Alejandro Portes – författare

Certain cities—most famously New York, London, and Tokyo—have been identified as “global cities,” whose function in the world economy transcends national borders. Without the same fanfare, formerly peripheral and secondary cities have been growing in importance, emerging as global cities in their own right. The striking similarity of the skylines of Dubai, Miami, and Singapore is no coincidence: despite following different historical paths, all three have achieved newfound prominence through parallel trends.In this groundbreaking book, Alejandro Portes and Ariel C. Armony demonstrate how the rapid and unexpected rise of these three cities recasts global urban studies. They identify the constellation of factors that allow certain urban places to become “emerging global cities”—centers of commerce, finance, art, and culture for entire regions. The book traces the transformations of Dubai, Miami, and Singapore, identifying key features common to these emerging global cities. It contrasts them with “global hopefuls,” cities that, at one point or another, aspired to become global, and analyzes how Hong Kong is threatened with the loss of this status. Portes and Armony highlight the importance of climate change to the prospects of emerging global cities, showing how the same economic system that propelled their rise now imperils their future. Emerging Global Cities provides a powerful new framework for understanding the role of peripheral cities in the world economy and how they compete for and sometimes achieve global standing.

Certain cities—most famously New York, London, and Tokyo—have been identified as “global cities,” whose function in the world economy transcends national borders. Without the same fanfare, formerly peripheral and secondary cities have been growing in importance, emerging as global cities in their own right. The striking similarity of the skylines of Dubai, Miami, and Singapore is no coincidence: despite following different historical paths, all three have achieved newfound prominence through parallel trends.In this groundbreaking book, Alejandro Portes and Ariel C. Armony demonstrate how the rapid and unexpected rise of these three cities recasts global urban studies. They identify the constellation of factors that allow certain urban places to become “emerging global cities”—centers of commerce, finance, art, and culture for entire regions. The book traces the transformations of Dubai, Miami, and Singapore, identifying key features common to these emerging global cities. It contrasts them with “global hopefuls,” cities that, at one point or another, aspired to become global, and analyzes how Hong Kong is threatened with the loss of this status. Portes and Armony highlight the importance of climate change to the prospects of emerging global cities, showing how the same economic system that propelled their rise now imperils their future. Emerging Global Cities provides a powerful new framework for understanding the role of peripheral cities in the world economy and how they compete for and sometimes achieve global standing.

Much research on the city in developing societies has focused mainly on one of three areas-planning, demography, or economics-and has emphasized either power elites or the masses, but not both. The published literature on Latin America has reflected these interests and has so far failed to provide a comprehensive view of Latin American urbanization. Urban Latin America is an attempt to integrate research on Latin American social organization within a single theoretical framework: development as fundamentally a political problem. Alejandro Portes and John Walton have included material on both elites and marginal populations and on the three major areas of research in order to formulate and address some of the key questions about the structure of urban politics in Latin America. Following an introduction that delineates the scope of Latin American urban studies, Portes discusses the Latin American city as a creation of European colonialism. He goes on to examine political behavior among the poor, with central reference to system support and countersystem potential. Walton provides material for a comparative study of four cities: Monterrey and Guadalajara in Mexico and MedellÍn and Cali in Colombia. He also summarizes a large number of urban elite studies and develops a theoretical interpretation of their collective results, based on class structure and vertical integration. Material in each chapter is cross-referenced to other chapters, and the authors have used a common methodological approach in synthesizing and interpreting the research literature. In the final chapter they generalize current findings, elaborating on the interface between elite and mass politics in the urban situation. They make some observations on approaching changes and pinpoint possible research strategies for the future.

This book brings together the most recent and the most comprehensive collection of articles on a population at risk: the children of immigrants in the United States, especially those children whose parents came to the country without legal authorization. The end of compassion and the shift to temporary migration to source the labour needs of the American economy have brought in their wake a series of consequences, some of which were predictable and others unexpected. The chapters fully document the nature and implications of the enforcement initiatives implemented by the American government in recent years and their interaction with state policies and local contexts of reception. This collection provides an exhaustive testimony of the severe conditions faced by unauthorized migrant families and their children today and their repercussions in both countries of origin and those where they currently live. The End of Compassion will be of interest to researchers and academics studying migration in the United States and ethnic and racial studies, and to advanced students of sociology, public policy, law and political science. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies.

