PROYECTO DE VIDA

It is not the purpose of this thesis to argue the respective merits of pl u r a l i s m or mo n i s m as long-term

social objectives. The extent to w h i c h a giv e n society should tolerate d i v e rsity or insist on h o m o g e n e i t y is an ethical and political decision w h i c h is be y o n d the scope of this study. Certain general observations about the actual situations in w h i c h migrants find themselves may be made, however. It seems realistic to expect that there is a considerable degree of p l u r a l i s m in any complex industrial society (that is, any society of the k i n d that nor m a l l y attracts migrants). In such societies multiple differences of social and cultural behaviour are associated

1

The polemic dispute in the U n i t e d States b e t w e e n pluralists and monists (who themselves may be divided into two schools, the 'a n g l o - c o n f o r m i s t s ', who believe migrants should adopt the values and b e h aviour appropriate to the 'a n g l o - s a x o n ’ host society, and the advocates of the 'melting-pot' theory, who b e l i e v e that b o t h hosts and migrants should develop a new, but homogeneous, synthesis of values and behaviour) is described in Gordon:

A s s i m i l a t i o n and A m e r i c a n L i f e , 1964. 2

Two recent A m e r i c a n studies of the latter type are Glazer & Moynihan: B e y o n d the M e l t i n g P o t , I963;

and Kennedy: Single or Triple M e l t i n g Pot? Intermarriage T rends in New Haven, 187O-I940' in A m e r i c a n Journal of

22

with, such factors as socioeconomic status and r e g i o n of residence; and pluralism of another k i n d results from the original cultural diversity of different ethnic categories. In pluralistic societies migrants cannot e ven approach a state of assimil a t i o n w i t h hosts in general because the host society itself contains a number of different sub­ cultures, each w i t h distinctive patterns of behaviour.

However, assimil a t i o n may be r e garded as a process in w h i c h the b e h a v i o u r and values of migrants tend to become indistinguishable from those members of the host

society w i t h w h o m they are res i d e n t ially and economi c a l l y involved (though under this d e f i n i t i o n there can be no assimilation if migrants live in a residential and

economic enclave w i t h i n the society). A migrant living in a rural area can be r e garded as a s s i milated to the extent to w h i c h his behaviour and values conform to those of the host residents of the area. A migrant who is a construction w o r k e r can be r e g a r d e d as assimilated to the extent to w h i c h he shares the b e h a v i o u r and v alues of members of the host society who have the same occupation, or an equivalent occupation in terms of income and social status. In other words, even in a pluralistic society, there are collectivities w h i c h are sufficiently

homogeneous to act as host societies for migrants who

come into contact w i t h them; and these collectivities need not be e n tirely devoid of internal diversity.

Some Approa c h e s to the Study of A s s i m i l a t i o n

A n y study of migrants, or of host - m i g r a n t relations, has a theoretical o r i e n t a t i o n w h i c h is r e l a t e d to its methods and to the aspects of the lives of migrants and hosts w h i c h are described. In this sect i o n various

approaches w h i c h have b e e n adopted w ill be discussed, in ascending order of theoretical sophistication.

Some studies consist princ i p a l l y of statistical

comparisons b e t w e e n selected ethnic categories and the host society. Differentials b e t w e e n categories are taken to indicate the extent of a s s i m i l a t i o n for the characteristic concerned.^ The rationale for this a p p r o a c h appears to be simply that an assimilated ethnic c ategory is one which does not differ significantly from the host society. Studies of this k i n d provide valuable data, but they contribute little towards explaining how the process of assimilation takes place, or how its future course may be predicted.

Some writers have dev e l o p e d typologies of migrants or groups of migrants. For example, J e a n M a r t i n concludes her study of refugee settlers in A u s t r a l i a w i t h a description

2

of various migrant types; and in his study of migrants in the Latrobe V a l l e y area, Zubrzycki distinguishes two

3

different types of migrant community. In effect, such typologies are means of evaluating and schematising

clusters of differentials. T h e y go b e y o n d the aggregate differential a p proach b y attempting to show how the

characteristics of particular types of migrants interact in the process of assimilation, and h o w they determine the stage in the process that individual migrants may have

1

D o r o t h y S. Thomas has done a considerable amoung of w o r k in this field, b e g i n n i n g w i t h Thomas: 'Research Me m o r a n d u m on M i g r a t i o n Differentials' in Social Science R e s e a r c h

Council B u l l e t i n, No. 4 3 , 1 9 3 8 * Similar approaches have been u s e d in Borrie: Italians and Germ a n s in A u s t r a l i a ,

1954,

i960.

