Cultural Concepts in American Immigrant Second Generation Assimilation Studies

In this paper, recent debates on immigrant second generation assimilation and outcomes in the United States are reviewed with a focus on cultural concepts. Special attention is paid to Segmented Assimilation Theory by Alejandro Portes and his colleagues, which is recently gaining popularity in Japan. In the process of formulation, the idea of downward assimilation into the “underclass” was criticized, and thus references to cultural concepts decreased. However, renewed cultural explanation is recently emerging in American immigrant second generation studies, which employs a renewed concept of culture, such as frames and repertories. Building on these debates, the author examines the framework to better understand the relation between culture and achievement.