The title of my paper comes from a Haitian proverb that means “beyond the mountain, there is another mountain.” During the two years when I conducted research among Haitians living in Miami, Montreal and Paris, many Haitians I encountered used this proverb to express how migrating and assimilating1 into in a new country appears as a never-ending mountain hike from their perspective. This proverb also illustrates the essential argument I make in this paper. Although many scholars think of assimilation as immigrants joining the new political community or finding a steady job, I argue that in order to properly conceptualize immigrant assimilation we need to understand the types of associations immigrants themselves create. Among the types of institutions immigrants found, religious institutions provide a common meeting place in which they re-create their culture through shared symbols and rites. The moral authority of religious leaders encourages trust and solidarity to emerge among immigrants. For these reasons, among the myriad of possible kinds of associations immigrants can create, religious institutions help them develop solidarity with a group of peers trying to cross the same mountain en route toward political and labor market incorporation in their new society.
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Paper provided by Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Migration and Development. in its series Working Papers with number
356.