Debating Immigration Edited by Carol M. Swain Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, Apr. 2007 ISBN: 9780521698665 Hardcover: 224 pages Booksellers: [Cambridge U. Press] [Amazon]

INTRODUCTION | REVIEWS | CONTRIBUTORS | MORE BOOKS

Click here to see a webcast of Debating Immigration discussed at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University October 3, 2007

Debating Immigration

Debating Immigration presents 18 original essays, written by some of the world's leading experts and preeminent scholars, that explore the nuances of contemporary immigration and citizenship affecting the United States and Europe. The volume is organized around the following themes: religion and philosophy, law and policy, economics and demographics, race and ethnicity, and cosmopolitanism. Critical questions addressed include: What accounts for the disconnect between public attitudes about immigration and the policies produced by elected officials? Why has the United States not developed a well-articulated public philosophy of immigration?

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From the Introduction by Carol M. Swain:

"The American public deserves better representation on immigration than what it has received from Washington and from other elites in positions of power and decision-making roles. Whatever reforms are initiated must take into account the needs and desires of native-born Americans. Presently, elites in both political parties have largely ignored the concerns of the people. But federalism appears to be working. Since 2006, there has been a spate of immigration laws and ordinances passed in states and cities around the country. It has become increasingly clear that many ordinary people, . . . .do not trust the government in Washington to do right by them.

A number of important policy issues related to immigration are not being considered because too many individuals in positions of power and influence have allowed themselves to be silenced by the threat of name-calling. These issues include birthright citizenship to the children of illegals, racial and ethnic preferences for the foreign-born and their offspring, blatant selective enforcement of immigration laws, and outright discrimination against immigrants from disfavored parts of the world. Moreover, immigrant-supporters do themselves and their country a disfavor when they fail to consider all aspects of the problem and the national obligations to historically disadvantaged groups such as Native Americans and African Americans, and poor whites who struggle to get ahead in sometimes adverse circumstances. Further disservice emerges when groups are encouraged to cling to group identities, old-world languages, and cultural practices condemned by "civilized" society. A better tactic would include encouraging immigrants to become fully American by learning the language and the history of the host nation where most will be embraced with open arms."

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Reviews

"Carol Swain has drawn together a brilliant and insightful collection of essays on immigration. No matter what your views on immigration, you will find something to inform, educate, or engage."

-Senator Bill Frist, former Senate Majority leader from Tennessee

"Most books are all heat on one side or the other of the dispute, but Debating Immigration throws light on the controversy. Carol Swain's collection of scholarly and sophisticated essays shows that opposition to vast immigration is not just nativism, and support of semi-open borders is not just sentimentality.  This volume also shows how political scientists can go beyond theory and offer valuable and practical peacemaking amid policy wars."

-Marvin Olasky, The University of Texas at Austin and Editor of World Magazine

"Just when I thought America could NEVER have a civilized discussion about immigration, along came this wonderful book. Thomas Jefferson would be so proud that many knowledgeable people spent time together wrestling with this highly charged political issue and sharing their thoughts in writing. I wish I could mandate that NO ONE could debate about immigration until they read this book and passed the test!"

-Pat Schroeder, former Congresswoman from Colorado

"This is a fascinating and distinctive contribution to our understanding of contemporary immigration issues. Most volumes on this subject are weighted heavily in the pro-immigration direction. Carol Swain, by contrast, has gotten contributions from scholars with a wide range of perspectives, and their work reveals many complexities and nuances that are too often ignored. A first-rate collection that should appeal to general readers as well as to scholars."

-Stephan Thernstrom, Winthrop Professor of History, Harvard University and editor of the Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups

"This timely volume, representing a range of ideological perspectives, features a number of powerful and thought provoking essays on the immigration debate. Carol M. Swain has pulled together a group of outstanding scholars and activists whose gripping arguments on immigration will be widely discussed and debated. I highly recommend this volume to anyone concerned about the politics of contemporary immigration."

-William Julius Wilson, Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor Harvard University

"A multitude of intellectual and disciplinary perspectives and a refreshing variety of political positions--Left, Right, and a very lively Middle.  This is an imaginative and welcome contribution to an important debate about America's future."

-John Skrentny, University of California, San Diego

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Contributors

Linda Bosniak, Professor of Law at Rutgers University

Peter Brimelow, Editor of VDARE.com, Senior Fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, and Columnist for CBS MarketWatch.

Steven Camarota, Ph.D., Research Director for the Center for Immigration Studies

Elizabeth F. Cohen, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University

James R. Edwards, Jr., Ph.D., Adjunct Fellow with the Hudson Institute

Amitai Etzioni, University Professor and Director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies at The George Washington University

Nathan Glazer, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Education at Harvard University

Randall Hansen, Associate Professor of Political Science and Canada Research Chair in Immigration and Governance at University of Toronto

Marc Morjי Howard, Associate Professor of Government at Georgetown University

Stephen Macedo, Laurence S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and Director of the Center for Human Values at Princeton University

Douglas S. Massey, Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University

Noah Pickus, Associate Director of the Kenan Institute for Ethics and Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University

Peter H. Schuck, Simeon E. Baldwin Professor and Deputy Dean of the Law School at Yale University

Peter Skerry, Professor of Political Science at Boston College and non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution

Rogers M. Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania

Carol M. Swain, Professor of Political Science and Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University and Founding Director of Veritas Institute

Jonathan Tilove, Reporter, Newhouse News Service

Charles Westoff, Professor of Demographic Studies and Sociology, Emeritus at Princeton University

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