After intermarriage: Ethnicity and identity among Haitians in Boston.

Abstract

This dissertation is a critical examination and critique of the current sociological discourse on ethnicity and ethnic identity. Based on a case study of Haitians in the Boston area, I illustrate the inadequacy of the traditional approach to studying immigrant and ethnic identity for research among contemporary Black immigrant/ethnics. Data gathered from brief questionnaires, in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations are used to describe the basis of ethnicity, the persistence of ethnicity and the processes of ethnic identity construction for intermarried Haitians. My analysis challenges the presumed causal relationship between ethnicity and structural incorporation; points to an over-reliance on the concept of symbolic ethnicity; and places emphasis on ethnic boundaries and boundary-related transactions, as opposed to cultural markers, to account for the meanings intermarried Haitians (and by extension, other structurally incorporated contemporary immigrants) attach to their ethnicity. In addition, this dissertation not only sheds light on the experiences of Boston's Haitian immigrants, it helps us better understand the characteristics and functions of Boston as a context for contemporary immigrant/ethnic community development.