Deep Roots: Rice Farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora

An outpouring of historical research has greatly contributed to our understanding of the political, economic, demographic, and business aspects of interregional slave migration in the antebellum period. As yet, however, relatively few studies have examined the assimilation process of slave migrants who were sent to the Lower South. Particularly their adaption to new work patterns and cultivation techniques has eluded the attention of most scholars. What kinds of work did Upper South slave migrants perform upon arrival in the cotton South? How did they adapt to new work? Drawing from a variety of source material, including slave testimonies, this study will very briefly explore cotton cultivation from the perspective of enslaved newcomers from the Upper South. It will especially delve into the abrupt transition with which interstate migrants in the antebellum period were confronted, comparing and contrasting the demands of plantation agriculture in both regions and underscoring the learning curves involved in migrants' assimilation process.     

The Integration of Interstate Migrants in India: A 7 State Policy Evaluation

Interstate migration in developing countries is a key income generating strategy for low-income households. In India, despite the importance of migration between states, interstate migrants continue to face significant integration barriers in their destination states. The impact of state borders on migration within India is significant and large. This study presents one of the first attempts at creating a set of indicators to understand the role of state-level policies for the integration of interstate migrants in a developing country. After illustrating the process behind the creation of this tool and the tool in itself, we compare seven of the major migrant destination states of India, based on their policy frameworks relevant to the integration of interstate migrants. Out of these states, we found that Kerala state is the most inclusive of interstate migrants but that overall, policymakers in the considered Indian states have a long way to go to improve the integration of interstate migrants.     

The social integration of British home owners into French rural communities

Based upon a survey of recent British buyers of French rural property, this paper considers the attitudes of British permanent residents and British second home owners in France both towards host French communities and towards each other. In exploring the notion of integration, we examine the nature and extent of contacts between British and French populations at the local level and identify the principal barriers to assimilation. The division between those British nationals who seek to integrate and those who seek to maintain essentially British social networks is assessed as is the impact of British newcomers upon local French communities. We conclude by identifying major differences between the integration strategies of Britons in France and those employed by urban to rural migrants in Britain.     

LEVERAGING THE POWER OF THE ETHNIC ENCLAVE: RESIDENTIAL INSTABILITY AND VIOLENCE IN LATINO COMMUNITIES

Early Chicago school thinkers linked crime to the disorganizing influx of Eastern European immigrants and black migrants from the South. Extending this to contemporary concerns, we use Census and Vital Statistics data to examine whether migration to ethnic enclaves among Latinos and blacks raises violence. It appears that when Latinos settle in their ethnic enclaves, violence in their communities declines. Contrary to Chicago school assertions, this improves economic conditions and strengthens group ties as the community mobilizes to receive newcomers. In contrast, such migration does not dampen violence in black communities. We discuss the implications of this for ecological theorizing.     

Ethnic minorities' reactions to newcomers in East London: Symbolic boundaries and convivial labor

In much public discourse on immigrants in Western Europe, perceptions towards newcomers are discussed in relation to what white national majorities think. However, today, new migrants often move into places which are already settled by previous migrants. This article investigates the local experiences, perceptions, and attitudes towards newcomers among long-established ethnic minorities in an area which they have made their home, and where they predominate not just in numbers but also by way of shops, religious sites, school population, and so on. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in East London (UK), it looks at long-established ethnic minority residents’ attitudes towards newcomers from Eastern Europe, and how these are shaped by their own histories of exclusion. By bringing together theories on symbolic boundary making with the concept of “convivial labor,” it shows how experiences of stigmatization impact on perceptions of white newcomers, and how these perceptions are characterized by a combination of empathy and resentment.     

PATHS OF COMMUNITY INTEGRATION

This article raises new questions about the process of migration integration into a new community. What are the paths of integration?And what makes a difference in the paths that are taken?The major findings—that three major paths can be distinguished and that life cycle variables make the most diference in path taken—are interpreted in light of various theoretical explanations of the integration process. The predictions of other theoretical perspectives—related to the social statuses of migrants, social networks, and previous contact with the community—have only weak and sporadic support in understanding the paths of integration.     

