Plaza, Dwaine
professor of Sociology @ School of Public Policy at Oregon State University
Bio
Dwaine Plaza is a professor of Sociology in the School of Public Policy at Oregon State University. He has been at OSU since 1997. He has written extensively on the topic of Caribbean migration within the international diaspora, and his publications have focused on such topics as return migration, migration and settlement practices of Caribbeans, second generation acculturation, cultural celebrations and immigration policy in Canada, where he grew up. Dr. Plaza served as associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts from 2016 to 2018, where he worked to advance student and faculty success. Dr. Plaza was president-elect of the Oregon State University Faculty Senate from 2020-2021. In 2022 Dr. Plaza was nominated and won the prestigious Richard Bressler Senior Faculty teaching award at Oregon State University. In 2019 he co-edited a second book entitled: Carnival is Woman: Feminism and Performance in the Caribbean Mas.
Geographical location : Oregon, USA
Research Area and Interest : return migration, migration and settlement practices of Caribbeans, second generation acculturation, cultural celebrations and immigration policy in Canada
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Panel(s)
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Presentation(s)
- Summary: More than a half million people living in Canada trace their origins to the Caribbean. Many were born in the Caribbean and immigrated to Canada from the late-1960s to the present following fundamental changes to Canadian immigration rules. In 2023, there are also now a significant number of second and third-generation Caribbean-origin Canadians. To date much of the research on these immigrants in Canada (Jamaicans, Trinidadian, Barbadians and Guyanese) has centered on their migration, settlement patterns, living arrangements, family structures, schooling achievements, and income levels. Less is known about the degree to which Caribbean-origin immigrants rely on Caribbean ethnocultural newspapers as a source for information on local events, milestones, and happenings taking place in Canada and transnationally in the Caribbean region. Newspapers like the Share or the Caribbean Camera have been publishing weekly in Toronto for more than thirty years. What this all suggests is that various Caribbean-origin ethnocultural newspapers satisfy an important psychological niche for the different generations of Caribbean-origin populations which tell them that they matter and belong in Canada. These newspapers allows us to examine the important social, economic, political and cultural trends Caribbean-Canadians are most concerned about and that directly affect them. The newspapers also provide a window into the degree to which the various Caribbean ethnic groups in Canada (Indian, African, mixed) are assimilating, acculturating, experiencing racism, becoming mobile, being included or excluded, and how transnationally connected they are. We use a systematic content analysis of four Canadian-Caribbean ethnocultural newspapers during the period 2018-2023 to examine and report on these trends.