Abstract
In One in Three : Immigrant New York in the Twenty First Century, Nancy Foner points out that more than one in three persons residing in New York City is an immigrant (37 percent). If we count the second generation (U.S. born children of foreign born parents) the percentage soars to 55 percent. Even more impressive, almost half (45 percent) of the New York City workforce is composed of immigrants. New York City at the beginning of the 21st century is still an immigrant city par excellence, “more multiracial and multiethnic than at any time in its history” (60). It is fitting then, that Foner should provide an updated version of The Newest New Yorkers. As in earlier editions (1987, 2001) Foner's framework is “the city as context”—the idea that place–specific conditions (built environment, institutions, political structure, and culture) shape settlement patterns, ethno–racial identities, and intergroup relations of immigrants. She argues that New York City is exceptional because of its history as an immigrant city and as a result of the structures and institutions that have developed around the large and successive waves of immigrants that have arrived to its shores.
The book contains an introductory chapter, two contextual chapters, one on population and one on the economy, and case studies of seven ethnic groups. A new thematic chapter on the second generation in New York City appears at the end. The contextual chapters are some of the most interesting for those who want an overview of migration to New York City. Lobo and Salvo's chapter explores how immigration has transformed New York City's population. The chapter profiles the various immigrant groups (the top eight immigrant groups account for half of the immigrant total) It also documents settlement patterns in the city and the metropolitan region. The chapter shows that more immigrants are settling in the suburbs and that the city now receives more domestic in–migrants, many of whom are college–educated young adults who move to the city for jobs in financial services, the arts, and publishing.
In his chapter on the economic impacts of immigration, Kallick argues that immigrants have played a critical role in the city's economy. He explains that while the stereotype of the immigrant as low wage worker is partly correct, more than half of immigrants in New York City work in white collar jobs and immigrants have high rates of self–employment.
Seven chapters are devoted to case studies of immigrant groups. These chapters are based on quantitative and qualitative data and explore the experiences of a range of immigrant groups including the top four largest groups in the city (Dominicans, Chinese, Mexicans, and Jamaicans) as well as Koreans, Russian Jews, and Liberians. Zhou explores the adaptation of Chinese immigrants in New York City. She profiles New York City's Chinese enclaves including Chinatown, Flushing in Queens, and Sunset Park in Brooklyn. In the 2001 edition, Min's chapter was titled “Koreans as an Institutionally Complete Community.” In the current edition, he argues that the Korean community has become less segregated and more assimilated. Among the reasons for this trend are the decrease in self–employment and declines in retail business ownership among the first generation and incorporation of the second generation in the mainstream labor market.
Orleck's interesting chapter on Russian Jewish émigrés discusses the Soviet Jews who settled in South Brooklyn and Forest Hills, Queens. She emphasizes the often tense relations between new and old Jewish groups, and looks at the ways that this large refugee influx has reshaped the Jewish enclave in Brighton Beach. Vickerman uses the idea of “crosspressures” to explain how Jamaicans negotiate their identity as a racialized group. Vickerman argues that Jamaicans ultimately become black in the American sense as their race trumps their ethnicity (p. 190); however, referring to the younger generation, he says that boundaries between West Indian and African American youth are blurring resulting in a new, melded culture. Smith's essay points out that the huge growth in Mexican immigration to the city between 1990 and 2000 was driven by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. However, large numbers of Mexicans in the city are more recent entrants to the United States, and many lack legal status. The chapter focuses on the liabilities of undocumented status (the low rates of educational attainment among Mexican youth) but also chronicles the civic and political mobilization of Mexicans around education and immigration reform.
The new chapters and/or contributors include a chapter on Liberians in the Park Hill neighborhood of Staten Island, a group that entered the United States primarily as refugees. Although narrowly focused on intergenerational relations, the chapter adds value to the book, as relatively little information is available on African immigrants in the city. In their chapter on Dominicans, Torres–Saillant and Hernandez reject the characterization of Dominicans as “transnational,” a label sometimes used too loosely, and instead focus on the political and cultural achievements of this group in New York City. The chapter by Kasinitz, Mollenkopf, and Waters on the second generation provides a summary of the main findings of the Immigrant Second Generation in Metropolitan New York survey, which was carried out between 1999 and 2001.
Overall, One in Three is a good primer on immigration to New York City and is an excellent resource for both undergraduate and graduate courses. If there is a weakness of the collection it is its inattention to one of the most crucial changes in New York, and other global cities, over the last decade—the unsettling increase in inequality and the spiraling cost of housing. Moreover, with the exception of Smith's article, there is little attention given to the increasingly unfriendly national immigrant climate. Does this suggest that New York is insulated from the growth of anti–immigrant sentiment characteristic of many other places? This should be explored more in future studies of the city.