Strangers to These Shores: Race and Ethnic Relations in the United States (Book Alone) (8th Edition) [Hardcover]

Vincent N. Parrillo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 8, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0205457630 | ISBN-13: 978-0205457632 | Edition: 8

This best-selling, comprehensive text on racial and ethnic relations in the U.S. covers theoretical issues and the experiences of more than 50 racial, ethnic, and religious groups.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Provides not only an excellent survey and analysis of prominent issues…but also offers sharp and empirically sound studies of the ethnoracial, gender, and other minority groups in the United States.  One of the best texts in race and ethnic relations.” 

Stanford M. Lyman, Florida Atlantic University

 

 “A common word used in the assessment of this book by several sociologists is comprehensive….We are invited to read in the pages that follow the story of a resilient society that is struggling to achieve unity out of diversity and, at the same time, guarantee the right to be different….Of special value in this book are the sociological concepts and theories in Part I that are helpful in interpreting and understanding how and why strangers to these shores have adapted to the customs of this country they way they have….Professor Parrillo has made a major contribution to the study of intergroup relations.

Charles V. Willie, Harvard University

 

 “Strangers to These Shores is…a comprehensive examination of the sharpest edges and more nuanced qualities of American pluralism.  In its 15 chapters, Professor Parrillo provides students/readers–and those for whom it is not assigned!–with a well conceived, carefully constructed, and highly readable introduction to a very complex subject.” 

Peter I. Rose, Smith College

 

“Parrillo effectively captures the creative energy and tension of the multiracial, multiethnic reality that is American reality–historically, theoretically, and empirically.”

 Walda Katz-Fishman, Howard University

 

“A theoretically informed and historically rich account…with a comprehensive, up-to-date treatment [that] makes it an indispensable guide to the evolution and current state of minority-majority relations.  I recommend it highly for classroom use.” 

Richard D. Alba, CUNY Graduate Center

 

“How wonderful  to find between the covers of a single volume the experiences of more than a hundred ethnic groups in America presented in concise fashion against a backdrop of major sociological themes.” 

Betty Lee Sung, CUNY

 

 “From its opening reflections on the stranger as a social phenomenon to its thoughtful conclusion on the nature and future of the American mosaic, Strangers to These Shores remains one of the best textbooks ever published on race and ethnic relations in the United States. Freshly updated with an eye for detail, engagingly written and a pleasure to read, this new edition practices what it preaches: Parrillo takes diversity in America seriously and seeks to understand it through historically-grounded  analyses of the variety of patterns of majority-minority relations and with richly drawn portraits of scores of groups who have made this the world’s most ethnically diverse society.  An excellent introduction to a challenging, complex, and ever-changing field of study.” 

Ruben G. Rumbaut,  University of California, Irvine

 

Thank you to the following reviewers:

 

Kathleen Handy            University of Louisiana - Lafayette

Traci Elliott                    Alvin Community College

Wendell Hester              East Tennessee State University

Henry Codjoe                 Dalton State College

Joseph Carroll                Colby-Sawyer College

Jennifer Krasno               Clark State Community College

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

“We are invited to read in Strangers to These Shores the story of a resilient society that is struggling to achieve unity out of diversity and, at the same time, guarantee the right to be different. . . . Robert Park, who taught sociology at the University of Chicago and Fisk University several decades ago, described people who understand the way of life of many different kinds of groups as having a wider horizon, keener intelligence, and a more rational point of view. If this is the kind of insight we would like to have, we should stay the course with this book as if it were our magic carpet that will carry us immediately into the unknown culture of many minority groups in this nation.”
Charles V. Willie, Harvard University (from the Foreword)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 624 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; 8 edition (August 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0205457630
• ISBN-13: 978-0205457632
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #380,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introductory text!, October 28, 2002

By 

Jerrbear (Waco, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strangers to These Shores: Race and Ethnic Relations in the United States (7th Edition) (Hardcover)

Parrillo's text is a helpful overview of the sociology of race and ethnicity in the United States taken from a group-to-group approach. Major sociological contributions on these matters are covered through the lens of particular groups that are most affected (e.g. LA riots are covered under black Americans but not under Korean Americans). The most recent edition is especially helpful as comments are made in conjunction with post-September 11th consequences on race and ethnic issues. The role of religion in racial dynamics and the continuing changes in immigration is a helpful addition as well as it is a rising area of study with race and ethnicity.

The book if it suffers in any direction is the judgment call of organizing the text by ethnic group. As suggested earlier, some issues like the LA riots deal with multiple groups and yet this text places such a topic under only one group.

As an undergraduate text, it also has an added bonus of photographs which may make the material seem less abstract and more accessible. Additionally its use of the basic "functionalist" "conflict" and "interactionist" perspectives allows students who have taken an introductory class in sociology to have a language from which to bridge between a general study of sociology and a more specific look at one area within sociology.

Overall this is an excellent textbook and I highly recommend it for classroom use and for use in scholarly research to gain access to the complex field of race and ethnicity.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Foreword author:, February 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Strangers to These Shores: Race and Ethnic Relations in the United States (Hardcover)

Strangers to These Shores is a comprehensive examination of the sharpest edges and more nuanced qualities of American pluralism. In its 14 chapters, Professor Parrillo provides students/readers--and those for whom it is not assigned--with a well conceived, carefully constructed, and highly readable introduction to a very complex subject. -- Peter I. Rose, Smith College

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazin Text, February 12, 2011

By 

Eva - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Strangers to These Shores (10th Edition) (Hardcover)

I am currently using this text in a course I am teaching. The use of data and real-life examples emphasis major concepts. It is also a very thought provoking read.