http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification 720 https://escholarship.org/uc/issr_volume4/rss Recent eScholarship items from Volume IV. 1988-89 - Conference on Comparative Ethnicity: The Conference Papers, June 1988 Thu, 10 Sep 2026 18:36:52 +0000 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8927m6mp <p>A central question for theory and policy is whether the formation and expansion of informal sectors in advanced industrialized countries is the result of conditions created by advanced capitalism. Rather than assume that Third World immigration is causing informalization, we need a critical examination of the role it may or may not play in this process. Immigrants, in so far as they tend to form communities, may be in a favorable position to seize the opportunities represented by informalization. But the opportunities are not necessarily created by immigrants. They may well be a structured outcome of current trends in the advanced industrialized economies. Similarly, what are perceived as backward sectors of the economy may or may not be remnants from an earlier phase of industrialization; they may well represent a downgrading of work involving growing sectors of the economy. This type of inquiry requires an analytical differentiation of immigration, informalization and characteristics... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8927m6mp Mon, 15 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Sassen, Saskia https://escholarship.org/uc/item/85b0z47f <p>If we consider Marx an economist, then Weber and Simmel were the first major sociologists to devote considerable attention to the causes and consequences of the economic behavior of religious and ethnic groups. As is known, one of Weber's major interests was the part played by different religious groups in the development of rational capitalism in the West (Weber 1958). Weber concluded that adherents of Calvinism and other Protestant sects were possessed of a worldly asceticism which was highly consonant with the requirements of modern capitalism. Elsewhere, Weber pondered a related issue, to wit, why "no modern and distinctively industrial bourgeoisie of any significance emerged among the Jews" (1964, p. 249). Weber's answer adduced, among other things, that a serious study of Jewish law was more compatible with such pursuits as moneylending and that the institution... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/85b0z47f Mon, 15 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Cobas, Jose A. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6s3927f4 <p>To understand the patterns and possible consequences of Latino suburbanization, it is necessary to comprehend the historical demographic processes which have resulted in this centralization (urbanization) and decentralization (intra-metropolitan dispersion). This paper will describe these processes, discuss their distinctiveness, and finally, consider the implications which point to a concurrent process for Latinos in Los Angeles of "traditional" suburbanization and new barrio formation.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6s3927f4 Mon, 15 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Estrada, Leobardo F. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6913h259 <p>This paper will focus on two elements of the expanded version of the assimilation model: acculturation and residential segregation. If, as Gordon has postulated, acculturation is a precursor to other forms of assimilation, there should be a statistically significant association between acculturation and segregation. Specifically, minority groups that measure high on acculturation should be less segregated from the dominant population than groups that score low on acculturation</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6913h259 Mon, 15 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Langberg, Mark Farley, Reynolds https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5gc241zw <p>The exponential growth in selected Sunbelt cities since 1960 is now well documented, and metropolitan Miami is recognized as one of the acknowledged targets of Sunbelt growth and development. What is less often acknowledged, is the impact of the transformation of such places on segments of the residential population. In this paper, primary attention will be directed at two subpopulations -- Blacks and Cubans residing in metropolitan Miami just prior to the takeoff era. At the time of takeoff, Blacks represented a quasi-caste population whose role in the Miami economy was typical of that of Blacks in the economy of the urban South, a peripheral one. Cubans, on the other hand, were just beginning to enter the metropolitan economy in substantial numbers and the first wave of migrants from Cuba had yet to make its impact felt. After the passage of almost a generation it is fitting to examine... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5gc241zw Mon, 15 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Rose, Harold M. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5c83023b <p>The major thesis of this paper is that the lower socioeconomic status of Blacks compared to Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans is due primarily to greater racial' discrimination against Blacks in housing. A critical result of this housing discrimination is reduced employment opportunities. Discrimination by Whites against the four racial/ethnic minority groups occurs along a continuum. Asians experience the least housing discrimination and as a consequence have greater employment opportunities. The level of discrimination increases from Asian to Hispanic[1] to Native American to Black.