The California Cauldron: Immigration and the Fortunes of Local Communities

Once the prime destination for westward-moving young Americans, California has become a magnet for a new wave of migration in recent years. Changes in immigration law and the ebbs and flows of the increasingly global economy have led to an unprecedented influx of newcomers from every continent and every cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic group. How has the demographic structure of California changed in the past 15 years? What are the social and spatial consequences of this transformation? Where are the new immigrants living, and how successfully are they realizing their versions of the American dream? Examining the impact of large-scale immigration on local communities, this book presents an in-depth geographical case study of the most active "melting pot" in the United States today.

William A. V. Clark, PhD, DSc, is Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles, where for the last three decades he also has been associated with the Survey Research Center and the Institute for Social Science Research. He has lectured and taught internationally and has published 7 previous books as well as more than 200 articles, abstracts, and research reports. Among his recent awards, he was the recipient of a John Simon Guggenhim Fellowship in 1994-95 and was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1997. He currently teaches undergraduate courses on population and the environment and resources, and graduate courses on international migration and the impact of immigration on regions and cities.