‘Birds of a feather stick together’? Negotiating community,family and intimate relationships between ‘established’ and ‘newcomer’ Caribbean migrants in Britain

This article explores the ‘invisible’ boundary separating and informing social relations among ‘established’ and ‘newcomer’ Caribbean migrant communities in Britain. To briefly note, ‘established’ migrants are characterised in the analysis as those Caribbean migrants who settled in Britain from the 1940s, their offspring and subsequent generations. In contrast, the ‘newcomer’ represents a new influx of Caribbean that arrived and settled in Britain from the late 1990s onwards, either with a legal or illegal resident status. The common assumption is that ‘established’ and ‘newcomer’ groups are bonded together through shared cultural and ethnic background. Therefore any differences that exist between the two groups tend to be ignored because it is assumed that the newcomers are automatically absorbed into existing Caribbean communities. However, this empirical study of Caribbean families suggests that inherent differences exist between these two groups. To discuss issues of intra-ethnic diversity the analysis is guided by a social capital approach. It also draws on the views and perspectives of Caribbean people to highlight the social hierarchies and cultural stereotypes that exist between ‘established’ and ‘newcomer’ migrants. Concentrating on the ‘invisible’ and intra-ethnic boundaries between the ‘established’ and ‘newcomer’ migrants, the discussion explores issues of change and continuity, and also problems and opportunities that emerge within Caribbean family networks and their intimate relationships.     

Migrant Women’s Transnationalism: Family Patterns and Policies

Whereas current policies on migration and integration are beginning to recognise family reunion as one of the most legitimate reasons for acceptance by a host society, they in most cases still do not account for the growing trend of feminisation of migration, and even rarely do they address specific migrants’ needs. As currently constituted, the integration bills envision a one‐way process that places migrants into a position where they cannot question, but only accept and fulfil the predetermined requirements of integration plans. But who are the women that migrate, what influence do their transnational experiences have on their families, and how do migration policies envision the reality of increasing transnationalism? This paper focuses on biographical interviews with migrant women in Slovenia as a valuable method to question current integration measurements, applied here to explore female migrants’ experiences in transnational family life and social networks. A gender sensitive approach is applied that critically evaluates the specificities of family reunification policies, which define women migrants as dependent family members. We discuss life trajectories of women migrants, focusing the debate on their own experiences in and with family life. This new empirical material is used to theorise gaps in contemporary migration research. Women migrants’ own reflections of transnational family ties show a great variety of experiences and their narratives are a unique window into motivational, political, as well as legal dimensions of migration.     

Generation,resistance, and survival: African-American children and the Southampton Rebellion of 1831

The Southampton Rebellion of 1831, Nat Turner’s Rebellion, stands as the most famous slave rebellion in American History. Historians have studied the rebellion extensively often focusing on Turner’s biography, the incident’s violent sequence of events, and the wide social, cultural, and political impact of the rebellion. The most recent scholarship on the Southampton Rebellion focuses on the wider community that produced the violent event that resulted in the death of nearly 60 whites and an uncountable number of people of color. African-American children made up a significant demographic in antebellum Southampton. They were present everywhere, just as children were present in most antebellum communities. Yet their appearances in the trial records associated with the Southampton Rebellion are all but unstudied. The Southampton Rebellion was not the result of Nat Turner’s singular genius focused on immediate results. It was a rebellion constituted in the community with future liberation in mind. Children, the literal embodiment of slavery’s future, then were necessarily included and involved. This article engages the extensive court documents associated with the Southampton Rebellion’s aftermath to investigate the possible role of children in the rebellion and their significance to the resistance of enslaved communities.     

Settlers,target-earners,young professionals. Distinct migrant types,distinct integration trajectories?

In this article, we start out from theoretical concepts about different types of migrants that feature prominently in the immigration literature. By applying latent class analysis to a unique ‘mini-panel’ data set on recent Polish and Turkish immigrants in Germany, we identify two types of migrants that are in line with the literature, namely settlers and target-earners. We label a third group that is best described as educational target-earners: ‘young learners/professionals’. Regarding variation in these groups’ early sociocultural integration patterns, results suggest that they reflect primarily differences in migrants’ intention to stay, individual resources such as education, and opportunities for integration related to newcomers’ involvement in the educational system or labour force. In sum, migrant types – though certainly more intuitively appealing and vivid than single ‘variables’ – seem to have limited explanatory power when it comes to predicting newcomers’ early integration trajectories.     

