Zusatztext "Brettell and Reed-Danahay have written a thoughtful and enlightening book based on detailed ethnographic research in one of America's new immigrant gateways. Through wonderfully rich case studies and careful analysis! Civic Engagements provides important insights into how Vietnamese and Indian immigrants are learning to become American while also maintaining strong ethnic identities." Informationen zum Autor Caroline B. Brettell is Professor of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University. Deborah Reed-Danahay is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for European Studies (CEUS) at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Klappentext This work examines how Indian and Vietnamese immigrants in the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth area of Texas learn and practice civic engagement. Zusammenfassung This work examines how Indian and Vietnamese immigrants in the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth area of Texas learn and practice civic engagement.

Autorentext
Caroline B. Brettell is Professor of Anthropology at Southern Methodist University. Deborah Reed-Danahay is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for European Studies (CEUS) at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York.

Klappentext

This work examines how Indian and Vietnamese immigrants in the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth area of Texas learn and practice civic engagement.

Zusammenfassung

For refugees and immigrants in the United States, expressions of citizenship and belonging emerge not only during the naturalization process but also during more informal, everyday activities in the community. Based on research in the DallasArlingtonFort Worth area of Texas, this book examines the sociocultural spaces in which Vietnamese and Indian immigrants are engaging with the wider civic sphere.

As Civic Engagements reveals, religious and ethnic organizations provide arenas in which immigrants develop their own ways of being and becoming "American." Skills honed at a meeting, festival, or banquet have resounding implications for the future political potential of these immigrant populations, both locally and nationally. Employing Lave and Wenger's concept of "communities of practice" as a framework, this book emphasizes the variety of processes by which new citizens acquire the civic and leadership skills that help them to move from peripheral positions to more central roles in American society.