The Armenians of Glendale: An Ethnoburb in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley

Abstract

Glendale may house the most visible Armenian diaspora in the world; however, it remains among the most invisible in print. The following begins to shed light on this community by providing a brief background and demographic profile of Armenians in Glendale. The article then attempts to expand discussions of Chinese “ethnoburbs” by situating Glendale Armenians in these discussions. Despite scholars’ expansion of the concept, the ethnoburb has had limited application—largely, to Chinese and a few other Asian immigrant communities. However, is the concept of the ethnoburb generalizable in contexts outside of Chinese immigrant settlements? In this article, I contend that the ethnoburb model is generalizable by situating Glendale's Armenian community within this framework.

Perceptual Disconnect: An Ethnographic Account of Immigrant Political Incorporation

“…The assumed variables that delay political incorporation include: (1) legal status, (2) English language fluency, (3) contextual knowledge, (4) political socialization, (5) transnational ties (contact with people in the home society) and (6) perceptions of marginalization (10, 2013), among others. While this approach may have proved true of traditional accounts, it does not explain political incorporation in several evolving urban and suburban (or "ethnoburban") spaces where immigrants make up a voting plurality and vote into office a majority of co-ethnics (Zhou et al, 2008;Li, 2009;Oh and Chung, 2014;Fittante, 2018). Subsequent scholarship has updated the important research of Hochschild et al by introducing novel agents who rely on newcomer incorporation and therefore incorporate immigrants politically far sooner than the scholarship assumed possible (Fittante, 2019).…”

“…Some examples include increased subsidized housing (for the elderly) and park space, Armenian dual-language immersion programmes in public schools, an April 24th (Genocide commemoration) public school holiday, the creation of a state-funded Armenian museum, city signage in Armenian script, among many others. Because approximately 70 per cent of its Armenian community is first generation immigrant, and because over 70 per cent of the city's elected officials identify as ethnically Armenian (many themselves first generation immigrants), and because this mobilization only began to take shape in the last 20 years, Glendale embodies the rapid evolution of modern U.S. suburban spaces (Fittante, 2017).…”

“…This association is particularly striking in several evolving, suburban spaces throughout the U.S. For example, in California alone, the Chinese of Monterey Park, Vietnamese of Westminster, Koreans of Irvine, Filipinos of Daley City, Armenians of Glendale and many others form demographic pluralities (if not majorities). In these dynamic, suburban spaces – sometimes referred to as “ethnoburbs” (Zhou et al., ; Li, ; Oh and Chung, ; Fittante, ) – co‐ ethnic political entrepreneurs run campaigns that target immigrants. These campaigns speak to the community's needs (in the community's native language) and attempt to demonstrate the benefits of voting co‐ethnics into city councils, city school boards and mayoral offices (Fittante, ).…”

“…This article seeks to contribute to the existing scholarship by analysing how immigrants experience and perceive the benefits of their own political incorporation. It explores the everyday realities of immigrants through a qualitative analysis of the fascinating yet understudied Armenian community of Glendale, California (Fittante, , , ).…”

Constructivist theories of political incorporation

“…They relocated on account of several upheavals taking place in their native countries, such as the Lebanese Civil War, Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the economic crash of the Republic of Armenia, and other global events. While post-Genocide Armenians had established several communities throughout the US before Los Angeles, Glendale has become one of the most densely concentrated and visible Armenian diasporic settlements in history (Fittante, 2018).…”