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| Name |
Alba, Richard D. |
| Location
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City University of New York, Graduate Center |
| Primary Field
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Social and Political Sciences |
 Election Citation
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Alba studies assimilation to expand our understanding of the impacts of immigration, on the immigrants and their descendants and on the societies that receive it. |
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Research Interests
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Richard Alba is engaged with identifying patterns and mechanisms of mainstream assimilation in the United States and other western societies receiving large-scale immigration during the past half century. This effort has involved both empirical analysis and the theoretical development of assimilation theory to fit the multiracial societies of the 21st century. His research has led him to challenge the prevalent understanding of the demographic evolution of the U.S. in the near future, namely, the imminent majority-minority society. His examination of the surge of young Americans coming from mixed minority-white families reveals that--with the exception of those with black and white parentage, who continue to be impeded by racism-- they are mostly participating in the societal mainstream. He links this assimilation to a non-zero-sum theory, which holds that conditions for assimilation are most favorable when social ascent by minorities can occur without compensating descent by some in the majority. In the early 21st century, demographic shift creates these conditions. |
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