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This paper argues that following the 2015 refugee "crisis," German media and political discourse has shied away from assimilatory practices for refugees and asylum-seekers, reverting towards a differentialist model of national belonging as outlined by Brubaker (2001). This new phase of exclusion and boundary-drawing is increasingly negotiated and discussed by way of health paradigms, denying refugees and asylum-seekers equitable access to care and sustainable livelihoods upon resettlement. Bridging the gap between sociological theories of immigrant assimilation in the German context and empirical studies of social determinants of refugee health, this paper breaks down "health as citizenship" into four dimensions--sense of belonging (do health institutions promote or limit social cohesion, and do they impart social or cultural meaning), legal status (who is "entitled" to provisional care), rights (what "contract" exists between the refugee and the state), and participation (is healthcare a "privilege," and does it allow for exclusion based on migration background)--in doing so, this paper addresses what limitations remain for refugees' access to health in the German context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Will the level of immigrants' transnational ties with their home countries ultimately decrease as they assimilate to the host society? This paper examines how immigrants' cultural transnational ties have changed over time and whether it is associated with their cultural assimilation. The first and second round of New Immigrant Survey (NIS), which contain responses from firstgeneration immigrants who became permanent residents in the years 2003 and 2004 were included in the analyses. Immigrants' level of cultural transnational ties were measured in three different ways: the frequency of reading newspapers, hours of watching TV, and hours of listening to the radio in their native language. The findings of this paper show that immigrants' cultural transnational ties with the home country have a U-shape; it decreases from pre-migration to the year of becoming permanent residents, but recovers about 5 years later. The analyses of logistic regression suggest that immigrants' cultural assimilation (hours spent consuming English-language newspapers, TV, and radio) is positively associated with their cultural transnational ties. On the other hand, immigrants' general assimilation, such as English proficiency and years in the U.S., were negatively associated with their cultural transnational ties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper challenges the idea - rooted in classic assimilation theory - that intermarriage clearly erodes social and ethno-racial boundaries and negative attitudes between groups. Drawing on narratives from 58 immigrants of seven different origin countries residing in Catalonia, Spain, who are in romantic partnerships with Spanish-born people, we focus on preferences and prejudices related to mixing. We find that the members of exogamous couples both suffer social discrimination regarding the crossing of ethnocultural borders, particularly from their respective family members - a rejection that is based on negative stereotypes and preconceptions linked to the partner's origin, phenotype or ethnocultural characteristics, such as religion, in intersection with gender. More significantly, we also find that ethno-racial prejudices (particularly when referring to marriage preferences for the respondents and their children) and discriminatory attitudes (towards one's own and other immigrant minority groups) also exist among intermarried couples themselves. In sum, we question the role of mixed unions as a diluter of differences and an accelerator of integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, scholars and policy makers have expected indigenous ethnicity in Mexico to gradually fade away due to cultural assimilation. Nevertheless, in 2010, the percentage of Mexicans who identified as indigenous in the Census more than doubled going from 6% to 15% between 2000 and 2010, a net gain of more than 11 million new indigenous people. This rise in indigenous identification seemingly challenges long-held views that indigenous ethnicity in Mexico was destined to fade away. Though the reasons behind this unexpected demographic phenomenon have been widely debated, no satisfactory explanation has been produced. We conduct the first systematic analysis to explain it. We rely on census data and two original nationally representative survey experiments. We test five hypotheses that could explain this unexpected "ethnic explosion." We find that natural demographic processes are insufficient to explain it. Instead, changes in the phrasing of the identity question used by the Mexican Census in 2010 were largely responsible for such dramatic increase. These wording changes redefined indigenous identity in ways that made it more appealing to more Mexicans through two mechanisms: (1) avoidance of essentialist language (essentialism) and (2) by not treating indigeneity as a collective condition (groupness). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary assimilation theory continues to focus on immigrant groups reaching socioeconomic parity with whites as an indication that immigrants are integrating into the U.S. mainstream. In the case of Asian Americans, assimilation scholars contend that socioeconomic parity has been reached or is close to being reached. However, this claim coupled with the model minority image of Asian Americans as educated, hard-working, and well-adjusted to the U.S. mainstream discounts several negative elements of assimilation that prevent Asian Americans from reaching parity with whites on several important, non-socioeconomic measures. The current study attempts to rectify this by specifying a model that assesses the effects of perceived discrimination, ethnic relations, political participation, language acquisition, and identity formation on first- and second-generation Asian American's socioeconomic attainment. Using data from the Kinder Houston Area Survey, I test the effects of racialized measures of assimilation using an OLS multiple regression model. Results indicate that these measures, specifically ethnic relations, partly play a role in second generation Asian Americans' socioeconomic attainment, as perceiving ethnic relations as positive was associated with significant and substantial income gains for the sample. These findings highlight differential paths to assimilation in an immigrant population that is overwhelmingly thought to assimilate upwardly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South-South migration has replaced traditional migration routes to become the mainstream migration direction of the world. Yet so little is known about this new migration pattern. Neither do we know how well the migration scholarship--based on migration to North American and Europe--can explain migrants to the South. The recent immigration from China to Africa is a great opportunity to study this phenomenon. Based on a pioneering survey of 624 Chinese immigrants in Zambia, this study tests the application of the assimilation theory to this diaspora. Statistical results show that Chinese with higher English language skills report higher levels of assimilation, but those with local Zambian language skills do not report a higher tendency of assimilation. Education is positively correlated with assimilation, as predicted by the assimilation theory, but ownership of company, considered an indicator of income, does not predict assimilation. This study shows that while two commonly accepted indicators of assimilation theory applies to Chinese immigration in Zambia, the third indicator has failed. This research probes for further study on migration to the south to seek further understanding of this new phenomenon and has the potential to extend and change migration theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focused on college completion or higher among Asian American population and the effect of English proficiency and other Asian languages spoken at home. Whether speaking English "well" or "not well" influences individual's educational attainment. Assimilation theory and social capital theory were utilized. Data utilized form IPUMS 2011, examine six Asian ethnic languages, English proficiency, education, employment status, multigenerational, family formation, income, age, and sex among Asian Americans. Findings show overall English proficiency are statistically significant at the .001 level that Asians who speak English only, "very-well, "well", and "not well" are more likely to obtain a college degree. Future implications will examine ethnic behaviors and migration patterns on educational attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rich literature documents the negative association between a dark skin tone and many dimensions of U.S.-born Americans' life chances. Despite the importance of both skin tone and immigration in the American experience, few studies explore the effect of skin tone on immigrant incorporation, much less longitudinally. I analyze data from the new immigrant survey (NIS) 2003 to examine how skin tone is associated with occupational achievement at three time points: the last job held abroad, the first job held in the U.S. and the current job. While I find no association between dark skin tone and occupational status in the job held before immigration, there is a negative association at both time points after immigration to the U.S., net of human and social capital, race/ethnicity, country of origin, gender, and age. Dark-skinned immigrants experience steeper downward mobility at arrival to the U.S. but slower subsequent upward mobility relative to light-skinned immigrants. These findings shed light on multiple current literatures, including "segmented assimilation," cultural narratives of assimilation, and multidimensionality of race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What accounts for choices in cross-cultural naming? What does the use of foreign names reveal about global identities and the desire to fit into a new culture - or not? We examine how international students in a globalized world present their self through naming practices. In particular, we investigate the micro-processes of how Chinese students in American universities adopt and use English names. Drawing on 25 semi-structured interviews with Mainland Chinese students enrolled in an elite Midwestern university, we argue that cross-cultural naming is a set of situated practices that involves three processes by which overseas Chinese students attempt to fit into their new environment. First, building on salient meanings they assign to English names, Chinese students pursue distinctiveness by selecting English names that 1) fit their personalities, 2) differentiate themselves from others, or 3) project an imagined self. Second, Chinese students vary the use of names across social groups and settings, according to both relational intimacy and the relations among their names. Third, power relations embedded in cultural assimilation shape how Chinese students perceive the necessity of taking English names and the authenticity of the self; for these students, names involve a process of negotiation between two cultures, constituting identities that travel between East and West. This multi-dimensional approach to naming practices sheds light on the complex processes of identity construction and presentation in the globalized world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]