This book brings together the most recent and the most comprehensive collection of articles on a population at risk: the children of immigrants in the United States, especially those children whose parents came to the country without legal authorization. The end of compassion and the shift to temporary migration to source the labour needs of the American economy have brought in their wake a series of consequences, some of which were predictable and others unexpected. The chapters fully document the nature and implications of the enforcement initiatives implemented by the American government in recent years and their interaction with state policies and local contexts of reception. This collection provides an exhaustive testimony of the severe conditions faced by unauthorized migrant families and their children today and their repercussions in both countries of origin and those where they currently live. The End of Compassion will be of interest to researchers and academics studying migration in the United States and ethnic and racial studies, and to advanced students of sociology, public policy, law and political science. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies.

This pioneering volume represents the culmination of state-of-the-art research whose purpose was to investigate the relationship between health care and immigration in the USA - two broken systems in need of reform. This volume sets out to answer the question: how do medical institutions address the needs of individuals and families who are poor, lacking English fluency, and often devoid of legal documents? The book provides an examination of the challenges faced by institutions aiming to serve impoverished people and communities desperately in need of help. It represents a comprehensive portrayal of two institutional arrangements affecting the lives of millions on a daily basis.Health Care and Immigration offers accounts of the alternative paths used by immigrants to bypass dominant health-care organizations, and regional variations in health-care; the evolution and character of health-care legislation; factors explaining the persistence of altruistic institutions in a market economy, as well as the parts played by local legislation and social networks; and changes resulting from migration that affect the health of immigrants. This volume will be an invaluable resource for academics, researchers and students, as well as public officials addressing the health care needs of disadvantaged groups.This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

"Latin Journey" details an eight-year study of Mexican and Cuban immigrants.

'The authors reveal how the Cuban success story has transformed the character of Miami while delineating more sharply the identity of other ethnic communities' - "New York Times Book Review". 'Makes a case for the importance of political capital ...in building ethnic solidarity' - "Contemporary Sociology".

One out of five Americans, more than 55 million people, are first-or second-generation immigrants. This landmark study, the most comprehensive to date, probes all aspects of the new immigrant second generation's lives, exploring their immense potential to transform American society for better or worse. Whether this new generation reinvigorates the nation or deepens its social problems depends on the social and economic trajectories of this still young population. In "Legacies", Alejandro Portes and Ruben G. Rumbaut - two of the leading figures in the field - provide a close look at this rising second generation, including their patterns of acculturation, family and school life, language, identity, experiences of discrimination, self-esteem, ambition, and achievement. Based on the largest research study of its kind, "Legacies" combines vivid vignettes with a wealth of survey and school data.Accessible, engaging, and indispensable for any consideration of the changing face of American society, this book presents a wide range of real-life stories of immigrant families - from Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad, the Philippines, China, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam - now living in Miami and San Diego, two of the areas most heavily affected by the new immigration. The authors explore the world of second-generation youth, looking at patterns of parent-child conflict and cohesion within immigrant families, the role of peer groups and school subcultures, the factors that affect the children's academic achievement, and much more. A companion volume to "Legacies", entitled "Ethnicities: Children of Immigrants in America", was published by California in Fall 2001. Edited by the authors of "Legacies", this book will bring together some of the country's leading scholars of immigration and ethnicity to provide a close look at this rising second generation. It is a co-publication with the Russell Sage Foundation.

The new immigration to the United States is unprecedented in its diversity of color, class, and cultural origins. Over the past few decades, the racial and ethnic composition and stratification of the American population - as well as the social meanings of race, ethnicity, and American identity - have fundamentally changed. "Ethnicities", a companion volume to Ruben G. Rumbaut's and Alejandro Portes's "Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation", brings together some of the country's leading scholars of immigration and ethnicity to examine the lives and trajectories of the children of today's immigrants. The emerging ethnic groups of the United States in the 21st century are being formed in this process, with potentially profound societal impacts. Whether this new ethnic mosaic reinvigorates the nation or spells a quantum leap in its social problems depends on the social and economic incorporation of this still young population. The contributors to this volume probe systematically and in depth the adaptation patterns and trajectories of concrete ethnic groups.They provide a close look at this rising second generation by focusing on youth of diverse national origins - Mexican, Cuban, Nicaraguan, Filipino, Vietnamese, Haitian, Jamaican and other West Indian - coming of age in immigrant families on both coasts of the United States. Their analyses draw on the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study, the largest research project of its kind to date. "Ethnicities" demonstrates that, while some of the ethnic groups being created by the new immigration are in a clear upward path, moving into society's mainstream in record time, others are headed toward a path of blocked aspirations and downward mobility. The book concludes with an essay summarizing the main findings, discussing their implications, and identifying specific lessons for theory and policy. This is a Copublication with the Russell Sage Foundation.

