Ethnopolitical Entrepreneurs: Outsiders Inside an Armenian American Community of Los Angeles
Analyzes the emergence of 'ethnopolitical entrepreneurs' (novel political agents in evolving suburban immigrant spaces, or 'ethnoburbs') through a case study of the Armenian community of Glendale, California. Fittante argues that Glendale's Armenians, while possessing their own history and character, reflect dynamics also visible in other American suburban immigrant communities, and that these communities force scholars to rethink traditional assumptions about the settlement and political incorporation of newcomers. The dissertation reorients the scholarship on group political incorporation by unpacking the role these brokers play in mobilizing co-ethnic constituencies. Los Angeles Armenians naturalize at roughly twice the national rate, and in Glendale they form a demographic plurality approaching 40 percent.