</p><p>The effect of such discrimination in housing is manifest in the varying degrees of minority group residential segregation and suburbanization. The differential patterns of residential segregation and suburbanization are related to the educational and employment opportunities available. These... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5c83023b Mon, 15 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Darden, Joe T. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/56q3d310 <p>This paper examines the status of Mexican labor in Los Angeles since 1970, the period of extraordinary growth. Historically, mexican workers were an integral but subordinate part of the Southwest in general (Briggs, Fogel and Schmidt 1977; Barrera 1987) and Los Angeles in particular (Romo 1983), but it is only recently that they have reemerged as a major component of the region's labor force. Approximately one in four workers in Los Angeles is now Mexican. This study analyzes both the immigrant workers, whose economic plight has been highly publicized, and the American-born Mexicans, the Chicanos, who had until recently constituted the majority of the Mexican labor force. Although the typical Mexican worker is at the bottom of the economy, the group... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/56q3d310 Mon, 15 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Ong, Paul M. Morales, Rebecca https://escholarship.org/uc/item/00d9q2b2 <p>Published government statistics and social science research have documented employment trends for the 1960-1980 period. During the 1960s, the percentage of Black, White, and other men who worked full-year (48 or more weeks per year) increased, and the gap between Blacks and Whites, and Whites and others narrowed (Smith and Welch 1986; Sandefur and Pahari 1987). This improvement did not continue in the 1970s, however, and the percentage of Black, White and other men who worked full-year declined while the percentage who worked none at all increased. Further, the gap in the employment of Whites and Blacks increased.</p><p>Most observers attribute the gains of the 1960s to economic growth and to improvements in the average level of education of minority group members (Smith and Welch 1986). The 1970s, on the other hand, was a period of inflation, recessions, and little growth in jobs. In addition, the ranks of those seeking employment increased with the coming of age of the baby... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/00d9q2b2 Mon, 15 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Sandefur, Gary D. Powers, Dan https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9j54d99v <p>In the past decade there has been a growing literature focused on explaining the patterns of residential separation in U.S. metropolitan areas. The research of two decades ago which focused on the locational structure of the mono-centric city represented by studies by Alonso (1964), Mills (1967), Muth (1969) and Wingo (1961) was mostly concerned with the way in which land uses as a whole are structured in the city. There was much less attention directed to the issues of residential separation, especially the separation of ethnic areas within metropolitan areas.</p><p>In the last dozen years at least three research streams have developed to explore the issue of residential patterning and neighborhood change. One of these streams considers neighborhood change as the outcome of a set of exogenous factors such as income, population growth, changing job locations and housing change.</p><p>A second research stream also includes... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9j54d99v Thu, 11 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Clark, William A.V. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/46q6n80r <p>The papers which comprise this volume were produced by a group of these nationally known scholars who are engaged in research on comparative aspects of ethnicity and ethnic group behavior. Organized around a series of themes which run through the extant comparative ethnicity literature and which reflect the expertise and current research foci of the conference presenters, the volume is divided into five parts</p><p>Part I addresses issues related to "Ethnic Assimilation, Segregation, and Neighborhood Change."</p><p>Part II of the volume addresses issues related to labor markets and entrepreneurship.</p><p>Part III of this volume addresses issues related to ethnic political and electoral behavior.</p><p>Part IV of this volume focuses on racial/ethnic issues in higher education.</p><p>Part V of the... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/46q6n80r Thu, 11 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Johnson, James H., Jr. Oliver, Melvin L. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9g79s82x <p>This paper offers one small but dramatic example of grassroots responses to urban restructuring. It is a case study of the politics of ethnicity and growth in Monterey Park, North America's first suburban Chinatown. Evolving after World War II from a predominantly white, middle class suburb into a multi-ethnic city, today Monterey Park has the highest concentration of Asians of any city in the United States.