What leads to national progress? The growing consensus in the social sciences is that neither capital flows, nor the savings rate, nor diffuse values are the key, but that it lies in the quality of a nation's institutions. This book is the first comparative study of how real institutions affect national development. It seeks to examine and deepen this insight through a systematic study of institutions in five Latin American countries and how they differ within and across nations. Postal systems, stock exchanges, public health services and others were included in the sample, all studied with the same methodology. The country chapters present detailed results of this empirical exercise for each individual country. The introductory chapters present the theoretical framework and research methodology for the full study. The summary results of this ambitious study presented in the concluding chapter draw comparisons across countries and discuss what these results mean for national development in Latin America.

Much like the United States, the countries of Western Europe have experienced massive immigration in the last three decades. Spain, in particular, has been transformed from an immigrant-exporting country to one receiving hundreds of thousands of new immigrants. Today, almost 13 percent of the country's population is foreign-born. Spanish Legacies, written by internationally known experts on immigration, explores how the children of immigrants-the second generation-are coping with the challenges of adaptation to Spanish society, comparing their experiences with those of their peers in the United States. Using a rich data set based on both survey and ethnographic material, Spanish Legacies describes the experiences of growing up by the large population of second-generation youths in Spain and the principal outcomes of the process-from national self-identification and experiences of discrimination to educational attainment and labor-market entry. The study is based on a sample of almost 7,000 second-generation students who were interviewed in Madrid and Barcelona in 2008 and then followed and re-interviewed four years later.A survey of immigrant parents, a replacement sample for lost respondents in the second survey, and a survey of native-parentage students complement this rich data set. Outcomes of the adaptation process in Spain are systematically presented in five chapters, introduced by real-life histories of selected respondents drawn by the study's ethnographic module. Systematic comparisons with results from the United States show a number of surprising similarities in the adaptation of children of immigrants in both countries, as well as differences marked by contrasting experiences of discrimination, self-identities, and ambition.

Much like the United States, the countries of Western Europe have experienced massive immigration in the last three decades. Spain, in particular, has been transformed from an immigrant-exporting country to one receiving hundreds of thousands of new immigrants. Today, almost 13 percent of the country's population is foreign-born. Spanish Legacies, written by internationally known experts on immigration, explores how the children of immigrants-the second generation-are coping with the challenges of adaptation to Spanish society, comparing their experiences with those of their peers in the United States. Using a rich data set based on both survey and ethnographic material, Spanish Legacies describes the experiences of growing up by the large population of second-generation youths in Spain and the principal outcomes of the process-from national self-identification and experiences of discrimination to educational attainment and labor-market entry. The study is based on a sample of almost 7,000 second-generation students who were interviewed in Madrid and Barcelona in 2008 and then followed and re-interviewed four years later.A survey of immigrant parents, a replacement sample for lost respondents in the second survey, and a survey of native-parentage students complement this rich data set. Outcomes of the adaptation process in Spain are systematically presented in five chapters, introduced by real-life histories of selected respondents drawn by the study's ethnographic module. Systematic comparisons with results from the United States show a number of surprising similarities in the adaptation of children of immigrants in both countries, as well as differences marked by contrasting experiences of discrimination, self-identities, and ambition.

Over the last quarter century, no other city like Miami has rapidly transformed into a global city. The Global Edge charts the social tensions and unexpected consequences of this remarkable process of change. Acting as a follow-up to the highly successful City on the Edge, The Global Edge examines Miami in the context of globalization and scrutinizes its newfound place as a major international city. Written by two well-known scholars in the field, the book examines Miami’s rise as a finance and banking center and the simultaneous emergence of a highly diverse but contentious ethnic mosaic. The Global Edge serves as a case study of Miami’s present cultural, economic, and political transformation, and describes how its future course can provide key lessons for other metropolitan areas throughout the world.

Over the last quarter century, no other city like Miami has rapidly transformed into a global city. The Global Edge charts the social tensions and unexpected consequences of this remarkable process of change. Acting as a follow-up to the highly successful City on the Edge, The Global Edge examines Miami in the context of globalization and scrutinizes its newfound place as a major international city. Written by two well-known scholars in the field, the book examines Miami’s rise as a finance and banking center and the simultaneous emergence of a highly diverse but contentious ethnic mosaic. The Global Edge serves as a case study of Miami’s present cultural, economic, and political transformation, and describes how its future course can provide key lessons for other metropolitan areas throughout the world.

