Human Migration and the Marginal Man

Author(s): Robert E. Park

Source: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 33, No. 6 (May, 1928), pp. 881-893
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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 THE AMERICAN
JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

VOLUME
XXXIII MAY 1928 NUMBER 6

HUMANMIGRATIONAND THE MARGINALMAN

ROBERT E. PARK
ofChicago
University

ABSrTRACT
Migrations, withall the incidental collision,conflicts,
and fusionsof peoples
and ofcultures whichtheyoccasion,havebeenaccounted amongthedecisiveforces
in history.Everyadvancein culture, it has beensaid,commences witha newperiod
of migration and movement of populations.Presenttendencies indicatethatwhile
themobility ofindividualshas increased,themigration ofpeopleshas relativelyde-
creased.The consequences, however,of migration and mobilityseem,on thewhole,
to be thesame. In bothcasesthe"cakeof custom"is brokenand theindividual is
freedfornewenterprises and fornewassociations. One of theconsequences ofmi-
grationis to createa situationin whichthesameindividual-whomayor maynot
be a mixedblood-findshimself strivingto livein twodiverseculturalgroups.The
effectis to producean unstablecharacter-apersonality typewithcharacteristic
formsof behavior.This is the"marginal man." It is in themindof themarginal
manthattheconflicting culturesmeetand fuse.It is,therefore, in themindofthe
marginalman thatthe processof civilization is visiblygoingon, and it is in the
mindofthemarginal manthattheprocessofcivilization maybestbe studied.

Studentsof the greatsociety,lookingat mankindin the long

perspectiveof history,have frequently been disposedto seek an
explanationof existingculturaldifferencesamongraces and peo-
ples in somesingledominating cause or condition.One schoolof
thought,representedmost conspicuouslyby Montesquieu,has
foundthatexplanation in climateand in thephysicalenvironment.
Anotherschool,identified withthe nameof Arthurde Gobineau,
authorof The InequalityofHumanRaces, has soughtan explana-
88i

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882 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

tionofdivergent culturesin theinnatequalitiesofracesbiological-

lyinherited. These twotheorieshavethisin common, namely,that
theybothconceivecivilization and societytobe theresultofevolu-
tionaryprocesses-processesby whichmanhas acquirednew in-
heritabletraits-ratherthan processesby whichnew relations
have beenestablishedbetweenmen.
In contrastto bothof these,FrederickTeggarthas recently
restatedand amplified whatmaybe calledthecatastrophic theory
ofcivilization, a theorythatgoesbackto Humein England,and to
Turgotin France. Fromthispointof view,climateand innatera-
cial traits,important as theymay have been in the evolutionof
races,have been of onlyminorinfluence in creatingexistingcul-
turaldifferences. In fact,racesand cultures,so farfrombeingin
anysenseidentical-oreventheproductof similarconditions and
forces-areperhapsto be set overagainstone anotheras contrast
effects, the resultsof antagonistic tendencies,so thatcivilization
maybe said to flourish at the expenseof racial differences rather
thanto be conservedby them.At any rate,if it is truethatraces
aretheproductsofisolationand inbreeding, itis justas certainthat
civilization, on the other is
hand, a consequenceofcontactand com-
munication.The forceswhichhave beendecisivein thehistoryof
mankindare thosewhichhave broughtmen togetherin fruitful
competition, conflict, and co-operation.
Amongthemostimportant of theseinfluences have been-ac-
cordingto whatI havecalledthecatastrophic theoryofprogress-
migrationand the incidentalcollisions,conflicts, and fusionsof
peopleand cultureswhichtheyhave occasioned.
"Everyadvanceinculture,"saysBiicher,inhisIndustrialEvo-
lution,"commences, so to speak,witha newperiodofwandering,"
and in supportofthisthesishe pointsoutthattheearlierformsof
tradeweremigratory, thatthe firstindustriesto freethemselves
fromthe householdhusbandryand becomeindependent occupa-
tionswerecarriedon itinerantly. "The greatfounders of religion,
the earliestpoets and philosophers, the musiciansand actorsof
past epochs,are all greatwanderers.Even today,do not the in-
ventor, thepreacherofa newdoctrine, and thevirtuosotravelfrom
place to place in searchof adherentsand admirers-notwithstand-

