Refugee Communities

by Gold, Steven J.

• ISBN13: 9780803937963
• ISBN10: 0803937962
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1991-07-01
• Publisher: Sage Pubns

Summary

This book contains the results of a long-term ethnographic study of two ethnic communities in California - Soviet Jews and Vietnamese - the two largest groups of refugee immigrants over the past decade. Gold examines each of these communities and compares their relationships with the host culture in a variety of ways - ethnic group solidarity, use of social services, entrepreneurship, barriers to success and assimilation. He uses rich ethnographic material and two photo essays to link refugee communities with the more extensive literature on immigrants and on ethnic communities. Gold finds that there are, in fact, many different small Jewish and Vietnamese immigrant communities which react differently to being transplanted to a new environment. The picture is a complex one and that diversity, rather than uniformity, characterizes these communities. His ethnographic portraits of these two groups and theoretical findings should be of interest to those who study immigration, ethnicity and culture.

Table of Contents

Perspectives on Refugee Adaptation Soviet Jews

Background and Migration Experience Vietnamese Refugees

Background and Characteristics

The Soviet Jewish Enclave

Recently Arrived Vietnamese

Resettlement Agencies and Refugee Communities

Self-Employment and Refugee Communities

Patterns of Community Organization

Conclusions

Appendix

Photographs

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