LEADER 04104nam 2200613 450 001 9910818575703321 005 20230807215814.0 010 $a0-8135-6955-9 024 7 $a10.36019/9780813569550 035 $a(CKB)3710000000421257 035 $a(EBL)3565197 035 $a(SSID)ssj0001499438 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)12535873 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0001499438 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)11511046 035 $a(PQKB)11205101 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3565197 035 $a(DE-B1597)529619 035 $a(OCoLC)910662932 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780813569550 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3565197 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr11062202 035 $a(EXLCZ)993710000000421257 100 $a20150622h20152015 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|nu---|u||u 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 14$aThe road to citizenship $ewhat naturalization means for immigrants and the United States /$fSofya Aptekar 210 1$aNew Brunswick, New Jersey ;$aLondon, [England] :$cRutgers University Press,$d2015. 210 4$dİ2015 215 $a1 online resource (190 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 0 $a0-8135-6954-0 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tList of Figures --$tList of Tables --$tAcknowledgments --$tIntroduction --$t1. The Roads to Citizenship --$t2. Citizenship and Inequality --$t3. Voices of Immigrants --$t4. Citizenship Ceremonies --$t5. Welcoming and Defining --$t6. Naturalization in Theory and Practice --$tAppendix --$tNotes --$tReferences --$tIndex --$tAbout the author 330 $aBetween 2000 and 2011, eight million immigrants became American citizens. In naturalization ceremonies large and small these new Americans pledged an oath of allegiance to the United States, gaining the right to vote, serve on juries, and hold political office; access to certain jobs; and the legal rights of full citizens. In The Road to Citizenship, Sofya Aptekar analyzes what the process of becoming a citizen means for these newly minted Americans and what it means for the United States as a whole. Examining the evolution of the discursive role of immigrants in American society from potential traitors to morally superior "supercitizens," Aptekar's in-depth research uncovers considerable contradictions with the way naturalization works today. Census data reveal that citizenship is distributed in ways that increasingly exacerbate existing class and racial inequalities, at the same time that immigrants' own understandings of naturalization defy accepted stories we tell about assimilation, citizenship, and becoming American. Aptekar contends that debates about immigration must be broadened beyond the current focus on borders and documentation to include larger questions about the definition of citizenship. Aptekar's work brings into sharp relief key questions about the overall system: does the current naturalization process accurately reflect our priorities as a nation and reflect the values we wish to instill in new residents and citizens? Should barriers to full membership in the American polity be lowered? What are the implications of keeping the process the same or changing it? Using archival research, interviews, analysis of census and survey data, and participant observation of citizenship ceremonies, The Road to Citizenship demonstrates the ways in which naturalization itself reflects the larger operations of social cohesion and democracy in America. 606 $aCitizenship$zUnited States 606 $aNaturalization$zUnited States 606 $aImmigrants$zUnited States 610 $anaturalization practices and laws. 615 0$aCitizenship 615 0$aNaturalization 615 0$aImmigrants 676 $a323.6230973 700 $aAptekar$b Sofya$f1979-$01642358 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910818575703321 996 $aThe road to citizenship$93986995 997 $aUNINA