NEW YORK AND AMSTERDAM: IMMIGRATION AND THE NEW URBAN LANDSCAPE

edited by Nancy Foner, Jan Rath, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Rogier van Reekum

New York: NYU Press, 2014
336 pages
11 figures and 21 tables
ISBN: 9780814738443
Click here to order the book

SUMMARY

Immigration is dramatically changing major cities throughout the world. Nowhere is this more so than in New York City and Amsterdam, which, after decades of large-scale immigration, now have populations that are more than a third foreign-born. These cities have had to deal with the challenge of incorporating hundreds of thousands of immigrants whose cultures, languages, religions, and racial backgrounds differ dramatically from those of many long-established residents. New York and Amsterdam brings together a distinguished and interdisciplinary group of American and Dutch scholars to examine and compare the impact of immigration on two of the world’s largest urban centers.

The original essays in this volume discuss how immigration has affected social, political, and economic structures, cultural patterns, and intergroup relations in the two cities, investigating how the particular, and changing, urban contexts of New York City and Amsterdam have shaped immigrant and second generation experiences. Despite many parallels between New York and Amsterdam, the differences stand out, and juxtaposing essays on immigration in the two cities helps to illuminate the essential issues that today’s immigrants and their children confront. Organized around five main themes, this book offers an in-depth view of the impact of immigration as it affects particular places, with specific histories, institutions, and immigrant populations. New York and Amsterdam profoundly contributes to our broader understanding of the transformations wrought by immigration and the dynamics of urban change, providing new insights into how—and why— immigration’s effects differ on the two sides of the Atlantic.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

1 Introduction
New York and Amsterdam: Immigration and the New Urban Landscape
Jan Rath, Nancy Foner, Jan Willem Duyvendak, and Rogier van Reekum

PART I: HOW HAS THE IMMIGRANT PAST SHAPED THE IMMIGRANT PRESENT IN NEW YORK CITY AND AMSTERDAM?

Chapter 1
Immigration History and the Remaking of New York
Nancy Foner

Chapter 2
To Amsterdam: Migrations Past and Present
Leo Lucassen

PART II: WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THE URBAN ECONOMY MAKE TO IMMIGRANT INCORPORATION?

Chapter 3
Immigrants in New York City’s Economy: A Portrait in Full Living Color
David Dyssegaard Kallick

Chapter 4
From Amsterdamned to I Amsterdam: The Amsterdam Economy and Its Impact on the Labor Market Position of Migrants, 1980-2010
Robert C. Kloosterman

PART III: HOW ARE IMMIGRANTS ENTERING THE PRECINCTS OF POWER IN NEW YORK CITY AND AMSTERDAM?

Chapter 5
The Rise of Immigrant Influence in New York City Politics
John Mollenkopf

Chapter 6
Immigrant Political Engagement and Incorporation in Amsterdam
Floris Vermeulen, Laure Michon, and Jean Tillie

PART IV: IS ISLAM IN AMSTERDAM LIKE RACE IN NEW YORK CITY?

Chapter 7
Nativism, Racism, and Immigration in New York City
Mary C. Waters

Chapter 8
Governing through Religion in Amsterdam: The Stigmatization of Ethnic Cultures and the Uses of Islam
Justus Uitermark, Jan Willem Duyvendak, and Jan Rath

PART V: HOW ARE THE CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS SHAPED BY AND ALSO CHANGING NEW YORK CITY’S AND AMSTERDAM’S CULTURAL LIFE?

Chapter 9
Immigrants, the Arts, and the “Second Generation Advantage” in New York
Philip Kasinitz

Chapter 10
Immigrant Youths’ Contribution to Urban Culture in Amsterdam
Christine Delhaye, Sawitri Saharso, and Victor van de Ven

About the Contributors
Index