Eva JANSKA, Faculty of Science/Charles University, United States
People of Czech and Czechoslovak ancestry in the US (approximately 1.6 million in 2019) are well represented in metropolitan areas, especially in the midwest. Yet relatively little is known about more recent Czech immigrants who arrived after the so-called Velvet Revolution in Czechia in 1989 (68 313 Czech and Slovak foreign-born in 2019). This study examines this more recent population of Czech immigrants to the US, and their institutional engagement with co-ethnic organizations with linkages to Czechia, especially Czech Schools and Sokol sports associations. Based on data gathered from an on-line survey (N=142) and 20 qualitative interviews with members of the Diaspora, we answer the following questions:
1)How likely are these new immigrants to engage with Czech institutions in the US such as Czech Schools and Sokol sports associations? 2) Do these associations build linkages with co-ethnics in the US or maintain linkages with Czechia? 3)Does more intensive engagement in Czech institutions mean feelings of exclusion from American society or a sense of belonging to the mother country? 4) What are the barriers to participating in these associations?
Using the institutional approach we document the quality /intensity of the social, cultural, political, and economic engagement of Czechs in host and mother country institutions as well as their mode of transnationalism.
Mots clés : transnationalism|diaspora|associations|Czechs
A103483EJ