ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews case studies, which are focused largely on immigrants' religious gathering places, and considers how religion contributes to identity formation for immigrants, with particular attention to ethnic and gender identities. It focuses on research about religion and civic and political participation among immigrants. The chapter talks about the religious beliefs, practices, and organizations of second-generation immigrants. Sociologists rarely consider how religion influences the experiences immigrants have in social spheres that are not thought of as specifically religious, such as workplaces, neighbourhoods, local civic and political organizations, childcare centers, recreational facilities, and other aspects of daily life in the United States. The ways immigrants' religious organizations facilitate their adaptation in the United States remains a central theme in recent studies. The chapter concludes by outlining several ways to enrich theoretical thinking in future research, with particular attention to the ways post-1965 immigrants are situated within and changing American religious institutions and social institutions more broadly.
