The UBC Centre for Migration Studies is thrilled to welcome Dr. Jennifer A. Jones, Associate Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University, for its third Speaker Series event. She will present her talk, "Organizing for Inclusion? Race-Making and the Quest for Immigrant Rights in the U.S. South."
Monday, February 10, 2025
Online: 12:15 PM – 1:45 PM PT (link will be provided closer to the event)
In-person: Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, Dodson Room (302) | 11:45 AM – 1:45 PM PT (lunch will be served at 11:45 AM)
Register for the talk: https://migration.ubc.ca/events/event/organizing-for-inclusion-race-making-and-the-quest-for-immigrant-rights-in-the-u-s-south-with-jennifer-a-jones/
Abstract:
In recent decades, immigrant-serving organizations have emerged as crucial lifelines for immigrants and have become increasingly central players in immigration politics. While researchers have studied these organizations’ role in individual and policy outcomes, less attention has been paid to their role in shaping racial formation processes. Drawing on archival, ethnographic, and interview data, this project delves into the organizing efforts of groups across the U.S. South. Focusing on two key cases, we show how organizations mobilize race in their work, affecting both the racialization of new immigrant arrivals and macro-level public policies.
About Jennifer A. Jones:
Jennifer Jones is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University. Her research lies at the intersection of the sociology of race, immigration, and politics. Throughout her scholarship, she examines how race “works”, exploring the relationship between categorical ascription (e.g., checking a box, or how one is perceived) and meaning-making (e.g., identity, or feeling a sense of group belonging). Jones’s work can be found in such journals as the American Journal of Sociology, International Migration Review, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Ethnic and Racial Studies, and Mobilization. Her first monograph, The Browning of the New South, was released by the University of Chicago Press in 2019.