New Pioneers in the Heartland: Hmong Life in Wisconsin (Part of the New Immigrants Series) - Softcover

This study examines one of our newest immigrant groups in America: the Hmong refugees from Laos. In ethnographic fashion, the author gives the reader an intimate portrait of Hmong family life in Wisconsin. The book first traces the stages of the Hmong refugee experience and then looks at how Hmong families are adjusting and adapting to their new lives in America. The primary focus is on daily life routines. From this perspective one gains an appreciation of Hmong kinship networks and community. Women's activities are woven throughout this study to highlight the roles they play in their family's social and economic adaptation. From a family centered focus, the reader gains an appreciation for how the Hmong see their own adaptational process and how they represent and define their Hmongness in America. Part of the New Immigrants Series, edited by Nancy Foner. Focusing on the massive wave of immigration currently sweeping across America, this groundbreaking series includes coverage of five new immigrant groups for 1998: the Hmong in Wisconsin, Brazilians and Koreans in New York City, Haitians in Miami, and Chinese in San Francisco. This series fills the gap in knowledge relating to today's immigrants, how these groups are attempting to redefine their cultures while here, and their contribution to a new and changing America.

Nancy Foner is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is the author of numerous books, including In a New Land (NYU Press). She is the recipient of the 2010 Distinguished Career Award given by the International Migration Section of the American Sociological Association.