</p><p>Our research addresses two issues: (1) the development of the politics of growth and ethnicity in a multi-ethnic,middle class suburb undergoing rapid demographic and economic change as a result of the rapid influx of Asian people and capital; (2) the role and stands taken by new Asian immigrants and established residents -- Latinos, Asian-Americans, and Anglos --in the struggle for ethnic representation and local control over land use, space, language,and the very definition of community.</p><p>This paper focuses specifically on the ethnic actors and political currents... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9g79s82x Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Horton, John https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9353344c <p>In the introduction to this volume, Johnson and Oliver (1988) discuss the importance of exploring questions of ethnicity and ethnic group behavior in a comparative context and highlight a specific set of "ethnic dilemmas" requiring immediate attention and remediation. Answers to the types of comparative ethnic questions they raised would ideally require the collection of primary data via large scale social surveys. Because the design and conduct of a social survey is a time consuming and costly undertaking, especially for the lone researcher, social scientists have traditionally attempted to circumvent the problem by undertaking secondary analysis of previously conducted surveys. Given this longstanding research tradition, Stephenson (1988) has compiled an INDEX OF MACHINE-READABLE DATA FILES FOR USE IN COMPARATIVE ETHNIC RESEARCH. The index contains references to UCLA's holdings of surveys, public opinion polls, and both historical and current enumerative data. It will be... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9353344c Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Stephenson, Elizabeth https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8wt0s6zw <p>Immigration into the U.S. from countries in Latin and Asia is rapidly changing the ethnic and demographic composition of American cities. In Los Angeles alone, the Hispanic 1 population grew from 18 percent of the city's total population in 1970 to 28 percent in 1980. The Asian population, while smaller in total size, rose from 5 percent in 1970 to 7 percent in 1980. As the new wave of immigrants grows in size, much attention in both the academic community as well as the mass public is being devoted to their impact on the social and political composition of the communities in which they reside.</p><p>In terms of political development, the new wave immigrants pose new questions for research on ethnic politics. Most salient of these are the following: what form of political empowerment will take place in these ethnic communities? How adequate is the political assimilation model posed by Robert Dahl (1961) or the political incorporation model posed by Browning, Tabb and Marshall... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8wt0s6zw Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Jackson, Bryan O. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8sf2r8w6 <p>In this paper I examine the conditions under which racial and ethnic groups in America express their group identities through political action. Toward this end, I review first the socio-economic status model of political and electoral participation. In the discussion of this model, I open up for consideration the much broader range of types of political participation possible in society. I then hypothesize that there are an enormous variety of stimuli possible which provoke group based electoral and political behavior, and based on the political participation model -- an alternative model introduced in Race and Ethnicity in Chicago Politics (Pinderhughes 1987) -- briefly discuss some of the factors which explain their existence. Finally, using Black political behavior as an example, I specify some of the ways in which extensive group based political mobilization has occurred in the U.S.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8sf2r8w6 Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Pinderhughes, Dianne M. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8rm703tr <p>In this paper I attempt to crystalize a number of issues which pertain to the economic roles of women in peripheral areas of the world. To accomplish this goal, I draw on my own ethnographic field research among the Basotho women of southern Africa and the Navajo women of the American Southwest. The comparative analysis of women's economic roles in these two non-contiguous regions is guided by and incorporates several dimensions of world system theory. More specifically, included in the analysis are considerations of the interrelationship among, core, periphery, and semi periphery; and the intersection of class, ethnicity, and gender in the functioning of the economic systems of these two societies.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8rm703tr Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Harris, Betty J. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8jg8r8zz <p>In this essay we identify some of the salient policies raised by the Conference on Comparative Ethnicity participants and assess the policy implications of the academic debates that dominated the conference. These observations draw upon both the paper presentations and the final session of the conference in which some of the participants discussed issues of importance to social policy and outlined the parameters of an emerging research agenda. Because the analytical focus and level of analysis has much to do with the types of inquiries that are pursued and the nature of the policies that are proposed, we focus here on ethnic group behavior, ethnic group interaction, and on the institutional context in which both behavior and interaction occur. It is within these domains that we can identify the salient policy issues of comparative ethnic significance.