The Boundaries of Belonging

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

   PDF

2. Debating Immigration

   • Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky

   Pages 1-34

3. The Boundaries of Belonging

   • Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky

   Pages 35-65

4. Family Matters

   • Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky

   Pages 67-111

5. The Price of Citizenship

   • Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky

   Pages 113-170

6. Evaluating Values

   • Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky

   Pages 171-225

7. Symbolic Boundaries in Action

   • Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky

   Pages 227-256

8. Back Matter

   Pages 257-295

   PDF

This book addresses an issue currently making political headlines in the United States—immigration. Immigrants have long engendered debates about the boundaries of belonging, with some singing their praises and others warning of their dangers. In particular, the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the country provoke heated disagreements with issues of legality and morality at the forefront. Increasingly, such debates take place online, by organizations in the immigrant rights and the immigration control movements, who engage in symbolic work that includes blurring, crossing, maintaining, solidifying, and shifting the boundaries of belonging. Based on data collected from 29 national-level groups, this book features a cultural sociological analysis of the online materials deployed by social movement organizations debating immigration in the United States.

• Immigration
• Family
• Citizenship
• Borderlands
• Mexico
• Activists
• Strong Program
• Social movements

“Jaworsky’s monograph, The Boundaries of Belonging: Online Work of Immigration-Related Social Movement Organizations, offers a thoughtful, well-researched and timely contribution to this already-substantial body of literature. … The Boundaries of Belonging is a deeply insightful book that synthesizes scholarship in cultural sociology and social movements, and offers a powerful analysis of the role of culture in shaping social movements.” (Kevin Lujan Lee, Border Criminologies, law.ox.ac.uk, June 13, 2019)

“The work offers an excellent thick description of IR and IC SMOs that will aid sociologists in comprehending the drastic immigration measures that the US has recently undertaken. Summing Up: Recommended. General collections; upper-division undergraduates and above.” (J. A. Beicken, Choice, Vol. 54 (11), July, 2017) 

“Theoretically rooted in the strong program of cultural analysis, this volume provides timely, innovative and compelling insight into the U.S. immigration battle. Through painstaking analysis of online texts and visuals, Jaworsky fleshes out symbolic boundary work by movement organizations on both sides of the struggle as they seek to maintain, shift, or reconstruct the meaning and criteria of citizenship. This is a must read for immigration, social movement, and cultural sociology scholars.” (Anne Kane, University of Houston-Downtown, USA)

“The successes of Donald Trump in the USA and extreme right parties in Europe remind us that conflicts over national belonging continue to be a major force in contemporary politics. By examining immigrant rights and the immigration control movements, Jaworsky shows how these adversaries determine rules for who deserves to be included (or excluded) from the national community. This book is fascinating, well written, and theoretically challenging. It will be of great interest to anybody concerned with the politics of immigration and national identity.” (Dr. Walter J. Nicholls, Associate Professor, University of California, Irvine, USA)

“Cultural sociology, migration studies, and social movement research have been—until now—largely segregated and even hostile intellectual worlds. Jaworsky has brought them together and created an original, powerful framework. This book will benefit anyone who wants to understand how symbolic boundaries are created, solicited, shifted, and contested.” (Giuseppe Sciortino, Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Italy)

• Masaryk University Yale University, Brno, Czech Republic

  Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky

Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky is Associate Professor at Masaryk University, Czech Republic. Her research includes the cultural sociological exploration of politics and media, especially with regard to migration and refugees.

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