Title: Disenchanting citizenship : Mexican migrants and the boundaries of belonging /
Authors: Plascencia, Luis F. B.
Publisher: Rutgers University Press,
Year: 2012
Subjects: Mexican Americans Ethnic identity; Mexican Americans Civil rights; Mexican Americans Social conditions; Mexicans Migrations.; Citizenship United States; Noncitizens United States; United States Politics and government.; United States Ethnic relations.; United States Emigration and immigration Government policy.
Abstract: "Disenchanting citizenship explores the meaning of U.S. citizenship through the experience of a unique group of Mexican migrants who were granted Temporary Status under the 'legalization' provisions of the 1986 IRCA, attained Lawful Permanent Residency, and later became U.S. citizens. Luis F.B. Plascencia integrates an extensive and multifaceted collection of interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, ethno-historical research, and public policy analysis in examining efforts to promote the acquisition of citizenship, the teaching of citizenship classes, and naturalization ceremonies. Ultimately, he unearths citizenship's root as a Janus-faced construct that encompasses a simultaneous process of inclusion and exclusion. This notion of citizenship is mapped on to the migrant experience, with the surprising result that the acquisition of citizenship can lead to disenchantment with the very status desired. In the end, Plascencia expands our understanding of the dynamics of U.S. citizenship as a form of membership and belonging."--Page 4 of cover.
Contents: Introduction: locating citizenships -- Fields of citizenship -- The Janus face of citizenship: the side of inclusion -- The Janus face of citizenship: the side of exclusion -- The making of citizens: promoting and schooling -- Bearing true faith and allegiance: entering the circle of citizenship -- Desire, sacrifice, and disenchantment -- Epilogue: the boundaries of birth and power.