Naturalization ceremonies and the role of immigrants in the American nation

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7724951
AutoresAptekar (0000-0002-3823-2902, a Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity , Hermann-Föge-Weg 11, Göttingen , 37073 , Germany, autor de correspondencia), Sofya Aptekar
Año2012
Volumen16
Número7
Páginas937-952
Fecha de publicación2012-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCitizenship Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1362-1025 • E-ISSN: 1469-3593
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13621025.2012.716211
PMID23667318
PMCIDPMC3647694
OpenAlexW2029831568
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas24

Although immigration is an essential element in the American national story, it presents difficulties for constructing national membership and national identity in terms of shared intrinsic values. In this paper, I analyze speeches made at naturalization ceremonies during two time periods (1950-1970 and 2003-present) in order to examine the evolving roles of immigrants, as articulated to immigrants themselves. Naturalization ceremonies are a unique research site because the usually implied nationalist content is made explicit to brand new members of the nation. I find a shift in the framing from immigrants as potential liabilities and weak links in the earlier period to immigrants as morally superior redeemers of the American nation in the later period. I discuss the significance of this shift and the relationship between the roles presented at naturalization ceremonies and the discourse found elsewhere in the public sphere

Aesthetics · Citizenship · Immigration · National identity · Nationalism · Naturalization · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Gender Studies · History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Philippine History and Culture