Understanding the political incorporation of immigrants in North America and European countries has been and continues to be a major issue of practical political concern and scholarly examination. The almost constant media accounts and popular debates about America’s “broken” immigration system, and about the impact of immigration on the increased electoral success of right-wing parties in Europe, to name just two examples, underscore that these issues are ubiquitous and fundamentally important. This topic has engendered a large body of research by political scientists, (political) sociologists, and economists, among others, ranging across different places (across single or multiple countries as well as within countries) and social and institutional contexts, different groups, and different times, and emphasizing various aspects of politics and policy. Yet for all that we know, or think we know, about this phenomenon, it remains inadequately understood due in large part to the tremendous complexity, variation, change, and even ambiguity that these processes of immigrant political incorporation entail. Along with and beyond that vast real-world complexity, other challenges to an explanation are rooted, this outstanding edited volume argues, in how immigrant political incorporation has or has not been studied, including how studies have defined key terms and approached the questions in the first place.

As explained by the editors, one of the central premises of Outsiders No More? is that despite—and it is perhaps as accurate to say because of—the sizable body of previous scholarship, there has been inconsistent, maybe poor, conceptualization, limited and/or inadequate theorization, and fragmentation in empirical foci, among other shortcomings. The editors and the outstanding group of contributors endeavor to advance the research by, in a sense, first stepping back, engaging in essential tasks of revisiting and (re)defining major terms as precisely as possible and, further, by identifying clusters of ideas and critical variables, which are subsequently brought together with the goal of developing general explanatory frameworks, that is, “models.” These are fundamental in their own right and necessary precursors to the volume’s broader aspirations of offering overarching perspectives through careful consideration and assessments of the implications of the core concepts in the book’s subtitle—immigrant, political, incorporation.

The Introduction, written by Jennifer Hochschild and her coeditors, establishes a guiding framework by reviewing previous research, scrutinizing and grappling with each of the central terms, and then specifying their own preferred definitions thereof. This provides the foundation for the sections and the chapters within this “handbook” (to use a term the editors occasionally use themselves). The three parts of the book, and a Conclusion, follow. The first part, which includes five chapters, is focused on how to define immigrants and, further, addresses questions of whether and how immigrants are “distinctive” and how and why that matters for analytical purposes. A second part, which includes five chapters, engages notions of “the political,” and, more specifically, the question of how broad the role of politics is in immigrant political incorporation. Part III, with the most (eight) chapters, focuses on how one should approach the topic of incorporation. So many chapters (20 in all), topics, themes, levels of and units of analysis, and varied emphases on ideas and interests, on culture and/or context, and on agency versus institutions or structures indeed provide a “rich smorgasbord,” as the editors suggest. The Conclusion nicely encapsulates a range of major questions and issues and goes a good way in helping us digest all that the preceding chapters offer. Nonetheless, that very richness makes it difficult to summarize or extensively assess individual chapters; I therefore briefly highlight several themes.

The definitional delineations and their exhortation for greater clarity and consistency notwithstanding, the editors also recognize, indeed expected, that the chapter authors would begin with “different assumptions,” use different definitions of key terms, and “engage with different methods and types of evidence” (p. 20). Illustrating this point, not only is the major dependent variable, incorporation, itself used with respect to different dimensions and has different connotations and applications, but also several other terms are used along with ”incorporation” and sometimes instead of it.; Among the terms used are “inclusion,” “integration,” and “assimilation.” Similarly, the specific meanings and boundaries of (the) “political” diverge in various chapters. I would add that with some frequency, the definition and understanding of immigrant, political, and incorporation appear somewhat interconnected, perhaps even interdependent. For example, in several instances in various chapters, the notion of political seems difficult to entirely separate or disentangle without also giving attention to that of one of the other key terms, say, “incorporation.” The essays have rather different mixes of analytical focus: Across, and sometimes within, chapters they are informed by and/or are linked to different countries, although useful comparisons are often discussed; to different immigrant (and racial/ethnic) groups; and to different aspects of politics and public policies. Such complications aside, overall, the 18 chapters, along with the Introduction and Conclusion, comprise a set of erudite commentaries and (relatively) “big picture” thought pieces, each identifying and probing significant dimensions in informative, illuminating, and often compelling ways.

In part because the large number of chapters are brimming with ideas and insights, it can be challenging to keep track of the many and somewhat distinct questions posed, the claims made, the evidence being put forth, and overall conclusions drawn. But a nice and helpful feature is that virtually all of the chapters include one or more figures, diagrams, and/or other visual presentations that summarize and depict the core concepts and clusters of variables and their presumed interactions and interrelationships. When taken together, these simplify and fruitfully augment the arguments being advanced probably as much as is feasible. In any case, the depictions serve the important purposes of specifying and elaborating the models and stimulating thinking.

As is typical if not inevitable in such a volume, many more questions are raised than are answered. Yet in the posing, pursuing, and proffering of answers, an abundance of insights emerge. This ambitious project is wide-ranging and comprehensive, if not exhaustive, in presenting the theoretical, empirical, and normative puzzles concerning immigration and the approaches that have been, and might be, used to address them. This is hardly to say that the reader will agree or be satisfied with many or even most of the specific definitions of terms, their applications across and/or within chapters, whether some dimensions of politics are overlooked and/or defined and treated as one might deem appropriate, or even “if [all] the ‘right’ questions” are being asked. That would be much too much to ask, especially given the nature of the issues at hand. Thus, if Outsiders No More? does not begin to bring closure on the topic(s), as the authors acknowledge, they do not necessarily intend to accomplish that goal. But the intellectual adventure identified by this set of authors suggests myriad paths that might be fruitfully followed. As such, the volume imparts thoughtful guidance, if not a compass, for research directions other scholars may ultimately wish to pursue. Reading it is well worth the trip.