Routine of seasons: Labour regimes and social ritual in an antebellum plantation community

Using the narrative of Ellen and William Craft's escape from slavery, together with a database of 2260 runaway slave advertisements published in antebellum South Carolina newspapers, this article examines the ways in which runaways exploited whites' notions of race and freedom to pass as free. Acculturated women and men engaged in intricate performances in which they exploited colour, dress, language, and employment skills to transcend lines of race and class, in order to assume free identities. Recognising that freedom could be performed, if not legally attained, the majority of runaways did not strike out for free territory. Instead, many remained in the South where they created free identities that enabled them to secure employment, enjoy mobility, and maintain kinship ties, if only temporarily.     

Forest soils adjacent to urban interstates: Soil physical and chemical properties,heavy metals,disturbance legacies,and relationships with woody vegetation

While urban ecology is an expanding field of study, some natural areas within the urban environment remain under-examined. These include naturally regenerating forest communities adjacent to urban interstates. In addition, the status of interstate soils and their relationships with the community composition of forested interstate verges has received little ecological study. The purpose of this study was to examine variation in soil conditions along forested interstate corridors in Louisville, KY and to explore the extent to which soil characteristics (e.g., bulk density, pH) and heavy metals (e.g., Pb, Zn) vary with respect to three factors: interstate (e.g., traffic density), surrounding urban environment (e.g., industrial land use), and interstate construction legacies. Additionally, we explored the relationships between several edaphic factors and woody vegetation structure in these forested verges. We found that the degree and direction of the slope of land towards the interstate and the distance to the interstate pavement were strong determinants of soil characteristics and heavy metal concentrations, suggesting that the movement of de-icing salts, heavy metals, and other pollutants from the interstate was important in determining forest soil conditions along urban interstates. Since within our study area these highways did not extend into rural lands, variation in urban land uses and cover within 26 km of the city center was not large enough to explain variation in soil characteristics or heavy metals, except for a positive correlation between chromium and surrounding industrial land use. We did find that past physical soil disturbance caused by interstate construction (e.g., imported fill) left an important legacy on soil characteristics, heavy metal retention, and woody plant growth patterns in forests adjacent to urban interstates. The legacy of interstate construction on the current forest community structure (e.g., lower species richness) and the future forest (e.g., reduced tree regeneration) may further alter ecosystem productivity and ecosystem services provided by these forests and their soils.     

Transnational migration: taking stock and future directions

Increasing numbers of sending states are systematically offering social and political membership to migrants residing outside their territories. The proliferation of these dual memberships contradicts conventional notions about immigrant incorporation, their impact on sending countries, and the relationship between migration and development in both contexts. But how do ordinary individuals actually live their lives across borders? Is assimilation incompatible with transnational membership? How does economic and social development change when it takes place across borders? This article takes stock of what is known about everyday transnational practices and the institutional actors that facilitate or impede them and outlines questions for future research. In it, I define what I mean by transnational practices and describe the institutions that create and are created by these activities. I discuss the ways in which they distribute migrants’ resources and energies across borders, based primarily on studies of migration to the United States.     

Labour market integration of newcomers to Canada: The perspectives of newcomers in a smaller urban centre

In Canada, newcomers are often faced with many challenges when integrating into the labour market. This study examined the labour market integration experiences of newcomers in Regina, Saskatchewan. Data were collected using a structured survey which was made available in several languages. A total of 305 (n = 305) newcomers participated in this study. It was found that length of stay in Regina, level of education, having children and lack of access to transportation had a strong relationship with newcomers' labour market integration (p < 0.01). Specific barriers that were found to affect newcomers included language, access to a vehicle, lack of Canadian work experience and Canadian credentials. These challenges have substantial implications for the well-being of newcomers and their contribution to the Canadian economy. It is recommended that resettlement agencies develop informed strategies and programmes that target these barriers to enhance the economic integration of newcomers in smaller cities in Canada.     

