Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2015
In recent years, immigration researchers have increasingly drawn on the
concept of social capital and the role of social networks to understand
the dynamics of immigrant experiences. How can they help to explain what
brings migrants from some countries to others, or why members of
different immigrant groups experience widely varying outcomes in their
community settings, occupational opportunities, and educational
outcomes?
This timely book examines the major issues in social capital research,
showing how economic and social contexts shape networks in the process
of migration, and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of this approach
to the study of international migration. By drawing on a broad range of
examples from major immigrant groups, the book takes network-based
social capital theory out of the realm of abstraction and reveals the
insights it offers.
Written in a readily comprehensible, jargon-free style, Immigrant
Networks and Social Capital is appropriate for undergraduate and
graduate classes in international migration, networks, and political and
social theory in general. It provides both a theoretical synthesis for
professional social scientists and a clear introduction to network
approaches to social capital for students, policy-makers, and anyone
interested in contemporary social trends and issues.
