Biography

Peggy Levitt is an expert on immigration and how the religious practices of both new and established immigrant groups are changing America and the homelands from which they come. In her new book, God Needs No Passport: Immigrants and the Changing American Religious Landscape, Peggy contends that policymakers—and many Americans—are basing their judgments on outdated views of immigration. The belief that immigrants come here hoping to trade in one national identity card for another is goes back to the reality of the 1930s, not today. Peggy argues that many keep one foot in their countries of origin, by participating in religious institutions—made possible by technology and the ease of travel—that are a powerful but little-known force in today’s world. Immigrants are changing the face of religious diversity in the U.S., helping to make American religion just as global as U.S. corporations and subtly challenging the very definition of what it means to be an American.

Resources by this expert

• God Needs No Passport: Immigrants and the Changing American Religious Landscape (The New Press, 2007)
• The Transnational Villagers (University of California Press, 2001)
• The Changing Face of Home (Russell Sage Publications, 2002)

Recent Interviews & Articles

• MetroWest Daily News, June 30, 2007, From the Andes to Milford: The latest immigrant wave
• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 23, 2007, Faith & Values: Messages: Film examines issue of forced sterilization
• The Huffington Post, June 11, 2007, Transnational Problems Need Transnational Solutions
• The Huffington Post, June 6, 2007, Dios ha Muerto?
• KGMI FM, May 29, 2007, The Liberal Outpost
• The Boston Globe, May 27, 2007, Life, Liberty, and the Folks Back Home
• The Boston Globe, May 27, 2007, The Global in the Local
• On Point, May 23, 2007, Immigration in America, Now
• The Huffington Post, May 18, 2007, Religion Isn't One-Size-Fits-All
• Seattle Post Intelligencer, May 15, 2007 “'Us vs. them' mentality holds us back” (op-ed)
• The New York Times Magazine, May 6, 2007, “A Good Provider Is One Who Leaves” (letter to the editor)

Organizational links for this expert

• Wellesley College
• The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
• The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University
• www.peggylevitt.org

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