IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/anname/v620y2008i1p116-137.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Back Pocket Map: Social Class and Cultural Capital as Transferable Assets in the Advancement of Second-Generation Immigrants

Author

Listed:
  • Patricia Fernández-Kelly

    (Department and the Office of Population Research at Princeton University)

Abstract

This article moves beyond current understandings of family- and school-related dynamics used to explain the educational and occupational success of low-income immigrant children to investigate the role of cultural capital acquired in the country of origin. Class-related forms of knowledge obtained prior to migration can become invaluable assets in areas of destination through the realization of what Pierre Boutdieu calls habitus , that is, a series of embodied dispositions deployed by individuals in their pursuit of set objectives. Although the concept has attracted prolonged attention, the mechanisms by which the habitus is fulfilled remain unspecified. Here, the author proposes and examines three of those mechanisms: (1) cognitive correspondence, (2) positive emulation, and (3) active recollection. This study shows that class-related resources, such as education, self-definition, and remembrance of nation and ancestry play an important function, shaping youthful expectations and behaviors, and protecting the children of low-income immigrants from downward mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Patricia Fernández-Kelly, 2008. "The Back Pocket Map: Social Class and Cultural Capital as Transferable Assets in the Advancement of Second-Generation Immigrants," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 620(1), pages 116-137, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:620:y:2008:i:1:p:116-137
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716208322580
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716208322580
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0002716208322580?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mckenzie, David & Rapoport, Hillel, 2007. "Network effects and the dynamics of migration and inequality: Theory and evidence from Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 1-24, September.
    2. Aonghas St–Hilaire, 2002. "The Social Adaptation of Children of Mexican Immigrants: Educational Aspirations Beyond Junior High School," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 83(4), pages 1026-1043, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Luca Marchiori & I-Ling Shen & Frédéric Docquier, 2013. "Brain Drain In Globalization: A General Equilibrium Analysis From The Sending Countries' Perspective," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(2), pages 1582-1602, April.
    2. Bühler, Mathias, 2024. "Who Benefits from Free Trade?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    3. Bryan A. Stuart & Evan J. Taylor, 2021. "Migration Networks and Location Decisions: Evidence from US Mass Migration," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 134-175, July.
    4. Caballero, María Esther & Cadena, Brian C. & Kovak, Brian K., 2023. "The international transmission of local economic shocks through migrant networks," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    5. Atsede Desta Tegegne & Marianne Penker, 2016. "Determinants of rural out-migration in Ethiopia: Who stays and who goes?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(34), pages 1011-1044.
    6. Abu S. Shonchoy, 2015. "Seasonal Migration and Microcredit During Agricultural Lean Seasons: Evidence from Northwest Bangladesh," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 53(1), pages 1-26, March.
    7. Ralitza Dimova & Fran�ois-Charles Wolff, 2015. "Remittances and Chain Migration: Longitudinal Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(5), pages 554-568, May.
    8. David McKenzie & Steven Stillman & John Gibson, 2010. "How Important is Selection? Experimental VS. Non‐Experimental Measures of the Income Gains from Migration," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 913-945, June.
    9. Artjoms Ivlevs & Roswitha M. King, 2014. "Emigration, remittances and corruption experience of those staying behind," Working Papers 20141411, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    10. Girsberger, Esther Mirjam & Méango, Romuald & Rapoport, Hillel, 2020. "Regional migration and wage inequality in the West African economic and monetary union," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 385-404.
    11. Mathias Bühler, 2023. "Trade and Regional Economic Development," CESifo Working Paper Series 10270, CESifo.
    12. Björn NILSSON, 2019. "Education and migration: insights for policymakers," Working Paper 23ca9c54-061a-4d60-967c-f, Agence française de développement.
    13. Alan de Brauw & Valerie Mueller & Tassew Woldehanna, 2018. "Does Internal Migration Improve Overall Well-Being in Ethiopia?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 27(3), pages 367-367.
    14. Katrina Kosec & Hosaena Ghebru & Brian Holtemeyer & Valerie Mueller & Emily Schmidt, 2018. "The Effect of Land Access on Youth Employment and Migration Decisions: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(3), pages 931-954.
    15. McKenzie, David & Gibson, John & Stillman, Steven, 2006. "How important is selection ? Experimental versus non-experimental measures of the income gains from migration," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3906, The World Bank.
    16. Sarah Bridges & Lefan Liu, 2022. "The impact of child migration on the health and well‐being of parents left behind," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(6), pages 1145-1164, August.
    17. Marchal, Léa & Naiditch, Claire, 2016. "A micro-funded theory of multilateral resistance to migration," Kiel Working Papers 2051, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    18. Guriev, Sergei & Vakulenko, Elena, 2015. "Breaking out of poverty traps: Internal migration and interregional convergence in Russia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 633-649.
    19. Patricia Justino & Olga Shemyakina, 2012. "Remittances and labor supply in post-conflict Tajikistan," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-28, December.
    20. Sylvie Démurger & Siwar Khelifa & Béatrice Rey, 2023. "Rural-urban migration as a risk coping strategy: The role of income differentials," IRENE Policy Reports 23-03, IRENE Institute of Economic Research.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:620:y:2008:i:1:p:116-137. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.