Strangers and Neighbors
Multiculturalism, Conflict, and Community in America

Andrea M. Voyer shares five years of observations in the city of Lewiston and reveals the promise and challenges of multicultural community.

Andrea M. Voyer (Author)

9781107039933, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 October 2013

228 pages, 1 b/w illus. 2 maps 4 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm, 0.43 kg

'Voyer's book is a magnificent accomplishment. I was bewitched by her prose and her compelling, thick description of careful, impressive, and dedicated fieldwork. It is the book I would most likely recommend to lay readers and undergraduates.' Daniel J. Tichenor, University of Oregon

In Strangers and Neighbors, Andrea M. Voyer shares five years of observations in the city of Lewiston. She shows how long-time city residents and immigrant newcomers worked to develop an understanding of the inclusive and caring community in which they could all take part. Yet the sense of community developed in Lewiston was built on the appreciation of diversity in the abstract rather than by fostering close and caring relationships across the boundaries of class, race, culture, and religion. Through her sensitive depictions of the experiences of Somalis, Lewiston city leadership, anti-racism activists, and even racists, Voyer reveals both the promise of and the obstacles to achieving community in the face of diversity.

Introduction: strangers in a strange land
1. Ellis Island South and Maine's Mogadishu
2. The meaning of Somali settlement and the boundaries of belonging
3. Being the inclusive community
4. Disciplined to diversity
5. Familiar strangers
Conclusion: cultural scaffolding.

Subject Areas: Sociology [JHB]