Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 200
Trim: 7 x 9¼
978-0-7425-1957-2 • Hardback • December 2004 • $117.00 • (£90.00)
978-0-7425-1958-9 • Paperback • November 2004 • $50.00 • (£38.00)
Amir Marvasti is an Iranian-American. He was born in Tehran and moved to the United States in 1983 to escape the Iran-Iraq war. He is assistant professor of sociology at Penn State Altoona. His research interests include race and ethnicity, deviance, and social theory. He is the author of Being Homeless: Textual and Narrative Constructions and Qualitative Research in Sociology. His current research focuses on the immigration experiences of Middle Eastern Americans.
Karyn D. McKinney is assistant professor of sociology at Penn State Altoona. Her research interests include race, ethnicity, gender and identity. Her publications include The Many Costs of Racism (with Joe Feagin, Rowman and Littlefield, 2003), an article with Feagin and Kevin Early appearing in The Indiana Law Review (2001), and chapters on whiteness, race and pedagogy in edited books. Her current work includes a book on young whites' understandings of race and racism (forthcoming, Routledge).
Chapter 1 How They Came to America and Where They Are Today
Chapter 2 Stereotypes of Islam and the Dubious Link with Terrorism
Chapter 3 "Us" Versus "Them"
Chapter 4 The Stigma of Brown Skin and "Foreign" Names
Chapter 5 The Thin Veneer of Civility: Relearning the American Dream
Chapter 6 Living with Discrimination
Chapter 7 "I Am a Middle Eastern American!:" Ethnic Self-Identification
Chapter 8 "Whining" About Social Justice?
A superb read! This empirically-based account of the long forgotten Americans of Middle Eastern descent is intelligent, nuanced, and informative. Combining empathy for its subjects, profound knowledge of relevant contemporary topics, and a brave passion for the truth, this book is indispensable reading for anyone interested in the cultural and social dynamics of the United States.
— Hernán Vera, University of Florida
Highly recommended.
— Choice Reviews
This book is the first lengthy sociological examination of Middle Eastern Americans and their everyday experiences in U.S. workplaces, schools, and other major institutions. The authors go well beyond the usual discussions that focus on immigration patterns and countries of origin.
— Joe R. Feagin, Texas A&M University
1) a brief introduction to the geographical, ethnic, religious, and political diversity of Middle Eastern Americans; 2) an overview of stereotypes of Middle Eastern Americans and Islam and their fallacies; 3) in-depth interviews with members of this minority group; 4) description of their experiences with discrimination in the context of various social institutions (e.g., education and work); and 5) discussions of strategies to cope with and resist discrimination.