Critical Community Practice

How do we conceptualize community development? What are themajor practices and processes behind the development of communities?What is critical community practice (CCP)? What are its fundamentalvalues? What are the objectives of CCP? How is CCP differentfrom the other approaches of community development? How do weoperationalize CCP? Who are the major agents in promoting CCP?Is it true that the process of CCP induces the empowerment ofcommunities? Moreover, how does this process enhance the emancipationof individuals at grassroots level? Finally, what are the     

Retirement migration and transnational grandparental support: a Spanish case study

People who migrate in retirement often do so to join younger generations who have already migrated, and to help with grandchildren. But what about those retirees who migrate away from their families? Do they still provide grandparental support? To address this question, we examine retirement migrants who reside permanently in their new country, Spain. We find that they are aware of grandparental support expectations, and that their migration decision sometimes creates conflict with their offspring. At the same time, these retirement migrants reshape the meaning of grandparental support. Care considerations influence their destination and housing choices, and they continue to provide care. They feel that their familial relationships are now of a higher quality, despite the distance. At the same time, gender still emerges as a key dimension of grandparental support. The grandparenting of these retirement migrants challenges facile depictions of their motivations and of the equation of quantity and quality of contacts.     

The Mexicans and “Us Gringos”: A Case Study of Activist Work With Unauthorized Migrants

Lacking access to social services, unauthorized Mexican day laborers constitute a vulnerable population. This case study uses a critical theory perspective to examine activist efforts to support migrants when professional social workers were unavailable. Using qualitative methods, this study sought to answer three questions: (1) What strategies did unauthorized day laborers and activists deploy to contest anti-immigrant sentiments in a suburban community; (2) how were these strategies shaped by the workers' subterranean status as undocumented and poor; and (3) what are the implications for social work practice? This study seeks to delineate interventions and to identify how migrants themselves perceive such efforts.     

How Cuba burned with the ghosts of British slavery: race,abolition and the Escalera

In the antebellum period, a system of slave trials operated in Virginia that was entirely at odds with the common law practices that governed the trial of most defendants, free and enslaved, throughout the southern states. This article examines the operation and implications of this system in Richmond, Virginia, between 1830 and 1861 and argues that the absence of due process protections for slaves enabled the legal system to better serve the interests of the slaveholding class than in common law jurisdictions. This was particularly significant in Richmond, as urban-industrial conditions made slaveholders extremely dependent on the law to combat slave crime. By the 1850s, however, the conflict between Virginia's slave trial system and Anglo-American common law culture, as well as between slaveholder and nonslaveholder interests, had resulted in adjustments to the system that signalled the start of its decline.     

'We are Irish Everywhere': Irish Immigrant Networks in Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia

In the nineteenth century, Irish immigrants in Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia, showed a strong interest in the affairs of Ireland and its residents. Although a distinct minority in these 'southern' cities, they formed networks through societies, clubs, militias and Irish nationalist organisations to encourage social activities and ethnic connections among their fellow countrymen and those friendly towards Irish interests. These groups provided opportunities for upwardly-mobile immigrants to improve their social status in America, while retaining their 'Irishness'. Charity towards new migrants was thus an important element in retaining ethnicity. Irish Protestants initially dominated these networks, but increasingly, as the century progressed, Irish and Irish-American Catholics came to prominence. Nonetheless, interdenominational networks remained strong. Class and sectarian divisions within the Irish communities of these two cities were not as deep or rigid as they were in some other Irish-American communities. Overall this study highlights the great importance of immigrant networks in assuring Irish integration into host societies.     

From violence to alliance: Maroons and white settlers in Jamaica, 1739–1795

During the First Maroon War, violent battles between Maroons and British colonists were frequent and violent. How then, after the peace treaties, did former enemies negotiate their new positions as allies? How did colonists accept this new status quo while balancing it with racial beliefs of the era? This article examines Maroon and colonist efforts to progress in a physically difficult and socially charged environment while living side-by-side with a large enslaved population. Ultimately, some influential planters, as opposed to poorer settlers, came to recognise the mutual benefits this uneasy peace provided. That is not to say these colonists were not fearful of the Maroons but that they recognised the usefulness of the Maroon communities.