(Journal of American Ethnic History / Fall 2004)
Brazilian Immigrants in the United States: Cultural Imperialism and Social
Class. By Bernadete Beserra. New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing, 2003.
xiv + 242 pp. Tables, notes, bibliography and index. $65.00.
Over the past twenty years Brazilian immigration to the United States has
grown from an almost imperceptible trickle to an important immigration stream.
The 2000 U.S. Census documented the presence of over 200,000 Brazilians,
while the actual number of Brazilians residing in the United States is certainly
much higher. This rapidly increasing flow of humanity has been examined by
numerous recent studies. Beserra’s is one of several doctoral dissertations examining
this movement that have subsequently reappeared as a book.
Beserra’s title suggests a national study that is theory driven. Although her
attempt to position her research within relevant theoretical literature is laudable,
this book is certainly not a comprehensive national study of Brazilian
immigrants in the United States. Rather, the reader is presented with an ethnographic
examination, based on a lengthy period of participant observation, of
two small groups of Brazilians who reside in the Los Angeles area. Beserra’s
goal in examining these two groups is to find support for the two core premises
that drive her explanation of Brazilian immigration. First, she rejects the “innocent
assumption that people migrate to better their lives” (p. 12) and suggests
that contact with U.S. culture, both directly and indirectly, is what generated
the desire among Brazilians to relocate to the United States. Her second premise
is that their social class position in Brazil largely determines the extent to
which these immigrants become integrated within United States society, as
different classes provide access to diverse social networks and opportunity
structures. The book’s introduction and chapter one provide the study’s theoretical
overview, while chapter two introduces the reader to Brazilian life in
Los Angeles.
To address the study’s research questions, Beserra gathered ethnographic
data from members of two groups of Brazilians, the Portuguese-speaking Seventh
Day Adventist Church of Chino and the Brazilian Women’s Group of Los
Angeles. Chapters three and four, respectively, are devoted to presenting these
two groups. Each chapter contains some interesting insights about group dynamics,
social networks, assimilation, and transnationalism, frequently presented
in the informants’ own words. However, both chapters devote too much space
discussing relatively unimportant demographic details of these groups. Beserra
neglects to provide a discussion of the atypical nature of the two groups examined.
Most members of her two groups have lived in the United States for many
years, have always possessed legal documentation, and in many cases maintained
a relatively high standard of living. Readers unfamiliar with Brazilians in
the United States would have benefited from at least an overview discussing the
uncharacteristic situation of these groups.
The two remaining chapters of the book focus on how Brazilians have
Reviews 145
adapted to life in Los Angeles and some of the socio-economic factors that
affected their adaptation, or in the author’s words, “Americanization.” These
chapters are the most successful of the book. Here Beserra integrates some of
the earlier discussion to address several interesting questions. For instance, do
these Brazilian immigrants perceive of themselves as Latinos? How do others
perceive them? Her discussion of the ways in which relevant social constructs
are arrived at is insightful. She concludes that because of the low status attached
to Latinos, especially in southern California, Brazilians generally opt to
retain their unique status; even though others frequently lump them in with all
those emanating from south of the Rio Grande.
Reading the thoughts and feelings of the immigrants in their own words is
thought provoking, and in places Beserra’s analysis is insightful. However the
book would have benefited greatly from more careful editing to eliminate the
many spelling errors, redundancies, and digressions that mar this study. In sum,
the author did not convince me that Brazilian immigration developed as a
consequence of American imperialist expansion, nor that the immigrants’ social
class position in Brazil determines their status in the United States. Nonetheless
this book offers an interesting comparative study of two groups of Brazilians in
the Los Angeles area.
Franklin Goza
Journal of American Ethnic History / Fall 2004
Brazilian Immigrants in the United States: Cultural Imperialism and Social
Class. By Bernadete Beserra. New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing, 2003.
xiv + 242 pp. Tables, notes, bibliography and index. $65.00.
Over the past twenty years Brazilian immigration to the United States has
grown from an almost imperceptible trickle to an important immigration stream.
The 2000 U.S. Census documented the presence of over 200,000 Brazilians,
while the actual number of Brazilians residing in the United States is certainly
much higher. This rapidly increasing flow of humanity has been examined by
numerous recent studies. Beserra’s is one of several doctoral dissertations examining
this movement that have subsequently reappeared as a book.
Beserra’s title suggests a national study that is theory driven. Although her
attempt to position her research within relevant theoretical literature is laudable,
this book is certainly not a comprehensive national study of Brazilian
immigrants in the United States. Rather, the reader is presented with an ethnographic
examination, based on a lengthy period of participant observation, of
two small groups of Brazilians who reside in the Los Angeles area. Beserra’s
goal in examining these two groups is to find support for the two core premises
that drive her explanation of Brazilian immigration. First, she rejects the “innocent
assumption that people migrate to better their lives” (p. 12) and suggests
that contact with U.S. culture, both directly and indirectly, is what generated
the desire among Brazilians to relocate to the United States. Her second premise
is that their social class position in Brazil largely determines the extent to
which these immigrants become integrated within United States society, as
different classes provide access to diverse social networks and opportunity
structures. The book’s introduction and chapter one provide the study’s theoretical
overview, while chapter two introduces the reader to Brazilian life in
Los Angeles.
To address the study’s research questions, Beserra gathered ethnographic
data from members of two groups of Brazilians, the Portuguese-speaking Seventh
Day Adventist Church of Chino and the Brazilian Women’s Group of Los
Angeles. Chapters three and four, respectively, are devoted to presenting these
two groups. Each chapter contains some interesting insights about group dynamics,
social networks, assimilation, and transnationalism, frequently presented
in the informants’ own words. However, both chapters devote too much space
discussing relatively unimportant demographic details of these groups. Beserra
neglects to provide a discussion of the atypical nature of the two groups examined.
Most members of her two groups have lived in the United States for many
years, have always possessed legal documentation, and in many cases maintained
a relatively high standard of living. Readers unfamiliar with Brazilians in
the United States would have benefited from at least an overview discussing the
uncharacteristic situation of these groups.
The two remaining chapters of the book focus on how Brazilians have
Reviews 145
adapted to life in Los Angeles and some of the socio-economic factors that
affected their adaptation, or in the author’s words, “Americanization.” These
chapters are the most successful of the book. Here Beserra integrates some of
the earlier discussion to address several interesting questions. For instance, do
these Brazilian immigrants perceive of themselves as Latinos? How do others
perceive them? Her discussion of the ways in which relevant social constructs
are arrived at is insightful. She concludes that because of the low status attached
to Latinos, especially in southern California, Brazilians generally opt to
retain their unique status; even though others frequently lump them in with all
those emanating from south of the Rio Grande.
Reading the thoughts and feelings of the immigrants in their own words is
thought provoking, and in places Beserra’s analysis is insightful. However the
book would have benefited greatly from more careful editing to eliminate the
many spelling errors, redundancies, and digressions that mar this study. In sum,
the author did not convince me that Brazilian immigration developed as a
consequence of American imperialist expansion, nor that the immigrants’ social
class position in Brazil determines their status in the United States. Nonetheless
this book offers an interesting comparative study of two groups of Brazilians in
the Los Angeles area.
terça-feira, 29 de julho de 2008
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