This project is part of NSF's "Research in Undergraduate Institutions" funding opportunity. It supports the research of seven collaborating anthropologists studying the adjustment and inter ethnic relations of Guatemalan, Haitian, Cuban and Mexican immigrants to South Florida, and the responses to these ethnic groups by native African Americans and Hispanics. Using survey and intensive interviews schedules, the project will focus on political and economic behaviors, studying how these behaviors are maintained and revised by cultural factors such as religious practices and family life, as well as social factors such as network formation, class, and relations with state agencies. This research is important because the understanding of inter ethnic relations is of critical importance to modern societies. Such comparative case studies will help policy makers deal with feelings of unfairness and commitment to social order among diverse ethnic groups.
