Humanity's Last Stand: Anthropological Imagination by Mark Schuller

Author:Mark Schuller [Schuller, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sociology, Social Theory, Social Science, Commentary & Opinion, Political Science, Anthropology, Cultural & Social, Geopolitics, General
ISBN: 9781978820876
Google: IGpuzQEACAAJ
Goodreads: 52665971
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Published: 2021-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Uses of Immigration

Having an anthropological imagination allows us to see connections between specific local issues. As they develop, immigrant communities build social ties around anchoring institutions, such as the Catholic Church, the farmworkers union, a soccer club, and businesses ranging from restaurants to wire transfer services. Many immigrants build active ties within society at large, what Renato Rosaldo and Aihwa Ong each called “cultural citizenship.”44 Given the precarity of economic opportunities for immigrants, especially for undocumented workers, people’s social ties from back in their home communities influence their recruitment into the informal labor market, creating local diasporas. Anthropologists have long pointed out these transnational ties, what anthropologist Michel Laguerre called “diasporic citizenship.”45 For example, in addition to the remittances they send home, Haitian people living abroad have created dozens of “hometown associations,” supporting development projects in Haiti and maintaining social ties both “here” and “there” through Catholic patron saint festivals, fèt chanpèt.46

We can use our anthropological imagination to pluralize what a U.S. “culture” means and to celebrate the diversity within it. In addition, to confront the increasingly shrill attacks on immigrant communities, a holistic look is necessary, particularly to see the roots of immigration within the global economy.

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