Irene Bloemraad

Research Fellow

University of California, Berkeley

Irene Bloemraad (Ph.D. Harvard; M.A. McGill) is an associate professor in Sociology at the University of California Berkeley and a scholar with the Social Interaction, Identity and Well-being Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, run by economists George Akerloff and John Helliwell.

Professor Bloemraad's main research interests are citizenship (including naturalization and dual nationality), immigrants’ civic and political incorporation, multiculturalism and comparative political sociology. Her work has been published in journals such as American Behavioral Scientist, Annual Review of Sociology, Social Forces, Social Science Quarterly, International Migration Review and Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

She is also the author of the book, Becoming a Citizen: Incorporating Immigrants and Refugees in the United States and Canada (University of California Press, 2006), and co-editor on Civic Hopes, Political Realities (Russell Sage Foundation Press, 2008) and Rallying for Immigrant Rights (University of California Press, 2010).

Current research focuses on immigrants’ civic and political engagement in the United States, immigrant political socialization, comparative minority representation, and the cross-national effects of immigrant-driven diversity on trust and engagement.

She joined IZA as a Research Fellow in August 2006.