| Abstract: | In the study of the history of immigration and ethnicity scholars often write about their own ethnic groups. For several reasons that pattern has led to an over-emphasis on the new immigrants of the early 20th century, a limitation of focus to the experiences of the 1st and 2nd generations of individual immigrant groups, and a disinterest in immigration and ethnicity as processes. Efforts to produce comparative studies of various kinds and to use survey data as a source of primary information about later generations may help correct those shortcomings. Today, the study of immigrant and ethnic history is at an important moment in its evolution. The concentration of attention on individual nationalities, the focus on the immigrants and their children to the neglect of the experiences of later generations in America, and the imposition of interpretive schemas that tell more about the ideology of the host society than about the experiences of the newcomers have left disturbing gaps and imbalances in the investigation. |
