Suchergebnisse

Undeserving citizens? -- A history of birthright citizenship -- Diminished citizenship

Medicalizing Ethnicity: The Construction of Latino Identity in. Psychiatric Setting. Vilma Santiago‐Irizarry. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001.178 pp.

Using logistic regression, this article tests the relative importance of the "imagined community" on the intentions of undocumented immigrants to stay in the United States. The argument is that, everything else being equal, imagining oneself as part of a local community is a powerful influence on settlement. If for whatever reason, an undocumented immigrant comes to this self‐perception, then he or she is likely to desire to stay in the community. The results clearly underscore the importance of feeling part of the community. Not only is the influence on the dependent variable statistically significant, but the odds ratio indicates that those who feel part of the local community are almost four times (Mexicans) or almost five times (Central Americans) as likely to intend to stay permanently in the United States as those who do not.

Resentment in anti-immigrant and anti-Latino political rhetoric often focuses on perceived demographic changes, white population decline, and economic decline. Resentimiento, by contrast, connotes disgust and anger at mistreatment through hostile words or acts such as those conveyed in negative political rhetoric. To explore the nature of resentimiento, Mexican-origin students at a California university were shown samples of negative (N = 95) or positive (N = 93) statements and visual images about immigrants and Latinos. Their written responses to the negative rhetoric included anger and sadness, feelings of being stigmatized, and bodily reactions. Participants argued that the negative rhetoric suffered from overgeneralizations, racism, and misinformation, and that it failed acknowledge why people migrate, the valiant struggles of families to secure a better life, and the contributions of Latinos and immigrants to US society. The students recast the negative rhetoric as a fl awed and inadequate source of representation and knowledge about them, their families, and their communities. They denied the rhetoric's epistemological efficacy while at the same time recognizing the emotional toll of being its target.