From Immigrants to Ethnics: Toward a New Theory of "Ethn icization"

Abstract

The author contrasts the fragmented nature of immigrant groups upon their arrival in America with the social and cultural unities found among ethnic groups years later. He explains this change-the process of ethnicization -as a con­ sequence of two factors: ascription and adversity. Outside institutions ascribed ethnic identity for practical reasons: village loyalties were too complicated to be understood. Immigrant institutions had equally practical motivations for fur­ thering the same end: defense in the face of adversity. Viewed from this per­ spective it becomes clear that the melting pot was not, as commonly assumed, a failure. It succeeded in transforming weak, fragmented and unclassified bundles of immigrants into self-conscious, active, and easily identifiable ethnic groups. This model serves equally well if applied to the WASP. Today, WASP-ishness is only an ascribed mystique. In the face of adversity, however, it is quite pos­ sible that WASPs will undergo ethnicization. They may unite, organize, and make demands.