Joining the Choir is a well-written and well-structured book that greatly informs us about the role that religious memberships play in the lives of diverse African migrants in coping with the many challenges that they face in coming to the United States.Joining the Choir will naturally be of particular interest to scholars with an interest in the integration of African migrants in United States, but certainly also to scholars with a general interest in questions of immigration and integration. * Hans-Peter Y. Qvist, Social Forces *
Graduate students who regularly grapple with the challenges of cross-cultural and cross-racial research settings will appreciate and enjoy Joining the Choir. The author is explicit in self-identification as she studies a transnational group of mostly male Ghanaian migrants. Graduate students will like the volume also because of the use of first-person pronouns, I. * Jualynne E. Dodson, Michigan State University, Review of Religious Research *
...animating questions are raised as Manglos-Weber brings us into her exciting case study, gesturing toward possibilities in the sociology of religion that move such studies beyond inquiries into assimilation. * Justin K. H. Tse, Northwestern University, Sociology of Religion *
Joining the Choir is a well-written and well-structured book that greatly informs us about the role that religious memberships play in the lives of diverse African migrants in coping with the many challenges that they face in coming to the United States. Joining the Choir will naturally be of particular interest to scholars with an interest in the integration of African migrants in United States, but certainly also to scholars with a general interest in questions of immigration and integration. * Hands-Peter Y Qvist, Social Forces *
Weaving together a rich tapestry of individual life portraits, Manglos-Weber's sociological analysis of trust brings us on a delightful journey through the lives of several central characters, showing how they negotiate their faith in God with their immigrant realities. * Girish Daswani, Reading Religion *
This lucid, beautifully written study of a global Pentecostal church captures genuinely transnational experience. Based on rich fieldwork in Ghana and the U.S., Joining the Choir draws a compelling portrait of individual life trajectories as Ghanaians reimagine identities, aspirations and social connections in an unfamiliar place. A powerful sociological analysis of social trust in migrant communities, it shows how religious ritual, symbols, and sociability provide symbolic resources that create trust, both trust among congregants and trust in a future they are still trying to create. * Ann Swidler, co-author of A Fraught Embrace: The Romance and Reality of AIDS Altruism in Africa *
The ethnographic immersion is the strength of this book, allowing Manglos-Weber to break the dualism between outsider and insider. Her voice and experiences are one of many illustrations of the broader social process she describes: how trust networks emerge among transnational Ghanaian Christians. This book will surely contribute to the sociology of migration as well as African studies. Moreover, Manglos-Weber makes a substantive contribution to understanding the imaginative and symbolic leaps of faith we all make when trusting others. * Margarita A. Mooney, Associate Professor, Princeton Theological Seminary *
Nicolette Manglos-Weber gives us a sensitive and engaging transnational ethnography of 'aspirational migrants' -Ghanaians in the U.S. seeking opportunities for better lives while not jettisoning their home country. They face the 'problem of trust' that confronts many newcomers: how to decide which relationships to invest in and which people can truly be of help. She shows how religious choices are often grounded in concerns with social trust, and how trust networks can in turn transform churches as well as migrants's lives and aspirations. A welcome addition to the immigration and religion literature. * Rhys H. Williams, Professor of Religion, Loyola University Chicago *