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 HUMAN MIGRATION AND THE MARGINAL MAN 883

ingtheimmenserecentdevelopment in themeansof communicat-

inginformation?"'
The influencesof migrationshave notbeenlimited,of course,
bythechangeswhichtheyhaveeffected in existing cultures.In the
longrun,theyhave determined theracialcharacteristics ofhistor-
ical peoples."The wholeteachingofethnology," as GriffithTaylor
remarks, "showsthatpeoplesofmixedraceare theruleand notthe
exception."2Every nation,upon examination, turnsout to have
beena moreor lesssuccessfulmelting-pot. To thisconstantsifting
of racesand peoples,humangeographers have giventhetitle"the
historicalmovement," because,as Miss Semplesaysin hervolume
Influencesof GeographicEnvironment, "it underliesmostwritten
historyand constitutes themajorpartof unwritten history, espe-
ciallythatofsavageand nomadictribes."3
Changesin race,it is true,do inevitablyfollow,at some dis-
tance,changesin culture.The movements and mingling ofpeoples
whichbringrapid,sudden,and oftencatastrophic, changesin cus-
tomsand habitsare followed, in thecourseof time,as a resultof
interbreeding,by corresponding modifications in temperament and
physique.Therehas probablyneverbeenan instancewhereraces
have livedtogether in theintimatecontactswhicha commonecon-
omyenforcesin whichracial contiguity has not producedracial
hybrids.However,changesin racialcharacteristics and in cultural
traitsproceedat verydifferent rates,and it is notoriousthatcul-
turalchangesare notconsolidated and transmitted biologically,or
at leastto onlya veryslightextent,ifat all. Acquiredcharacteris-
ticsare notbiologicallyinherited.
Writerswho emphasizethe importanceof migrationas an
agencyof progressare invariablyled to ascribea similarrole to
war. Thus Waitz,commenting upon the role of migration as an
agencyof civilization,pointsout thatmigrations are "rarelyof a
peacefulnatureat first."Of warhe says: "The firstconsequence
ofwaris thatfixedrelationsare established betweenpeoples,which
1 CarlBucher,
Industrial p. 347.
Evolution,
Taylor,Environment
2 Griffith and Race: A Studyof theEvolution,Migra-
andStatusoftheRacesofMen,p. 336.
tion,Settlement,
of Geographic
Semple,Influences
EllenChurchill p. 75.
Environment,

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 884 T'HE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

renderfriendly
intercourse whichbecomes
possible,an intercourse
moreimportant fromtheinterchange ofknowledgeand experience
than fromthe mereinterchange of commodities."4 And thenhe
adds:
Whenever weseea people,ofwhatever degreeofcivilization,
notlivingin
contactand reciprocal actionwithothers,we shallgenerally finda certain
a mentalinertness,
stagnation, anda wantofactivity,whichrender anychange
nextto impossible.Theseare,in timesof
of socialand politicalcondition
peace,transmittedlikean everlasting
disease,andwarappearsthen,inspiteof
whattheapostlesofpeacemaysay,as a savingangel,whorousesthenational
andrenders
spirit, all forcesmoreelastic.5
Amongthewriters whoconceivethehistorical processin terms
eitherpeacefulor hostile,of one peopleintothedo-
of intrusions,
mainofanother, mustbe reckonedsuchsociologists as Gumplowicz
and Oppenheim.The former, to definethesocialproc-
in an effort
has describedit as theinteraction
ess abstractly, of heterogeneous
ethnicgroups,theresulting subordination and superordination of
racesconstitutingthesocialorder-society,in fact.
In muchthesame way,Oppenheim, in his studyof the socio-
logicaloriginof thestate,believeshe has shownthatin everyin-
stancethestatehas had itshistoricalbeginnings in theimposition,
by conquestand force,of the of
authority a nomadic upona seden-
tary and agriculturalpeople. The facts whichOppenheimhas
gatheredto sustainhis thesisshow,at any rate,thatsocialinstitu-
tionshaveactually,in manyinstancesat least,comeintoexistence
abruptlyby a mutation, ratherthanby a processof evolutionary
selectionand the gradualaccumulationof relativelyslightvaria-
tions.6
It is notat onceapparentwhya theorywhichinsistsuponthe
importance changein the evolutionof civilization
of catastrophic
shouldnotat thesame timetake someaccountof revolution as a
factorin progress.If peace and stagnation,as Waitz suggests,
tendto assumethe formof a social disease; if, as Sumnersays,
"societyneedsto havesomeferment in it" to breakup thisstagna-
'Theodor Waitz, Introductionto Anthropology,
p. 347.
'Ibid., p. 348.
ViewedSociolog-
TheState: Its HistoryandDevelopment
'Franz Oppenheim,
ically( I9I4).

