The Boundaries of Belonging

"Theoretically rooted in the strong program of cultural analysis, this volume provides timely, innovative and compelling insight into the U.S. immigration battle. Through painstaking analysis of online texts and visuals, Jaworsky fleshes out symbolic boundary work by movement organizations on both sides of the struggle as they seek to maintain, shift, or reconstruct the meaning and criteria of citizenship. This is a must read for immigration, social movement, and cultural sociology scholars." (Anne Kane, University of Houston-Downtown, USA) "The successes of Donald Trump in the USA and extreme right parties in Europe remind us that conflicts over national belonging continue to be a major force in contemporary politics. By examining immigrant rights and the immigration control movements, Jaworsky shows how these adversaries determine rules for who deserves to be included (or excluded) from the national community. This book is fascinating, well written, and theoretically challenging. It will be of great interest to anybody concerned with the politics of immigration and national identity." (Dr. Walter J. Nicholls, Associate Professor, University of California, Irvine, USA) "Cultural sociology, migration studies, and social movement research have been-until now-largely segregated and even hostile intellectual worlds. Jaworsky has brought them together and created an original, powerful framework. This book will benefit anyone who wants to understand how symbolic boundaries are created, solicited, shifted, and contested." (Giuseppe Sciortino, Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Italy)

Increasingly, such debates take place online, by organizations in the immigrant rights and the immigration control movements, who engage in symbolic work that includes blurring, crossing, maintaining, solidifying, and shifting the boundaries of belonging.This book addresses an issue currently making political headlines in the United States—immigration. Immigrants have long engendered debates about the boundaries of belonging, with some singing their praises and others warning of their dangers. In particular, the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the country provoke heated disagreements with issues of legality and morality at the forefront. Increasingly, such debates take place online, by organizations in the immigrant rights and the immigration control movements, who engage in symbolic work that includes blurring, crossing, maintaining, solidifying, and shifting the boundaries of belonging. Based on data collected from 29 national-level groups, this book features a cultural sociological analysis of the online materials deployed by social movement organizations debating immigration in the United States.