Publishing Institution: Macalester College / Political Geography: America

Author:: Ahmed I. Samatar and Lidwien Kapteijns
Publication Date:: 07-2004
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:: Macalester College
Abstract:: This issue of Bildhaan is dedicated to some of the commissioned proceedingsof an international conference, “Somalis in America: TheChallenges of Adaptation,” which was held at Macalester College, July15–17, 2004.
Political Geography:: America and Somalia

Author:: Helga Leitner
Publication Date:: 07-2004
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:: Macalester College
Abstract:: United States immigration policy is based on the assumption that every legal immigrant to this country is on the road to becoming a U.S. citizen. In order to become a citizen, immigrants are explicitly or tacitly expected to assimilate into the U.S. sociocultural and economic system, to shed their attachment and allegiance to their home country, and to devote their loyalty to just one country, the United States. The first line of the citizenship oath makes this clear: “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign…state…of…which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen.” Viewing loyalty in such zero-sum terms has blinded American policymakers to migrants' transnational practices, ties, and multiple allegiances.
Political Geography:: United States and America

Publication Date:: 07-2004
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:: Macalester College
Abstract:: Among the enormous costs of the civil strife and the demise of Somali national institutions is the exodus of hundreds of thousands of people who have sought refuge in almost every continent. A large portion of those in flight have found succor in North America, particularly the United States, with the state of Minnesota as an epicenter. As was the case with others who fled their native lands, the degree of success of all arrivals to settle in the new environment depends on two interconnected processes: the construction of adaptive individual/ collective identities fit for the new time, and the willingness of the receiving communities to embrace cultural diversity, within a national framework, in the perennial remaking of America.
Political Geography:: America, North America, and Somalia

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