Rethinking Immigration and Generation Z Futures: Competitive Childhood in the 21st Century

Rethinking Immigration and Generation Z Futures: Competitive Childhood in the 21st Century
How can we reimagine the impact of immigrants in the new Millennium? This paper foregrounds the concept of generation to look at the emergent characteristics of Generation Z (1997-2012). Drawing on ethnographic research conducted at the National Spelling Bee, it explores this concept as a site of epistemological contention and investigates its racialized presuppositions.
Shalini Shankar is Professor of Anthropology and Asian American Studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of several books, including Beeline: What Spelling Bees Reveal about Generation Z's New Path to Success (Basic Books, 2019); Advertising Diversity: Ad Agencies and the Creation of Asian American Consumers (Duke UP, 2015); and Desi land: Teen Culture, Class, and Success in Silicon Valley (Duke UP, 2008).