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8jg8r8zz Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Oliver, Melvin O. Johnson, James H., Jr. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/87v8r6z2 <p>This paper examines the assimilation of American Indians, specifically in relation to the role that economic discrimination has played in making American Indians one of the poorest groups in American society. The relationship between assimilation and discrimination is particularly important in this context. As assimilation increases, discrimination should decrease and the economic position of the assimilated group, American Indians, should improve. Conversely, those groups least assimilated into American society bear the brunt of racial and ethnic discrimination, and their economic position should be correspondingly lower than more assimilated minorities.</p><p>American Indians are a particularly interesting group among whom to examine these ideas. This is because it is possible to identify, in empirical data,distinct groups of persons with American Indian background that are more or less assimilated into American society. In studying the ways in which assimilation and discrimination... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/87v8r6z2 Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Snipp, C. Matthew https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6bc3v3p8 <p>The primary purposes of this paper are: (1) to examine some of the recent changes in admission patterns and policies among some of the most prestigious institutions of higher education, especially recent moves away from strict meritocratic criteria to increasing reliance on subjective and non-academic criteria and on an emerging, but vaguely defined concept of "diversity," and (2) to determine the implications of these changes not only on the admissions and enrollments of Asian American students in these institutions but also on the time-honored principle of meritocracy upon which these so-called world-class universities have built their reputation of academic excellence. The scope of this study is severely limited by the closely guarded data and documents available to date as well as by the fact that the issue is complex and still unfolding. As a consequence, this study should therefore be considered a contribution to an ongoing public policy debate and its conclusions considered... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6bc3v3p8 Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Wang, L. Ling-Chi https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5bn201sg <p>The purpose of this essay is to discuss the impacts of ethnicity in the politics of the contemporary American city. The importance of ethnicity is seen as derivative of the structure of local politics in the United States and the processes which have resulted in the establishment and maintenance of ethnic identities and communities in American cities. As such, the paper is intended to provide a context for the remaining papers in this session which focus on the recent political behavior of specific ethnic groups in particular cities.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5bn201sg Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Shelley, Fred M. Jablonsky, Thomas J. Harris, Betty J. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4hw7c4qt <p>It is hardly debatable that race and ethnicity play a critical role in American society and politics (Myrdal 1944; Dahl 1972). Even in the face of myriad civil rights laws at the state, local, and federal levels, racial and ethnic inequalities persist (Wilson 1987). This condition is compounded by the fact that America is undergoing significant changes in terms of its ethnic and racial composition (Glazer 1985; Kitano and Daniels 1988). Recent estimates suggest that non-Hispanic Whites will cease to be a numerical majority sometime in the early 21st century and that the state of California is at the forefront of this trend (Bouvier and Gardener 1986).</p><p>One of the more fundamental questions about the dynamics of ethnic diversity concerns its impact on American politics. Social scientists have tended to concentrate on the behavioral aspects between and among the various American racial and ethnic groups.Thus there is ample literature on Black political participation (Browning,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4hw7c4qt Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Gilliam, Franklin D., Jr. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/498361pz <p>This paper focuses on educational mobility, particularly racial or ethnic minority group access to institutions of higher learning in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In America education determines opportunities for jobs and income, and therefore is the principal avenue through which the tremendous inequalities among groups in the population can be reconciled. If all people have equal access to education, then the present racial or ethnic group based inequalities will not persist. To the extent that inequalities would continue to exist, they would not be based on race or ethnicity but increasingly on actual differences in merit. If, on the other hand, the opposite were true, that is, there was no equal opportunity for schooling and discrimination persisted even when non-Whites dedicated themselves to education, then the idea of equal opportunity would give way to questions about the legitimacy of the entire system. Instead of offering a genuine chance, the educational process... