Family and Gender Among American Muslims Issues Facing Middle Eastern Immigrants and Their Descendants

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Muslims have been immigrating to the United States from nations such as Lebanon, Yemen, Palestine, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Previously underrepresented in ethnic studies literature, these nearly four million descendants of previous immigrants and the new arrivals have settled in large numbers in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Detroit, and other North American cities. From the social and historical conditions of the Muslim migration to a range of issues affecting Muslim American life, the contributors provide new and valuable information on topics like intergenerational conflict about identity and values, intermarriage, religious and community involvement, gender and family structure, education, the needs of the elderly, and physical and mental health problems, including AIDS. In the final section, some of these issues are given a personal dimension through the life stories of several immigrants who relate their own experiences of adjusting to life in America. Barbara C. Aswad is Professor of Anthropology at Wayne State University and the author of "Arabic Speaking Communities in American Cities".;Barbara Bilge is Lecturer in Anthropology and Sociology at Eastern Michigan University and author of several articles on Turks and other Muslims in the Americas.