Strangers No More: Immigration and the Challenges of Integration in North America and Western Europe

Richard Alba and Nancy Foner have written what will undoubtedly become the 'go to' book for comparisons of immigration on both sides of the Atlantic. Clearly written, meticulously researched, and insightfully analyzed, Strangers No More: Immigration and the Challenges of Integration in North America and Western Europe helps readers easily capture the broad mechanisms driving migration and integration today. Alba and Foner compare the United States and Canada, two big, settler societies that have long thought of themselves as countries of immigration, with Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Germany, which have all experienced significant immigration since World War II. They focus on 'low status' groups (i.e. Mexicans in the United States, North Africans in France, and Turks in Germany) They want to know 'the extent to which immigrants and their children are able to participate in mainstream institutions in ways that position them to advance socially and materially' (p. 8) Their analysis unfolds against the backdrop of ongoing debates about (1) the strength and impact of national models of integration, (2) the effect of political economic factors, (3) the accepted wisdom that traditional settler societies do better at integrating immigrants, (4) the idea that the United States has been 'exceptional' in its ability to integrate immigrants, and (5) the idea that ultimately national differences will wane because of policy convergence. How integration and social mobility play out, Alba and Foner argue, has highstakes consequences for the twenty first century. The book opens with profiles of different immigrants who have traveled to these distinct shores and of the different policies and institutions meant to aid their integration. The next chapters examine economic integration and residential integration before the authors turn to untangling the different ways that race and religion influence immigrant trajectories. The rest of the book looks at political integration, particularly the extent to which politicians from immigrant backgrounds have infiltrated the halls of political power and the experiences of the children of immigrants, with a focus on their educational performance and feelings of belonging. It concludes with an even handed summary of the findings and an analysis of their significance for policy moving forward. I found the comparison of race and religion as comparative crucibles particularly thought provoking. The argument, put very simply, is that race is a higher and brighter social and symbolic boundary in the United States and religion matters more in Europe. The legacy of slavery in the United States produced enduring inequalities between blacks and whites, which have been partially offset by the civil rights movement, affirmative action, and voting rights legislation (although the latter has been recently eviscerated) Because large numbers of blacks migrated to Canada and Europe a relatively short time ago, they did not share the 'same sordid racial history. People of immigration origin with African ancestry have been able to integrate more successfully, using measures of residential segregation and intermarriage. On the other hand, recently arrived racialized groups will not have recourse to the same institutions and policies that have aided blacks in the United States. In Europe, by comparison, coming to grips with large numbers of Muslim immigrants has taken center stage. According to Alba and Foner, 'a combination of factors religious similarity between natives and immigrants, Muslim immigrants' socioeconomic status, the religiosity of the native majority, and historically rooted institutional structures explain why religion is less of a barrier to inclusion of immigrant minorities in the United States than in Western Europe. The Canadian case also points to the role of state institutions and identities in creating difficulties for the incorporation of religious minorities' (p. 140) The authors are cautiously optimistic however, arguing that 712 Reviews