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The Resource The Great Demographic Illusion : Majority, Minority, and the Expanding American Mainstream, Richard Alba

The Great Demographic Illusion : Majority, Minority, and the Expanding American Mainstream, Richard Alba

Creator
Author
Summary
Why the number of young Americans with ethno-racially mixed backgrounds is surging and what this means for the country's future Americans are under the spell of a distorted and polarizing story about their country's future-the majority-minority narrative-which contends that inevitable demographic changes will create a society with a majority made up of minorities for the first time in American history. The Great Demographic Illusion reveals the flaws in this narrative and how it obscures a more transformative development: the rising numbers of young Americans from ethno-racially mixed families, consisting of one white and one nonwhite parent. Examining the unprecedented significance of mixed parentage in the twenty-first-century United States, Richard Alba looks at how young Americans with this background will play pivotal roles in the country's demographic future.Assembling a vast body of evidence, Alba explores where these mixed families fit in American society. Most participate in the mainstream, as seen in their high levels of integration into social milieus with whites and frequent marriage with them. Yet, racism is also evident in the very different experiences of individuals with black-white heritage. Alba's portrait squares in key ways with the history of American immigrant-group assimilation, and indicates that, once again, mainstream American society is expanding and becoming more inclusive. He discusses social policies that might enhance mainstream assimilation and argues that the future is more likely to resemble a gradual evolution from the present rather than a stark overturning of an established order.An outlook on social change that counters more rigid demographic beliefs and predictions, The Great Demographic Illusion offers a new way of understanding American society and its coming transformation
Language
  • eng
  • eng
Work
Publication
Extent
1 online resource (336 p.)
Contents
  • 6. Some Ideas and History for Understanding Today's Ethno-Racial Mixing
  • 7. Assimilation in the Early Twenty-First Century
  • 8. Social Policies to Broaden Mainstream Assimilation
  • 9 Toward a New Understanding of American Possibilities
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • index
  • Frontmatter
  • Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • 1. Introduction: The Narrative of the Majority-Minority Society
  • 2. The Enigma of November 2016
  • 3. The Power of the Demographic Imagination
  • 4. The Demographic Data System and the Surge of Young Americans from Mixed Family Backgrounds
  • 5. What We Know about Americans from Mixed Minority-White Families
Isbn
9780691202112
Instance
Label
The Great Demographic Illusion : Majority, Minority, and the Expanding American Mainstream
Title
The Great Demographic Illusion
Title remainder
Majority, Minority, and the Expanding American Mainstream
Statement of responsibility
Richard Alba
Creator
Author
Author
Subject
Language
  • eng
  • eng
Summary
Why the number of young Americans with ethno-racially mixed backgrounds is surging and what this means for the country's future Americans are under the spell of a distorted and polarizing story about their country's future-the majority-minority narrative-which contends that inevitable demographic changes will create a society with a majority made up of minorities for the first time in American history. The Great Demographic Illusion reveals the flaws in this narrative and how it obscures a more transformative development: the rising numbers of young Americans from ethno-racially mixed families, consisting of one white and one nonwhite parent. Examining the unprecedented significance of mixed parentage in the twenty-first-century United States, Richard Alba looks at how young Americans with this background will play pivotal roles in the country's demographic future.Assembling a vast body of evidence, Alba explores where these mixed families fit in American society. Most participate in the mainstream, as seen in their high levels of integration into social milieus with whites and frequent marriage with them. Yet, racism is also evident in the very different experiences of individuals with black-white heritage. Alba's portrait squares in key ways with the history of American immigrant-group assimilation, and indicates that, once again, mainstream American society is expanding and becoming more inclusive. He discusses social policies that might enhance mainstream assimilation and argues that the future is more likely to resemble a gradual evolution from the present rather than a stark overturning of an established order.An outlook on social change that counters more rigid demographic beliefs and predictions, The Great Demographic Illusion offers a new way of understanding American society and its coming transformation
Cataloging source
DE-B1597
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Alba, Richard
Government publication
other
http://bibfra.me/vocab/relation/httpidlocgovvocabularyrelatorsaut
C_vQcqw0mVg
Language note
In English
LC call number
  • E184.A1
  • E184.A1
LC item number
.A453 2020
Nature of contents
dictionaries
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Ethnic groups
  • Majorities
  • Minorities
  • Racially mixed people
  • African Americans
  • American Indians
  • Asian Americans
  • Asians
  • Hispanics
  • Latinos
  • Native Americans
  • U.S Census
  • Whiteshift;Eric Kaufmann;white majority;majority-minority society;assimilation;The Diversity Explosion;William Frey
  • assimilation mainstream
  • census data
  • demographic predictions
  • demography
  • ethno-racial
  • ethno-racially mixed
  • immigrant-group assimilation
  • mass assimilation
  • minority groups
  • minority-white Americans
  • mixed ancestry
  • mixed families
  • mixed family backgrounds
  • mixed parentage
  • non-zero-sum assimilation
  • non-zero-sum mobility
  • population projections
  • racial demographics
  • racism
  • white ethnics
  • whiteness theory
  • SOCIAL SCIENCE / Demography
Target audience
specialized
Label
The Great Demographic Illusion : Majority, Minority, and the Expanding American Mainstream, Richard Alba
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
  • 6. Some Ideas and History for Understanding Today's Ethno-Racial Mixing
  • 7. Assimilation in the Early Twenty-First Century
  • 8. Social Policies to Broaden Mainstream Assimilation
  • 9 Toward a New Understanding of American Possibilities
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • index
  • Frontmatter
  • Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • 1. Introduction: The Narrative of the Majority-Minority Society
  • 2. The Enigma of November 2016
  • 3. The Power of the Demographic Imagination
  • 4. The Demographic Data System and the Surge of Young Americans from Mixed Family Backgrounds
  • 5. What We Know about Americans from Mixed Minority-White Families
Extent
1 online resource (336 p.)
Form of item
online
Isbn
9780691202112
Lccn
2020012703
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Other control number
10.1515/9780691202112
Other physical details
15 b/w illus. 7 tables.
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
  • (DE-B1597)550760
  • (DE-B1597)9780691202112
Label
The Great Demographic Illusion : Majority, Minority, and the Expanding American Mainstream, Richard Alba
Publication
Copyright
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
  • 6. Some Ideas and History for Understanding Today's Ethno-Racial Mixing
  • 7. Assimilation in the Early Twenty-First Century
  • 8. Social Policies to Broaden Mainstream Assimilation
  • 9 Toward a New Understanding of American Possibilities
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • index
  • Frontmatter
  • Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • 1. Introduction: The Narrative of the Majority-Minority Society
  • 2. The Enigma of November 2016
  • 3. The Power of the Demographic Imagination
  • 4. The Demographic Data System and the Surge of Young Americans from Mixed Family Backgrounds
  • 5. What We Know about Americans from Mixed Minority-White Families
Extent
1 online resource (336 p.)
Form of item
online
Isbn
9780691202112
Lccn
2020012703
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
Other control number
10.1515/9780691202112
Other physical details
15 b/w illus. 7 tables.
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
  • (DE-B1597)550760
  • (DE-B1597)9780691202112

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