2

Martin: R e f u g e e S e t t l e r s , 1965*

Zubrzycki: Settlers in the Latrobe V a l l e y , 1964.

2k

reached. In this respect the typological approach is similar to studies of the stages in the process of assimilation.

More complex theoretical approaches can be seen in attempts to carry out detailed studies of the social relationships existing w i t h i n migrant populations. Many of these studies make use of such techniques as differentials, typologies or ass i m i l a t i o n sequences, but they are p r i n c i p a l l y concerned w i t h the range and type

2

of interaction b e t w e e n migrants. Such studies are

particularly interesting for their analyses of the social institutions w h i c h migrants create in their new environment, and of the ways in w h i c h they meet the challenge of

3

'restructuring' their social relationships. Thomas and Znaniecki devote a considerable p r o p o r t i o n of their lengthy, classic study of Polish immigrants in the U n i t e d States to

1

See, for example, Taft's sequence of integration in Taft: F r o m Stranger to C i t i z e n , 1965> (discussed below, pp.29~3l);

and Price's sequence of migrant groups in different stages of chain migration in Price: Southern Europeans in

Aus tral j a ,

1963

See, for example, studies of the lives of rural A fricans coming to the towns of Central and S o u t h e r n A frica such as Mitchell: 'The K a l e l a D a n c e ' , R h o d e s - L i v i n g s t o n e P a p e r , No. 27, I

956

C o m m u n i t y , I

958

, 19^-8;

I961.

3

For discu s s i o n of the concept of 'restructuring' social relations, see Banton: 'The R e s t r u c t u r i n g of Social

Relationships' in Southall: Social Change in Modern A f r i c a ,

similar considerations. B y this means the processes by

w h i c h migrant communities are created w i t h i n the host society are uncovered, as well as the factors w h i c h hinder

assimilation and encourage continued d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n between migrants and hosts.

However, a study of the factors w h i c h hinder

assimilation often involves the study of prejudice and discrimination on the part of the host society, as well as the study of the migrants themselves. Moreover, as this thesis argues, a s s i m i l a t i o n can be rega r d e d in almost all cases as the outcome of interaction b e t w e e n migrants and hosts, and from this point of view it involves some study of the host society as well as the study of migrants. There are to date c omparatively few studies of a s similation w h i c h have discussed the relations b e t w e e n migrants and

2

hosts, but it seems likely that this w i l l be the a p proach w h i c h w i l l u l t i m a t e l y identify the major factors involved in the process of assimilation. The studies of migrant-host relations w h i c h have b e e n carried out so far mainly consist of description, w i t h detailed analyses of concrete

situations but no general theory that s a t isfactorily articulates the different variables involved.

While descriptive studies of assi m i l a t i o n have been beco m i n g more t heoretically sophisticated, f ormal theories of a s s imilation have become more complex and less coherent as a result of their attempts to take into account the mass of available descriptive material.

1

See Thomas & Znaniecki: The P olish Peasant in Europe and A m e r i c a , 2nd. ed. 1927*

2

A n example of such a study is Re x & Moore: Race, Com m u n i t y and C o n f 1 i c t , 1967«

2 6

The theory of the 'race-relations cycle’ formulated by

Park and Burgess’*" was the first formal statement of the

possible stages of assimilation and the processes by which

they might be linked; and it is much simpler than later

ones.

The theory states that whenever two or more ethnic

groups come to live in the same place, their relationships

will pass through a cycle of

I.

Peaceful contact;

II.

Competition for scarce resources;

III.

Conflict as a result of campetition;

IV.

Accommodation (a modus vivendi,

sometimes based on the acceptance

by one group of inferior status,

and sometimes on the physical and

social separation of the two groups);

V.

Assimilation, by which Park and

Burgess mean intermixture and