Accidental Immigrants and the Search for Home

Women, Cultural Identity, and Community

Carol E. Kelley

"A valuable contribution to the immigration debate, Accidental Immigrants and the Search for Home broadens the discourse about a humane immigration policy for uprooted family members neither seeking work nor separately documented." 
—Mary Catherine Bateson, author of Composing a Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom

The effect of immigration on individual lives is not short-lived. Those who stay permanently in an adopted country go through a continual process of adjustment and learning about both their new country and themselves. The four women profiled in Carol Kelley's poignant book, who moved to new countries not for economic or political reasons, but for marriage, education, or career, challenge immigrant stereotypes as their lives are transformed.

The intimate stories of these "accidental" immigrants broaden conventional notions of home. From a Maori woman who moves to Norway to the daughter of an Iranian diplomat now living in France, Kelley weaves together these stories of the personal and emotional effects of immigration with interdisciplinary discussions drawn from anthropology and psychology. Ultimately, she reveals how the lifelong process of immigration affects each woman's sense of identity and belonging and contributes to better understanding today's globalized society.

Read the Introduction (pdf).

Carol E. Kelley is an anthropologist and former lawyer who has worked as a research consultant for universities and nonprofit organizations.