New immigrants_those arriving since the Immigration Reform Act of 1965_have forever altered American culture and have been profoundly altered in turn. Although the religious congregations they form are often a nexus of their negotiation between the old and new, they have received little scholarly attention. Religion and the New Immigrants fills this gap. Growing out of the carefully designed Religion, Ethnicity and the New Immigration Research project, Religion and the New Immigrants combines in-depth studies of thirteen congregations in the Houston area with seven thematic essays looking across their diversity. The congregations range from Vietnamese Buddhist to Greek Orthodox, a Zoroastrian center to a multi-ethnic Assembly of God, presenting an astonishing array of ethnicity and religious practice. Common research questions and the common location of the congregations give the volume a unique comparative focus. Religion and the New Immigrants is an essential reference for scholars of immigration, ethnicity, and American religion.
Helen Rose Ebaugh, Sociology Professor, University of Houston, received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1975 with specialties in organizational sociology and the sociology of religion. In addition to four books, she has published numerous articles in scholarly journals. She has been a faculty member at the University of Houston since 1973 and routinely teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in sociological theory, the sociology of religion and world religions. Janet Saltzman Chafetz, Professor of Sociology, has been at the University of Houston since 1971. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1969. Her most recent publications include an edited Handbook on the Sociology of Gender (1999), a review of feminist theories in Annual Review of Sociology (1997), and a paper on feminist theory and social change in Current Perspectives in Social Theory (1999). A life-long interest in immigrants, occasioned by the fact that all of her grandparents immigrated to the U.S., has finally found professional expression through joining Professor Ebaugh on this project.
Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Hispanic and Asian Immigration Waves in Houston Chapter 3 Center for Vietnamese Buddhism: Recreating Home Chapter 4 Hsai-Nan Temple: Seeking to Americanize Chapter 5 Chinese Gospel Church: The Sinicization of Christianity Chapter 6 Houston Korean Ethnic Church: An Ethnic Enclave Chapter 7 St. Mary's Catholic Church: Celebrating Domestic Religion Chapter 8 Iglesia de Dios: An Extended Family Chapter 9 St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church: Maturing through the Generations Chapter 10 Iglesia Christiana Evangelelica: Arriving in the Pipeline Chapter 11 Al-Noor Mosque: Strength Through Unity Chapter 12 Jyonthi Hindu Temple: One Religion, Many Practices Chapter 13 The Zoroastrian Center: An Ancient Faith in Diaspora Chapter 14 St. Catherine's Catholic Church: One Church, Parallel Congregations Chapter 15 Southwest Assembly of God: Whomsoever Will Chapter 16 Environmental Impacts: Opportunities and Constraints Chapter 17 Structural Adaptations to the Immigrant Context Chapter 18 Providing for the Needy: Social Services and Immigrant Adaptation Chapter 19 Reproducing Ethnicity Chapter 20 Language: Cause for Unity and Conflict Chapter 21 Passing it On: The Second Generation Chapter 22 Is the Past Prologue to the Future Chapter 23 Bibliography Chapter 24 Index Chapter 25 About the Contributors
Religion, immigration and ethnicity are deeply rooted in the American experience, but religion has been largely ignored by the literature on the new immigration to the United States. Religion and the New Immigrants is a fascinating comparative ethnography, across nationalities and religious faiths, of the diversity and dilemmas of immigrant religious social life. It examines the functions of immigrant congregations for the reproduction of ethnicity. It also looks at the conflicts and contradictions these congregations engender as they seek to "pass it on" to an Americanized second generation -- who are more often alienated than attracted by the very features that fulfill their parents' needs. This unique and illuminating study will become a standard reference for future research in this field. — Rubén G. Rumbaut
Meredith McGuire
It is impossible to understand the place of religions in the U.S.today if we ignore the role of the many and diverse congregations of recentimmigrants. Taking advantage of a "natural laboratory" in the city ofHouston, where nearly a quarter of the populace is foreign-born, Ebaugh,Chafetz and their research team provide us with informative vignettes ofcongregations of immigrant Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians,among others. This book is rich in comparitive description, giving us aglimpse into the vitality of ethnic religiosity. Interpretive chapters addanalysis of such important themes as women's roles, language conflicts,socializing the second generation, and the reproduction of ethnicity. Thisbook is required reading for an appreciation of the enormous religiousdiversity that already exists in the United States. — Meredith McGuire
Phillip Hammond
The Immigration and Reform Act of 1965 created a wave of immigration similar to the waves of the 19th and early 20th Century. Unlike those earlier waves, which were overwhelmingly from Europe, immigrants since 1965 are largely from Asia, Latin America, and the Arab world. Ebaugh and Chafetz, both Professors of Sociology at the University of Houston, have capitalized on their location in one of the major gateway cities for these recent immigrants to make this fascinating study of new immigrant religions. This is done in two ways, each valuable in itself, but the whole is greater than the sum of the parts: The parts are thirteen case studies of immigrant congregations plus thematic chapters that analyze and compare. The result is thus richly descriptive but also theoretically fulfilling, a valuable contribution to the religion-and-immigration literature. — Phillip Hammond
Robert Wuthnow
This is a strong contribution to our understanding of the dynamics ofAmerican religion. Ebaugh and Chafetz and their colleagues have boldlytackled the puzzling complexity of new immigrant religions--and managedto make sense of them. Their secret is combining close-up observationsin a dozen congregations with a comparative focus that sorts outdominant themes and trends. Students of immigration will want to readthis book to see what they have missed by ignoring religion. Scholarsinterested in religion will find it must-reading for their own teachingand research. — Robert Wuthnow
