I’m a second-generation mother, too!

I’m excited to announce a new publication by Lisa Borrelli and myself, out now in Comparative Migration Studies. We challenge our peers to be more careful precise with how we describe immigrants and their descendants, criticizing in particular the terms ‘second generation’ and ‘migration background’.

The article has been in the works for years, and just the peer review took almost two years, but the argument hasn’t ceased to be relevant (though the text has become more sober and organized, engages more explicitly with existing literature, and has gained an analysis of how key terms are used in contemporary migration research). We argue that the shortcuts we use to describe immigrants and their descendants can obfuscate what is really going on, and with that prevent us finding solutions where there are real problems.

Borrelli, Lisa Marie, and Didier Ruedin. 2024. ‘Towards a Precise and Reflexive Use of Migration-Related Terminology in Quantitative Research: Criticism and Suggestions’. Comparative Migration Studies 12 (10). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-024-00369-0.