This revised and updated fifth edition of Immigrant America: A Portrait provides a comprehensive and current overview of immigration to the United States, including its history, the principal theories seeking to account for its diverse origins, the main types of immigrants, and the various forms of immigrants' incorporation within American society.With the latest available data, Immigrant America further explores the economic, political, regional, linguistic, and religious aspects of immigration. It offers detailed analyses of the adaptation process experienced by adult children of immigrants and adds an updated and expanded concluding chapter on changing immigration policy regimes both past and present.

This revised and updated fifth edition of Immigrant America: A Portrait provides a comprehensive and current overview of immigration to the United States, including its history, the principal theories seeking to account for its diverse origins, the main types of immigrants, and the various forms of immigrants' incorporation within American society.With the latest available data, Immigrant America further explores the economic, political, regional, linguistic, and religious aspects of immigration. It offers detailed analyses of the adaptation process experienced by adult children of immigrants and adds an updated and expanded concluding chapter on changing immigration policy regimes both past and present.

The sociological study of economic activity has witnessed a significant resurgence. Recent texts have chronicled economic sociology's nineteenth-century origins while pointing to the importance of context and power in economic life, yet the field lacks a clear understanding of the role that concepts at different levels of abstraction play in its organization. Economic Sociology fills this critical gap by surveying the current state of the field while advancing a framework for further theoretical development. Alejandro Portes examines economic sociology's principal assumptions, key explanatory concepts, and selected research sites. He argues that economic activity is embedded in social and cultural relations, but also that power and the unintended consequences of rational purposive action must be factored in when seeking to explain or predict economic behavior. Drawing upon a wealth of examples, Portes identifies three strategic sites of research--the informal economy, ethnic enclaves, and transnational communities--and he eschews grand narratives in favor of mid-range theories that help us understand specific kinds of social action.The book shows how the meta-assumptions of economic sociology can be transformed, under certain conditions, into testable propositions, and puts forward a theoretical agenda aimed at moving the field out of its present impasse.

A New York roofer requests payment in cash. A Bogota car mechanic sets up "shop" on a quiet side street. Four Mexican immigrants assemble semiconductors in a San Diego home. A Leningrad doctor sells needed medicine to a desperate patient. All are part of a growing worldwide phenomenon that is widely known but little understood. The informal or underground economy is thriving today, not only in the Third World countries where it was first reported and studied but also in Eastern Europe and the developed nations of the West. The Informal Economy is the first book to bring together studies from all three of these settings and to integrate them into a coherent theoretical framework. Taking an international perspective, the authors dispel a number of misconceptions about the informal economy. They make clear, for instance, that it is not solely a province of the poor. Cutting across social strata, it reflects a political and economic realignment between employers and workers and a shift in the regulatory mission of the government. Throughout, the authors' theoretical observations serve not only to unify material from diverse sources but also to map out directions for further research.

The Urban Caribbean studies urbanization in five countries-Costa Rica, Haiti, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica-during the 1980s and 1990s when the region's economy shifted from one heavily dependent on imports to one directed more to producing exports. This shift caused producers and entrepreneurs to rely more on microenterprises, thus challenging the informal economy networks of the central cities. Sociologist Alejandro Portes and the other contributors use rich, in-depth data to examine both qualitative and quantitative changes in these five countries. Their research method allows them to make generalizations applicable to all five economies while retaining the concreteness of the similarities and differences that make each country unique. "This volume is an incentive to other collaborative efforts to chart the paths taken by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean as they seek to accommodate to the new global political and economic context...The message of the volume is a convincing one. Because of similarities in the trends affecting countries of the region and policy debates, each country can benefit from the experiences of the others.However, the differences in political structure and in the nature of citizenship mean that social and economic policy debates must take into account the national context."-from the Foreword, by Bryan Roberts, University of Texas-Austin

