Will they still be dancing? (1982)

habits and the adoption of a new, indigenous type of American value and behavioral
matrix. The culturalpluralism ideology, which spoke ofthe maintenance ofthe communal
life, identity and values of the immigrant group, gave public recognition to a reality that
already obtained, namely, that American society was a mosaic of subcultures and
subgroups" (Crispino 1980:153, our italics).
However, Crispino emphasizes that none ofthese ideologies can cope with the
complex ethnic reality of American society. The actual "assimilation process"
must be analyzed as a complex interaction between structural conditions in
society and ethnic group characteristics, between class and ethnicity. This
interplay must also be viewed in the perspective of generational succession.
Each new group of immigrants will experience unique processes of ethnic and
class transformation as alternate generations pass through various phases of
integration.
Based on the American situation, Breton (1970) argues that the notion of
integration in studies of immigrant situations should be reviewed. It is important
not to see
"... the integration of the immigrant from a purely assimilationist point of view in which
integration is said to have taken place when the immigrant is absorbed in the receiving
society" (ibid.: 46).
According to Breton, there are actually three types of communities within
which immigrants can be integrated: the community of their own ethnic group,
the "native" community of the dominant cultural group, and other "ethnic"
communities. Breton maintains that some ofthe most crucial factors determining
the integration of immigrants are to be found in the social organization of
ethnic communities. In judging the capacity of an ethnic community to attract
and integrate immigrants, it is important to investigate the community's ability
to develop a greater or lesser degree of "institutional completeness" (ibid.)
which can meet the needs of its members. Such tasks of an ethnic community
towards its members are circumscribed by various informal and formal structures
of organization.
The idea that ethnic organization is important for the incorporation of
immigrants in the receiving society is not new to migration research. l '
However, this theme is only slowly gaining attention in contemporary European
discussions about the integration of immigrants. 13 In discussing the
integration of Yugoslav immigrants in Scandinavia, we shall refer to the
development of immigrant ethnic communities as "internal integration" .14 We
emphasize that there is no contradiction between a high degree of internal
integration in an ethnic group and a simultaneous integration of its members
into overarching institutional structures of society. On the contrary, we argue
that internal integration is a prerequisite for the development of ethnic organization.
It is such organization, fighting for cultural pluralism and equal
opportunities, which fosters genuine immigrant integration into Scandinavian
society.
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