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/498361pz Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Orfield, Gary https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2dr328b6 <p>In reaction to current emphasis upon internal, supply-side causes, some entrepreneurship researchers have recommended a balancing stress upon the neglected demand-side. Thus, Waldinger, Ward and Aldrich (1985, p. 589) observe that a "common objection to cultural analysis" is its lack of attention to "the economic environment in which immigrant entrepreneurs function." Instead of this lop-sided treatment, they recommend "an interactive approach" which looks at the "congruence between the demands of the economic environment and the informal resources of the ethnic population."Since they wrote, this reaction has achieved the strength of a movement of thought in the entrepreneurship literature (see Morokvasic, Phizacklea, and Waldinger, 1987, p. 6). In principle, a compensatory reaction to cultural analysis is appropriate as a complete explanation of immigrant or ethnic entrepreneurship demands attention to both the demand side and the supply side. Lop-sided explanations must be... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2dr328b6 Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Light, Ivan https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1h1973qp <p>In this paper I will focus on changes between the 1950s and 1970s. Our data are drawn from a sample of men and women (157 persons in all) who were members of two major East Los Angeles gangs during their adolescence. Few researchers have considered gangs as long-lasting or quasi-institutionalized groups, but when we consider the differences between the two cohorts in family characteristics, behavior and values, at least three distinct interpretations are possible.</p><p>First, since the earlier gang members were largely children of Mexican immigrants and the parents of later members were born in the United States, we would expect the older cliques to be more "Mexican" and the younger, more acculturated. To some extent this also implies that the more 'Mexican' families may be more likely to be traditional.The younger ones may be more likely to be disorganized.</p><p>Second, it might be argued that the gang is a 'deviant," and hence socially isolated group,with its own subculture.... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1h1973qp Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Moore, Joan https://escholarship.org/uc/item/14m3n2pm <p>Accounts of the economic circumstances of various population subgroups since 1960 indicate increased inequality between majority and selected minority populations, and increased polarization within these minority populations (see Wilson 1987; Farley 1984; Allen and Farley 1986; Hirschman 1988; Hernandez 1983). Specifically, recent studies reveal that the Black-White gap in unemployment (in both absolute and relative terms) has increased, and levels of labor force nonparticipation rose, with the latter appearing to be almost entirely a minority phenomenon (Hirschman 1988; Allen and Farley 1986; Lichter 1988). This paper continues this line of research via analyses of trends in employment and an assessment of the effect of migration on employment among Blacks, Cubans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and non-Hispanic White Americans. Specifically, the questions we wish to address are whether the level of employment of these groups changed since 1965 and whether migrating between 1975... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/14m3n2pm Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Wilson, Franklin D. Tienda, Marta https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0mq0r5d6 <p>In recent years,there has been a resurgence of racial/ethnic conflict at predominantly White institutions of higher education. Incidents of harassment and violence at the University of Michigan, the University of Massachusetts and other campuses have highlighted the continuing racial/ethnic divisions among majority and minority students (Wilkerson 1988; Farrell 1988a and 1988b; Simpson 1987; Williams 1987). These incidents have emerged during a period when the society, in general, has expressed concern about the declining enrollment of racial minorities -- particularly Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans -- and, to a lesser extent, Asians, in higher education. Therefore, it is ironic that those minority students already enrolled in predominantly White institutions of higher education are experiencing increasing levels of racial/ethnic discrimination and feelings of isolation.</p><p>To that end, this paper is a preliminary attempt to develop a perspective on this apparently... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0mq0r5d6 Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Farrell, Walter C., Jr. Jones, Cloyzelle K. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0925b15p <p>For several decades an argument has raged over the determinants of minority mobility. This paper reviews competing theses in this argument. It then relates hypotheses deriving from the competing theses to empirical findings on West Indians and the Chinese population of Los Angeles County.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0925b15p Wed, 10 Jul 2002 00:00:00 +0000 Arnold, Faye W.