Putnam makes it clear that he finds immigration and ethnic diversity to be very beneficial in the long run, even though they may inhibit the growth in amount of so-called “social capital”. Putnam’s quote from a 2003 piece by Alba and Nee provides a good definition of the concept. “’When social distance is small, there is a feeling of common identity, closeness, and shared experiences. But when social distance is great, people perceive and treat the other as belonging to a different category’” (159). When a high amount of social capital exists, there is trust between neighbors, and many members of the community know each other, thus forming a social network. As an example of the value of social capital, Putnam mentions that there are studies which show that labor markets are all about networks, with most people getting jobs, either directly or indirectly, through an acquaintance, a friend, a family member. This claim was further supported by “Moving On: Chinese Garment Workers after 9/11”, in which we saw that because the majority of Chinese garment factory workers didn’t know too many people, or, in other words, lacked networks, when they lost their garment factory jobs upon the closing of factories in Chinatown, they couldn’t find new jobs.
Putnam also makes a key distinction that can’t go without mentioning. He explains that immigration and diversity are not one and the same, a concept that can be easily overlooked. In the U.S., there is much diversity as there are people living here whose ancestors came from Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, virtually every corner of the world. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that immigration rates are currently high in the United States. Many African-American families have been here for generations, and members of these families who are living today can’t be considered immigrants. The people who came to the U.S. when England colonized and remained permanently can be considered immigrants, but if you go down their family trees to the generation living now, you can’t consider its members to be immigrants, while they certainly contribute to the diversity of the population. Although the U.S. is a cultural melting pot, there is not one, unifying, American culture. Most people living in the U.S. retain some of the beliefs and traditions that they brought with them from their homelands, making the U.S. an extremely diverse nation, regardless of whether or not immigration is occurring.
Having read this article, I wonder whether or not diversity would severely diminish if immigration was to wholly cease. Without immigration, would a single culture eventually develop? If so, would this development be more rapid in the U.S. than in other diverse nations, since it is such a melting pot?
