The Immigrant Divide

"Based on extensive fieldwork in Cuba and the U.S., Eckstein shows that immigrant incorporation and enduring homeland involvements are cohort specific--how Cubans feel about their homeland and what they want to do about it depends upon when they leave and what they leave with. Her research also shows how the same group settles differently in different contexts of reception. A must-read for migration scholars, Latin Americanists, and policymakers alike." - Peggy Levitt, Wellesley College, author of God Needs No Passport: Immigrants and the Changing American Religious Landscape "Eckstein, one of the leading scholars of contemporary Cuba, sheds light on the most recent and fascinating change in relations between Cuba and its diaspora: Officially, the government of Cuba and the leadership of the Miami diaspora may still hate each other but Cubans on both sides of the Straits of Florida have developed a flourishing relationship of remittances, migration, and transnational societies. This book is a terrific guide to relationships that are bound to develop even more in the years to come." - Jorge I. Dominguez, Harvard University, USA "The immigrant's journey is a story that has been told often, but never like this. With a sympathetic ear for the poetry of pathos and a critical eye for the data that give her insights depth, Eckstein has written a remarkable chronicle of two Cuban migrations to the United States. The 'Exiles,' who left soon after Castro arrived, and the 'New Cubans,' who came a generation later, were both changed by the journey, but what makes this book special is that she shows how they also changed both countries." - Robert Pastor, American University; National Security Advisor for Latin America, 1977--81 "Eckstein takes on the timely question of change in the Cuban Diaspora. She looks beyond the initial wave of emigres to analyze the experiences of the other waves that followed. By tapping this natural case study of immigrant resources and different patterns of incorporation and influence, Eckstein builds a comprehensive theory of immigrant incorporation that accounts for sending and receiving country influences and the role of co-ethnic political organization in the country of migration." - Louis DeSipio, University of California, Irvine, USA "Few social scientists know Cuba as deeply or as subtly as Susan Eckstein. She has written the best sociological analysis of the political evolution of the island during the revolutionary period, Back from the Future. Now, she turns her attention to the Cuban diaspora and, with the same dispassionate eye, tells us of its behavior and its consequences both for their native and their adopted countries. A must-read for anyone interested in Cuba or immigrant politics." - Alejandro Portes "Eckstein's skillful parsing of secondary data--be they from the U.S. Census or the FIU Cuba Poll, which is used liberally to establish an empirical differentiation between "waves" of migrants--unravels the threads of the Cuban experience." - Guillermo J Grenier, Florida International University, Vol. 116, No. 2, American Journal of Sociology. "Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries." - M. Vickerman, CHOICE (May 2010)