title: Assimilation and its discontents: between rhetoric and reality.
abstract: "It is in [the] conceptual interstices between theory, rhetoric, and reality that paradoxes (or at least what may appear as paradoxes) emerge. By focusing on paradoxes--on evidence that contradicts orthodox expectations and points instead to assimilation's discontents--the aim of this article is to test empirically the conception of assimilation as a linear process leading to improvements in immigrant outcomes over time and generation in the United States, to unmask underlying pre-theoretical ethnocentric pretensions, and to identify areas in need of conceptual, analytical and theoretical refinement. It is precisely through the examination of paradoxical cases--in effect, deviant case analyses--that fruitful reformulations can be stimulated, considered, and advanced."
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Rumbaut
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000569:Americas; D003469:Culture; D003710:Demography; D019049:Developed Countries; D004467:Economics; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005006:Ethnicity; D005191:Family Characteristics; D009656:North America; D011153:Population; D011154:Population Characteristics; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012922:Social Change; D012923:Social Class; D012937:Social Mobility; D012942:Social Sciences; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States
keywords: Acculturation; Americas; Cultural Background; Demographic Factors; Demography; Developed Countries; Economic Factors; Ethnic Groups; Family And Household; Family Characteristics; Generations; International Migration; Migration; North America; Northern America; Population; Population Characteristics; Population Dynamics; Population Theory; Social Change; Social Class; Social Mobility; Social Sciences; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomic Status; United States