrant community may evolve to another, depending on immigrant population s absolute and relative size, internal diversity, local reactions and public policies heterolocal communities (open system) Small minority; Ethnoburb (daily contact between groups; open system) Maybe 'majority minority' Enclave ( exotic ; inward looking) Immigrant majority Dispersed; can be large in scale Relatively homogeneous Relatively concentrated Likely large in scale heterogeneous highly concentrated; likely small in scale Either homogenous or 12 heterogeneous
Commercial Enclave: N Virginia Vietnamese commercial enclave in the suburb of Washington DC Revitalization of a previously declining mainstream shopping center in the middle of residential district since 1980s No residential concentration of Vietnamese in surrounding area a heterolocal community - Wood (1997 and 2006) 13
Phoenix, Arizona Silicon Desert : increasingly knowledge-based economy From a heterolocal community Ethnoburb? Secondary migration from California or settle directly to phoenix 14
Toronto: Enclaves and Ethnoburbs Largest immigrant gateway in Canada Historical and contemporary Chinatowns Classic ethnic enclaves & ethnoburbs Influx of Hong Kong immigrants and investment (Li, P. 1998; Lo 2006) 15
Cabramatta: Ethnoburb in Sydney? No large immigrant settlement prior to influx of Vietnam War refugees Changing commercial and residential landscape as result of such influx Serve as a tourist attraction (Dunn 1998; Dunn and Roberts 2006) 16
New Zealand Reflections The closest New Zealand example of an ethnoburb is a suburb in Auckland, Otara, which comprises a mix of state-owned public and low cost owneroccupied housing, and which is marketing itself as New Zealand's Pacific 'heart'. (Bedford, Macpherson & Spoonley, 2000, 22) The diversity of the populations in this area has led to our assessment of Sandringham as a classic example of an ethnoburb (Friesen, Murphy, and Kearns 2005, 394) Chinese in Auckland: historical development and contemporary pattern (Ho and Bedford 2006) Asian immigrants ethnoburb and Pacific populations enclave (Johnston, Poulsen, and Forrest 17 2008)
Diversity & Community in the 21st Century Ethnic diversity is increasing in most advanced countries, driven mostly by sharp increases in immigration. Contact theory; Conflict theory; Constrict theory In the short run, however, immigration and ethnic diversity tend to reduce social solidarity and social capital. New evidence from the US suggests that in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods residents of all races 18 tend to hunker down. Trust (even of one s own race) is lower, altruism and community cooperation rarer, friends fewer.
Diversity & Community in the 21st Century In the long run, however, successful immigrant societies have overcome such fragmentation by creating new, cross-cutting forms of social solidarity and more encompassing identities. (Putnam 2007, p137) 19
Concluding Remarks Silicon Valley as a harbinger for successful immigrant societies? influx of highly-skilled and politically active immigrants; interracial collaboration; and transnational connections; Issues/challenges as result of rapid demographic, socio-economic changes in society and local communities; Immigrant institutions as way of getting in and integral components of integration Changing mentality from tolerance of differences to a multiculturalism of equality and power sharing including immigrant political integration, in addition to economic and social integration 20
Thank you, People in Kiwiland! Questions and Comments? Your feedback and suggestions are greatly appreciated! 21