New Concepts for Immigrant Integration and Race/Ethnicity Theorizing: Ethnoracial Core and Symbolic-to-Consequential Ethnoracial Continuum

In this article, we discuss and expand on two novel concepts developed to better understand ethnoracial integration and variation: the ethnoracial core and the symbolic-to-consequential ethnoracial continuum . These concepts were derived from analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from the Mexican American Study Project, which showed a lasting ethnoraciality for many later-generation Mexican Americans and a high degree of within-group variation. To address the issue of ethnoracial maintenance, we introduced the concept of the ethnoracial core, which is comprised of structural and institutional forces that promote strong and enduring ethnoracial experiences. To better conceptualize within-group variation, we mapped individual experiences onto a symbolic to consequential ethnoracial continuum. While these two concepts have been well received, calls have been made to expand them to other cases and contexts. In this article, we provide an overview of these new conceptual tools and elaborate on them using diverse cases and contexts, with an eye to their broader applicability. We also provide concrete suggestions for their operationalization and measurement. With the introduction and expansion of these two concepts, our aim is to generate a more comprehensive and inclusive framework that bridges theories of immigrant integration and race/ethnicity. In doing so, we endeavor to avoid some of the weaknesses of prior theorizing, most notably the inattention to African Americans and contexts beyond the United States.