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| Format | Dissertation |
|---|---|
| Creator | Howard, Etha Johannaber |
| Title | The Impact of Urban Development on Ethnic Identity in a Texas German-American Community |
| Dissertation Note (type -- academic institution) | Dissertation -- Southern Methodist University (Texas) |
| Extent of Work | 603 pp. |
| Abstract | The aim of the study is to discover the extent to which perceptions of ethnicity may be changing within the context of urban growth in a German-American community. Concepts concerning the variability and manipulability of ethnic identity developed by Abner Cohen and others are tested with a white ethnic group which has been dominant in the community since its founding. Fredericksburg, Texas, established as a colony of a German emigration company in 1846, was demographically stable for fifty years prior to 1970. Since the late 1960s, an acceleration of population growth, due chiefly to migration prompted by social and psychological considerations, has been transforming a traditional, agricultural town and county into a center for tourism, retirement, and recreation. As a result, ethnic awareness has intensified and ethnicity as a mechanism for community organization and as an economic resource is a focus both for cooperation and conflict. Symbolic interaction approaches provide the orientation for the analysis of behavioral and cognitive aspects of transactions in which ethnic identity is defined. A survey of adults in a five percent, random sample of Fredericksburg households (N=253) included open-ended questions regarding individual and community identity. Respondents used one or more of sixteen ways for claiming or ascribing identity; the most frequent way was by national origin. For the individual or community, ethnicity may be identity, lifestyle, or theme. These three aspects, taken in the order given, describe a general historical trend. All three are also represented in processes at work at the present time. Styles of ethnic expression tentatively identified describe a behavioral repertoire available for selection in response to specific issues or situations. Selection also appears to be conditioned not only by prior history but also by the instrumental value of ethnicity related to other values (economic, for example) of the individual or group. |
| Notes | UMI, printed in 1988. Book, in MadCat. |
| Call Number | MKI/MEM F395. 63 H6 1984b; shelved with MKI dissertations |
| MKI Terms | Ethnic groups -- German-speaking/ Communities/ Texas/ Ethnic identity/ German Americans -- Texas |