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 HUMAN MIGRATION AND THE MARGINAL MAN 885

tionand emancipatetheenergiesof individualsimprisoned within

an existingsocial order; it seemsthatsome "adventurousfolly"
likethecrusadesof themiddleages,or someromanticenthusiasm
like thatwhichfoundexpressionin the FrenchRevolution,or in
themorerecentBolshevistadventurein Russia,mightservequite
as effectively as eithermigration or warto interrupttheroutineof
existinghabitand breakthe cake of custom.Revolutionary doc-
trinesare naturally based upona conception ofcatastrophic rather
thanofevolutionary change.Revolutionary strategy,as ithas been
workedout and rationalizedin Sorel's Reflectionson Violence,
makesthegreatcatastrophe, thegeneralstrike,an articleof faith.
As suchit becomesa meansof maintaining moraleand enforcing
disciplinein therevolutionary masses.7
The firstand mostobviousdifference betweenrevolution and
migration is thatin migration thebreakdownof socialorderis ini-
tiatedby theimpactof an invadingpopulation, and completedby
thecontactand fusionof nativewithalienpeoples. In thecase of
the former, revolutionary ferment and the forceswhichhave dis-
ruptedsocietyhave ordinarilyhad, or seem to have had, their
sourcesand originsmainlyif notwhollywithin,ratherthanwith-
out,thesocietyaffected.It is doubtfulwhetherit can be success-
fullymaintainedthateveryrevolution, everyAufkldrung, every
intellectual awakeningand renaissancehas been and willbe pro-
voked by some invadingpopulationmovementor by the intru-
sion of some alien culturalagency. At least it seems as if some
modification of this view is necessary,since withthe growthof
commerce and communication thereis progressively
and relatively
moremovementand less migration.Commerce,in bringingthe
endsoftheearthtogether, has madetravelrelatively secure.More-
over,withthedevelopment ofmachineindustry and thegrowthof
cities,it is thecommodities ratherthanmenwhichcirculate.The
peddler,whocarrieshis stockon hisback,giveswayto thetravel-
ingsalesman,andthecatalogueofthemailorderhousenowreaches
remoteregionswhicheventheYankeepeddlerrarelyif everpene-
trated.Withthe development of a world-economy and theinter-
on Violence(New York,I9I4).
'GeorgesSorel,Reflections

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886 THE AMERICAN JOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY

as Bucherhas pointedout,have
ofpeoples,migrations,
penetration
changedtheircharacter:
The migrations occurringat the openingof the historyof Europeanpeo-
ples are migrations of wholetribes,a pushingand pressingof collectiveunits
fromeast to west whichlasted for centuries.The migrationsof the Middle
Ages everaffectindividualclassesalone; the knightsin the crusades,the mer-
chants,the wage craftsmen, the journeymenhand-workers, the jugglersand
minstrels,the villeinsseekingprotectionwithinthe walls of a town. Modern
migrations,on the contrary, are generallya matterof privateconcern,the in-
dividualsbeing led by the most varied motives. They are almost invariably
withoutorganization.The process repeatingitselfdaily a thousandtimes is
unitedonlythroughthe one characteristic, thatit is everywherea questionof
changeof localityby personsseekingmorefavourableconditionsof life.8
Migration,whichwas formerly an invasion,followedby the
forcibledisplacement or subjugationofone peopleby another, has
assumedthecharacter ofa peacefulpenetration. Migrationofpeo-
ples has,in otherwords,beentransmuted intomobility of individ-
uals,and thewarswhichthesemovements so frequentlyoccasioned
have assumed the characterof internecinestruggles,of which
strikesand revolutions are to be regardedas types.
Furthermore, if one were to attemptto reckonwithall the
formsin whichcatastrophic changestakeplace,it wouldbe neces-
saryto includethechangesthatare effected by thesuddenriseof
somenewreligiousmovement likeMohammedanism or Christian-
ity,bothof whichbegan as schismaticand sectarianmovements,
and whichby extensionand internalevolutionhave becomeinde-
pendentreligions.Lookedat fromthispointofview,migration as-
sumesa characterless uniqueand exceptionalthanhas hitherto
been conceivedby the writerswhomthe problemhas most in-
trigued.It appearsas one,merely,of a seriesof formsin which
historicchangesmaytakeplace. Nevertheless, regardedabstractly
as a typeofcollective action,humanmigration exhibitseverywhere
characteristicsthatare sufficientlytypicalto makeit a subjectof
independent investigation and study,bothin respectto its form
and in respectto theeffects whichitproduces.
Migrationis not,however,to be identified withmeremove-
ment.It involves,at the veryleast,changeof residenceand the
8 Carl Biicher,IndustrialEvolution,p. 349.