What does it mean to speak of 'national development' in the 1990s? As a result of the tumultuous changes in global economic and political structures, scholars and policymakers specializing in the study of national development must reassess the interpretive models they have relied upon in the past. This book brings together essays by a distinguished group of social scientists that address the dilemmas facing development theory today. These essays, grounded in sociological research, reclaim the important role once played by sociological theory in development studies. The collection provides an overview of traditional theories of development, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, and identifies the new actors, issues, and processes that future analysis must address. The essays discuss the impact of technological innovations in production and commerce, the changing relations of states and markets, regional development inequalities, and the emergence of new social groups as participants in development processes. from the book Contents: 'Sociology and Development in the 1990s: Critical Challenges and Empirical Trends,' by A. Douglas Kincaid and Alejandro Portes 'Rethinking Development Theory: Insights from East Asia and Latin America,' by Gary Gereffi 'The New Dependency: Technological Change and Socioeconomic Restructuring in Latin America,' by Manuel Castells and Roberto Laserna 'Predatory, Developmental, and Other Apparatuses: A Comparative Political Economy Perspective on the Third World State,' by Peter B. Evans 'Regional Development Theory and the Subordination of Extractive Peripheries,' by Stephen G. Bunker 'Broadening the Scope: Gender and International Economic Development,' by M. Patricia Fernández Kelly 'Path Dependence and Privatization Strategies in East Central Europe,' by David Stark 'Urbanization, Development, and the Household,' by Bryan R. Roberts

This book offers a systematic historical analysis of the relationships between migration and the development of cities, including their physical, economic, and cultural evolution.The volume results from a comparative project that examines the interface between migration and the development of cities throughout different periods including current conditions. Nine strategic sites are examined: Three cities in Europe, three in Latin America and three in North America. The editors contribute to the analysis by summarizing lessons from the cases discussed and by providing a glimpse at the relevance of the study of migration and cities historically.Urbanization and Migration in Three Continents will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and students of sociology, migration studies, race and ethnic studies, history, anthropology, urban studies, and economics. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

This book offers a systematic historical analysis of the relationships between migration and the development of cities, including their physical, economic, and cultural evolution.The volume results from a comparative project that examines the interface between migration and the development of cities throughout different periods including current conditions. Nine strategic sites are examined: Three cities in Europe, three in Latin America and three in North America. The editors contribute to the analysis by summarizing lessons from the cases discussed and by providing a glimpse at the relevance of the study of migration and cities historically.Urbanization and Migration in Three Continents will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and students of sociology, migration studies, race and ethnic studies, history, anthropology, urban studies, and economics. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

This pioneering volume represents the culmination of state-of-the-art research whose purpose was to investigate the relationship between health care and immigration in the USA - two broken systems in need of reform. This volume sets out to answer the question: how do medical institutions address the needs of individuals and families who are poor, lacking English fluency, and often devoid of legal documents? The book provides an examination of the challenges faced by institutions aiming to serve impoverished people and communities desperately in need of help. It represents a comprehensive portrayal of two institutional arrangements affecting the lives of millions on a daily basis.Health Care and Immigration offers accounts of the alternative paths used by immigrants to bypass dominant health-care organizations, and regional variations in health-care; the evolution and character of health-care legislation; factors explaining the persistence of altruistic institutions in a market economy, as well as the parts played by local legislation and social networks; and changes resulting from migration that affect the health of immigrants. This volume will be an invaluable resource for academics, researchers and students, as well as public officials addressing the health care needs of disadvantaged groups.This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Whereas most migration literature focuses on individuals and their families, this book studies the organizations created by immigrants to protect themselves in their receiving states. Comparing eighteen of these grassroots organizations formed across the world, from India and Colombia to Vietnam and the Congo, researchers from the United States, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Spain focus their studies on the internal structure and activities of these organizations as they relate to developmental initiatives. The book outlines the principal positions in the migration and development debate and discusses the concept of transnationalism as a means to resolve these controversies.

Whereas most of the literature on migration focuses on individuals and their families, this book studies the organizations created by immigrants to protect themselves in their receiving states. Comparing eighteen of these grassroots organizations formed across the world, from India to Colombia to Vietnam to the Congo, researchers from the United States, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Spain focus their studies on the internal structure and activities of these organizations as they relate to developmental initiatives. The book outlines the principal positions in the migration and development debate and discusses the concept of transnationalism as a means of resolving these controversies.

With the increasing worldwide problems of migration, research into its causes and effects become ever more urgent. This volume takes stock of recent advancements that social science research in both Europe and the United States has made to understanding central aspects of international migration. The focus is on conceptual, methodological, and theoretical contributions that have emerged out of empirical research with regard to state policies and interests toward migration, dual citizenship, incorporation, transnational ties, entrepreneurship, illegal migration, intergenerational incorporation, and religion. No other publication brings the scholarship together in a similarly comprehensive manner, showing how the different approaches on each continent complement and speak to one another, thus contributing to the internationalization of migration studies.