Migration, Ethnicity and Economic Integration

This chapter deals with the economic and ethnic diversity caused by international labor migration, and their economic integration possibilities. It brings together three strands of literature dealing with the neoclassical economic assimilation, ethnic identities and attitudes towards immigrants and the natives, and provides an analysis in understanding their interactions. The issue of how immigrants fare in the host country especially in terms of their labor force participation and remuneration has been the core of research in the labor migration literature. If immigrants fare as well as the natives, then they are economically assimilated. While some immigrant groups do, most do not, especially in Europe. Of equal importance is how immigrants identify with the culture of their home and receiving countries, and if natives and immigrants have the right attitudes about each other. Ethnic identities and attitudes seem to be less affected by the economic environment but have implications for economic performance

Les Frontières culturelles et les enfants de minorités

This paper deals with the education of minority children -especially black children- in the american society. As traditional explanations for the school failure of these children (social and cultural background...) take no account of the high educational expectations of these families for their children, the author examines the essential element of the problem : the fact that black children internalize a common sense conception which is incompatible with the learning system devised for the white youth majority. The case study of Stockton children supports this analysis.Cet article examine la question de l'éducation des jeunes enfants noirs aux États-Unis et, plus généralement, des enfants issus de groupes minoritaires au sein de la société américaine. Il montre tout d'abord que les explications conventionnelles de l'échec scolaire de ces enfants (origine sociale, milieu culturel, etc.) ne parviennent pas à expliquer le paradoxe des aspirations élevées des familles pour l'éducation de leurs enfants et de l'échec que ces derniers subissent à l'école. L'auteur présente donc un cadre théorique qui souligne l'une des dimensions essentielles du problème, à savoir l'existence et l'intériorisation d'une théorie du sens commun par les jeunes noirs qui est fondamentalement rédhibitoire pour les apprentissages dans un système scolaire destiné à la majorité blanche. Son analyse est illustrée par la présentation d'une étude de cas sur la ville de Stockton.Ogbu John U. Les Frontières culturelles et les enfants de minorités. In: Revue française de pédagogie, volume 101, 1992. pp. 9-26