Politics of Belonging
Race, Public Opinion, and Immigration
The United States is once again experiencing a major influx of immigrants. Questions about who should be admitted and what benefits should be afforded to new members of the polity are among the most divisive and controversial contemporary political issues.
Using an impressive array of evidence from national surveys, "The Politics of Belonging" illuminates patterns of public opinion on immigration and explains why Americans hold the attitudes they do. Rather than simply characterizing Americans as either nativist or nonnativist, this book argues that controversies over immigration policy are best understood as questions over political membership and belonging to the nation. The relationship between citizenship, race, and immigration drive the politics of belonging in the United States and represents a dynamism central to understanding patterns of contemporary public opinion on immigration policy. Beginning with a historical analysis, this book documents why this is the case by tracing the development of immigration and naturalization law, institutional practices, and the formation of the American racial hierarchy. Then, through a comparative analysis of public opinion among white, black, Latino, and Asian Americans, it identifies and tests the critical moderating role of racial categorization and group identity on variation in public opinion on immigration.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Conditional Welcome
Chapter 1. Public Opinion through a Racial Prism
Chapter 2. Development of the American Racial Hierarchy: Race, Immigration, and Citizenship
Chapter 3. The Pictures in Our Heads: The Content and Application of Racial Stereotypes
Chapter 4. Perceptions of Belonging: Race and Group Membership
Chapter 5. The Racial Prism of Group Identity: Antecedents to Attitudes on Immigration
Chapter 6. Framing Immigration: "Illegality" and the Role of Political Communication
Conclusion: The Politics of Belonging and the Future of US Immigration Policy
Notes
References
Index
About the Author
Natalie Masuoka is assistant professor of political science at Tufts University. She lives in Boston.
Jane Junn is professor of political science at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She is co-author of "Education and Democratic Citizenship in America".
Reviews
"'The Politics of Belonging' makes a profound contribution to the research on public opinion and immigration. Theoretically rich and innovative, it tackles the subject matter in an original and thought-provoking manner, deftly weaving a historical narrative of the creation of America's immigration laws with the country's racial hierarchy. Against this backdrop, Natalie R. Masuoka and Jane Junn offer a wealth of data to argue convincingly that public opinion on immigration is a reflection of racial attitudes" – Marisa A. Abrajano, University of California, San Diego
"'The Politics of Belonging' offers a timely, important, and forceful argument for how race and ethnicity structure the public's understandings of American identity, racial/ethnic identity, and immigration policy. Natalie Masuoka and Jane Junn argue persuasively that a group's position in the American social, economic, and political hierarchy influences how group members arrive at their views of who counts as an American and what shape immigration policy ought to take" – Cindy D. Kam, Vanderbilt University
"Natalie Masuoka and Jane Junn pose the central political question in an era of global immigration: Who should belong inside a nation? Taking a social structural approach that incorporates racial hierarchy and group position theory, they embed public opinion in a broader historical account of law and institutional practices. And in analyzing the contrasting dynamics of opinion across America's main ethnic and racial groups, they uncover the crucial moderating role played by group identities. The result is the most thorough and authoritative account of public opinion about immigration yet to be done" – David O. Sears, University of California, Los Angeles