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 HUMAN MIGRATION AND THE MARGINALMAN 887

breakingofhometies. The movements ofgypsiesand otherpariah

peoples,because theybringabout no important changesin cul-
turallife,are to be regardedratheras a geographicalfactthana
socialphenomenon. Nomadiclifeis stabilizedonthebasisofmove-
ment,and eventhoughgypsiesnowtravelby automobile, theystill
maintain, comparatively unchanged, theirancienttribalorganiza-
tionand customs.The resultis thattheirrelationto thecommuni-
tiesin whichtheymayat any timebe foundis to be describedas
symbiotic ratherthansocial. This tendsto be trueof any section
or class of thepopulation-thehobos,forexample,and thehotel
dwellers-whichis unsettledand mobile.
Migrationas a socialphenomenon mustbe studiednotmerely
in itsgrossereffects,
as manifestedin changesin customand in the
mores,but it maybe envisagedin its subjectiveaspectsas mani-
festedin thechangedtypeofpersonality whichitproduces.When
thetraditional organizationof societybreaksdown,as a resultof
contactand collisionwitha newinvadingculture,theeffect is, so
to speak, to emancipatethe individualman. Energiesthatwere
formerly controlledby customand traditionare released.The in-
dividualis freefornewadventures, buthe is moreor less without
direction and control.Teggart'sstatement of thematteris as fol-
lows:
As a resultofthebreakdown ofcustomary modesofactionandofthought,
theindividual experiencesa "release"fromtherestraints and constraints
to
whichhe has beensubject,andgivesevidenceof this"release"in aggressive
self-assertion.The overexpression is oneof themarkedfea-
of individuality
turesofall epochsofchange.Ontheotherhand,thestudyofthepsychological
effectsof collisionand contactbetween groupsrevealsthefactthat
different
themostimportant aspectof "release"liesnotin freeingthesoldier,warrior,
orberserker fromtherestraint ofconventional modesofaction,butin freeing
theindividual judgment fromtheinhibitions ofconventional modesofthought.
It willthusbe seen(he adds) thatthestudyof themodusoperandi of change
in timegivesa common focusto theefforts ofpoliticalhistorians,
of thehis-
toriansof literature and of students
and of ideas,of psychologists, of ethics
andthetheory ofeducation.9
Social changes,accordingto Teggart,have theirinceptionin
eventswhich"release"theindividualsoutofwhichsocietyis com-
'FrederickJ. Teggart,
TheoryofHistory,
p. i96.

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 888 THE AMERICAN JOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY

posed. Inevitably,however,thisreleaseis followedin the course

of timeby the reintegration of the individualsso releasedintoa
newsocial order.In themeantime, however,certainchangestake
place-at any ratetheyare likelyto takeplace-in the character
of the individualsthemselves.They become,in the process,not
merelyemancipated, butenlightened.
The emancipatedindividualinvariablybecomesin a certain
sense and to a certaindegreea cosmopolitan.He learnsto look
upontheworldinwhichhe was bornand bredwithsomething ofthe
detachment of a stranger.He acquires,in short,an intellectual
bias. Simmelhas describedthepositionof thestranger in thecom-
munity, and hispersonality, in termsof movement and migration.
"If wandering,"he says, "consideredas the liberationfrom
everygivenpointin space,is theconceptualoppositeof fixation at
anypoint,thensurelythesociologicalformofthestranger presents
theunionof bothof thesespecifications." The strangerstays,but
he is notsettled.He is a potentialwanderer.That meansthathe is
not boundas othersare by thelocal proprieties and conventions.
"He is the freerman,practicallyand theoretically. He viewshis
relationtootherswithlessprejudice;he submitsthemto moregen-
eral,moreobjectivestandards,and he is notconfined in his action
by custom,pietyor precedents."
The effect of mobilityand migration is to secularizerelations
whichwereformerly sacred. One maydescribetheprocess,in its
dual aspect,perhaps,as thesecularization of societyand theindi-
viduation ofthe person. For a brief,vivid,and authenticpictureof
theway in whichmigration of theearliersort,the migration of a
people,has,in fact,broughtaboutthedestruction ofan earlierciv-
ilizationand liberatedthe peoplesinvolvedforthe creationof a
later,moresecular,and freersociety,I suggestGilbertMurray's
introduction to The Rise of theGreekEpic, in whichhe seeksto
reproducetheeventsoftheNordicinvasionof theAegeanarea.
Whatensued,he says,was a periodofchaos:
A chaosin whichan old civilization intofragments,
is shattered its laws
setat naught,
and thatintricatewebof normalexpectation whichformsthe
veryessenceofhumansocietytornso oftenand so utterly by continued dis-
thatat lastthereceasesto be anynormal
appointment at all. For
expectation

