Buy the Book Here: Stanford University Press, Amazon
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Winner of the 2021 Thomas and Znaniecki Award, International Migration Section of the American Sociological Association
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Winner of the 2021 Distinguished Book Award, Sociology of Religion Section of the American Sociological Association
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Winner of the 2021 Asian America Book Award, Asia and Asian America Section of the American Sociological Association
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Winner of the 2021 Distinguished Scholarship Award, Pacific Sociological Association
"This brilliantly argued, beautifully written book pushes migration studies in an entirely new direction. An important work, yielding lessons for both scholars and students to savor and ponder.
--Roger Waldinger, University of California, Los Angeles
“This is a tour de force that combines nuanced ethnography with multi-sited historical analysis. The surprising centrality of 'elsewheres' in the lives of migrants is a breakthrough insight in migration studies.
--David FitzGerald, author of Refuge Beyond Reach
"In this book, Tahseen Shams challenges the adequacy of the homeland/hostland approach, advancing our approach for understanding migration, resettlement, and transnational phenomena."
--Steven J. Gold, Michigan State University
Book Description
Challenging the commonly held perception that immigrants' lives are shaped exclusively by their sending and receiving countries, Here, There, and Elsewhere breaks new ground by showing how immigrants are vectors of globalization who both produce and experience the interconnectedness of societies—not only the societies of origin and destination, but also, the societies in places beyond. Tahseen Shams posits a new concept for thinking about these places that are neither the immigrants' homeland nor hostland—the "elsewhere." Drawing on rich ethnographic data, interviews, and analysis of the social media activities of South Asian Muslim Americans, Shams uncovers how different dimensions of the immigrants' ethnic and religious identities connect them to different elsewheres in places as far-ranging as the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Yet not all places in the world are elsewheres. How a faraway foreign land becomes salient to the immigrant's sense of self depends on an interplay of global hierarchies, homeland politics, and hostland dynamics. Referencing today's 24-hour news cycle and the ways that social media connects diverse places and peoples at the touch of a screen, Shams traces how the homeland, hostland, and elsewhere combine to affect the ways in which immigrants and their descendants understand themselves and are understood by others.
Virtual Book Launch:
September 10, 2020
Selected Invited Book Talks
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October 7 -- Harvard University
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October 21 -- Boston College
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November 4 -- Migration Policy Centre, European University Institute
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November 5 -- University of California, Riverside
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November 11 -- Queen's University
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November 19 -- Loyola University Chicago
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November 25 -- University of Toronto
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December 4 -- McGill University
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December 10 -- New York University, Abu Dhabi
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February 11 -- Western University
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April 29 -- Glasgow Caledonian University
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June 4 -- University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Diego
Author Meets Critics
2021 Eastern Sociological Society Conference
Discussants: Philip Kasinitz, Doug Massey, and Claire Alexander
February 21, Sunday, 5:30-7pm
Media Feature
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Asian American Writers Workshop
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Cornell University Migration Initiative
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New Books Network -- Islamic Studies
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The Pg. 99 Test -- Campaign for the American Reader
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Ten Questions -- Chapati Mystery
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The Harvard Crimson
Reviewed In:
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American Journal of Sociology
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Social Forces
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Sociological Forum
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Ethnic and Racial Studies
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Contemporary Sociology
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South Asian Diaspora
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The Sociological Review
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Choice
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Transitions
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H-Net
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Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology