Assimilation and Heritage Identity: Lessons from the Coptic Diaspora

Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff ()
Additional contact information
Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff: George Washington University

Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2016, vol. 17, issue 2, No 9, 467-485

Abstract: Abstract Many first generation immigrants share a concern for retaining their heritage culture, though they still aspire to successfully assimilate into the country of residence society. Assimilation theories suggest facilitating factors for positive assimilation but differ in terms of whether the loss of heritage culture is inevitable. The Coptic diaspora illustrates that upward mobility can be achieved without loss of heritage identity. Religious structures can play an important role not only in sustaining heritage identity but also facilitating positive assimilation. A review of the Coptic Orthodox Church’s ministry in diaspora, along with findings of a Coptic diaspora survey may offer lessons for other immigrant groups. The study affirms some theoretical findings and raises questions for future research.

Keywords: Assimilation; Acculturation; Second generation; Diaspora; Philanthropy; Faith (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12134-015-0418-0 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:joimai:v:17:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s12134-015-0418-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... tudies/journal/12134

DOI: 10.1007/s12134-015-0418-0

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of International Migration and Integration is currently edited by Lori Wilkinson

More articles in Journal of International Migration and Integration from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().