Much of what has been written on relations
between the generations in immigrant families
has developed out of immigration scholars’
concerns with gender and gender relations,
the pathways of the second generation, and the
consequences of transnational ties—and is often
embedded in sociological work that focuses
on these themes. Our review brings together
the diverse strands in the literature—most of it
based on ethnographic or in-depth qualitative
research—to identify the factors that shape the
nature of relations between parents and children
in immigrant families, both when they live
together and when they are divided by borders,
and mainly when children are minors or young
adults. The bulk of the article is concerned with
the contemporary United States. But we also
look back in time, as well as across national
borders, to begin to appreciate what is specific
to intergenerational relationships in the current
era, as compared with the past, and in this
country, as compared with western Europe, and
also to better understand the complex dynamics
in today’s transnational families. In our discussion,
generation refers both to genealogical
rank in a kinship system (e.g., parental generation)
as well as distance from the country of origin
(e.g., first-generation immigrants and the
American-born second generation). The family
is a kinship grouping, including people related
by blood and marriage, that may not be tied to
a residential unit.