Overview
Based on fieldwork in Haiti and in three cities of the Haitian diaspora--Miami, Montreal, and Paris--this study offers a vivid portrait of the power of faith for immigrants. Drawing on extensive interviews and including rich details of everyday life, Margarita Mooney explores the struggles and joys of Haitian Catholics in these three very different cities. She finds that religious narratives, especially those about transformation and redemption, provide real meaning and hope in what are often difficult conditions. However, Mooney also finds that successful assimilation into the larger society varies from country to country, having less to do with these private religious beliefs than on cooperation between religious and government leaders. In the United States, the Catholic Church is able to offer services and advocacy that help immigrants succeed, but it is not able to do the same in France or Canada. Presenting a powerful picture of traditional Catholic piety that overturns many assumptions about Vodou practice in Haitian Catholicism, this work also provides a groundbreaking comparative perspective on how immigrants' experiences and opportunities vary greatly across different nations.
Full Product Details
Author: Margarita Mooney
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.00cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.454kg
ISBN: 9780520260368
ISBN 10: 0520260368
Pages: 302
Publication Date: 10 August 2009
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
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Reviews
"""Offers a vivid portrait of the power of the Catholic faith for immigrants."" Carolina Arts & Sciences ""[An] Engaging ethnography."" Christianity Today/ Books & Culture ""Faith Makes Us Live is well worth reading."" Miami Herald ""Faith Makes Us Live has to be seen as making a strong contribution to the literature on the incorporation of immigrants."" American Journal Of Sociology / AJS ""Overall, the book is clear, forcefully argued, and addresses its subject in a sophisticated yet accessible manner."" -- Matthew Hedstrom Teaching Sociology ""I strongly recommend this theoretically interesting and empirically relevant book."" Sociology Of Religion ""Rewarding for its anecdotal detail and the many human interest stories it contains."" -- Philip Gleason Journal Amer Ethnic History ""I strongly recommend this theoretically interesting and empirically relevant book."" Oxford Journal"
Offers a vivid portrait of the power of the Catholic faith for immigrants. --Carolina Arts & Sciences
Offers a vivid portrait of the power of the Catholic faith for immigrants. --Carolina Arts & Sciences [An] Engaging ethnography. --Christianity Today/ Books & Culture Faith Makes Us Live is well worth reading. --Miami Herald
Author Information
Margarita A. Mooney is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Faculty Fellow of the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
