The sociology of immigration involves the sociological analysis of immigration, particularly with respect to race and ethnicity, social structure, and political policy. Important concepts include assimilation, enculturation, marginalization, multiculturalism, postcolonialism, transnationalism and social cohesion.
History
Pre-twentieth century Nativism has a long history in many societies.
Twentieth century Global migration during the twentieth century grew particularly during the first half of the century. Due to World War I and World War II, European immigrants came to the United States (for example) in vast quantities. Particularly following the end (1918) of World War I, some Americans labeled European immigrants as dangerous to American culture. In 1924 the United States Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924, which placed strict quotas on immigrants entering the United States. During the 1920s -1930s women's citizenship was all dependent on a father or husband, so because of the rules many women used marriage as a way to immigrate. This means that for many women they are tied to becoming either a wife or mother. From the 1960s to 1990s, the stigma labeling immigrants as "job takers" and "criminals" subsided, and instead Americans began to consider immigrants as benefactors to the American economy, culture, and political system. Although the negative labels that immigrants were given during the first half of the twentieth century influenced their actions in society and self-perceptions (known as labeling theory in sociology), immigrants now began to assimilate more easily into society and to form strong social networks that contributed to their acquisition of social capital—the "information, knowledge of people or things, and connections that help individuals enter, gain power in, or otherwise leverage social networks".
Twenty-first century Sociologists have studied immigration closely in the twenty-first century. In the United States, compared to the majority of European immigrants during the early twentieth century, the twenty-first century witnessed the arrival of immigrants predominately from Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. From 2000 to 2001, sociologists have paid particular attention to the costs and benefits of the new diversified immigration population on American institutions, culture, economic functions, and national security. After the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, sociologists closely analyzed the symbolism of increased anti-immigration rhetoric, directed at Middle Eastern immigrants, stemming from Americans. Structural functionalist theorists have also studied the effects of mass migration—resulting from wars, economic insecurity, and terrorism—on the social institutions of host nations, on international law, and on assimilation rates. Additionally, sociologists using social-conflict theory have analyzed, in particular, labor-market conflicts allegedly resulting from increased marketplace competition due to the rise in competition between immigrants and native workers for jobs and social mobility. Because rates of global immigration continue to increase, the field of sociology has a particular interest in monitoring twenty-first century immigration as it relates to the foundational theories of symbolic interactionism, social conflict, and structural functionalism.
Generational change In immigration studies, social scientists assign distinct definitions to various immigrant generations. In sociology, the word "generation" is used as a "measure of distance from the 'old country'". This means that sociologists define people who move to (in the case of immigrants migrating to the United States) the United States from another society, as adults, as "first generation" immigrants, their American-born children as "second generation" immigrants, and their children in turn as "third generation" immigrants. During the mid-twentieth century in the United States, the first, second, and third generations of immigrants displayed distinct characteristics. Second-generation immigrants, having immigrant parents who witnessed the historical events unfolding in the mid-twentieth century, developed a distinct social identity both in themselves and in popular American culture. In the late 1930s, American historian Marcus Lee Hansen observed "distinct differences in attitudes toward ethnic identity between the second generation and their third-generation children". Whereas the second generation was anxious to assimilate, the third generation was sentimentally invested in "ethnicity", which sociologist Dalton Conley defines as "one's ethnic quality or affiliation". However, twenty-first century immigrants now assimilate more than their twentieth-century predecessors, most notably in the transition to using English—among immigrants who move to the United States—as the primary language for communication. While contemporary immigrant generations share common ethnic backgrounds and cultures, there are differences in the level of social mobility, economic achievement, educational attainment, and familial relations among the members of those generations.
Three sociological perspectives
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