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 HUMAN MIGRATION AND THE MARGINAL MAN 889

thefugitivesettlersontheshoresthatwereafterwards Ionia,andforpartstoo
ofDorisandAeolis,therewerenotribalgodsortribalobligations left,because
therewereno tribes.Therewereno oldlaws,becausetherewasno oneto ad-
minister or evento remember them;onlysuchcompulsions as thestrongest
powerofthemoment choseto enforce.Householdandfamily lifehad disap-
peared,andall itsinnumerable tieswithit. A manwasnownotlivingwitha
wifeofhisownrace,butwitha dangerous strangewoman,of alienlanguage
andaliengods,a womanwhosehusband or fatherhe hadperhapsmurdered-
or,at best,whomhe hadbought as a slavefromthemurderer. The oldAryan
husbandman, as we shallsee hereafter, had livedwithhisherdsin a sortof
familiarconnexion. He slew"hisbrother theox" onlyunderspecialstressor
fordefinite religiousreasons,and he expectedhis womento weepwhenthe
slayingwasperformed. Butnowhehadlefthisownherdsfaraway.Theyhad
beendevoured byenemies.Andhe livedon thebeastsof strangers whomhe
robbedorheldin servitude. He had leftthegravesofhis fathers, thekindly
ghostsofhisownblood,whotookfoodfromhishandandlovedhim.He was
surrounded bythegravesof aliendead,strange ghostswhosenameshe knew
not,and whowerebeyondhis powerto control, whomhe triedhis bestto
placatewithfearand aversion.One onlyconcrete thingexistedforhimto
makehenceforth thecentreof his allegience, to supplytheplaceof his old
family hearth,hisgods,histribalcustoms andsanctities.It wasa circuit wall
of stones,a Polis; thewallwhichhe andhisfellows, menof diversetongues
andworships unitedbya tremendous need,hadbuiltup to be theonebarrier
between themselves anda worldofenemies.'0
It was withinthewallsof thepolis and in thismixedcompany
that Greek civilizationwas born. The whole secretof ancient
Greeklife,its relativefreedomfromthegrossersuperstitions and
fromfearofthegods,is boundup, we are told,withthisperiodof
transitionand chaos,in whichthe olderprimitive worldperished
and fromwhichthe freer,moreenlightened social ordersprang
intoexistence.Thoughtis emancipated, philosophy is born,public
opinionsetsitselfup as an authority
as overagainsttraditionand
custom.As Guyotputsit,"The Greekwithhis festivals, hissongs,
hispoetry,seemsto celebrate,in a perpetualhymn,the liberation
ofmanfromthemighty fetters
ofnature.""'
What tookplace in Greecefirsthas sincetakenplace in the
restofEuropeand is nowgoingon in America.The movement and
migration of peoples,the expansionof tradeand commerce, and
10GilbertMurray,TheRise oftheGreekEpic,pp. 78-79.
Thomas,The
11A. H. Guyot,Earthand Man (Boston,I857), citedby Franklin
Environmental
Basis ofSociety(New York,I92I), p. 205.

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 890 THE AMERICAN JOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY

particularlythe growth,in moderntimes,of thesevast melting-

pots of races and cultures,the metropolitan
cities,has loosened
local bonds,destroyedthe culturesof tribeand folk,and substi-
tutedforthelocalloyaltiesthefreedom ofthecities;forthesacred
orderof tribalcustom,the rationalorganizationwhichwe call
civilization.
In thesegreatcities,whereall thepassions,all theenergiesof
mankindare released,we are in positionto investigate the proc-
essesofcivilization, as it were,undera microscope.
It is inthecitiesthattheold clanand kinshipgroupsarebroken
up and replacedby social organization based on rationalinterests
and temperamental predilections.It is in the cities,morepartic-
ularly,thatthe granddivisionof labor is effected whichpermits
and moreor less compelsthe individualman to concentrate his
energiesand his talentson theparticulartask he is bestfittedto
perform, and in thiswayemancipates himand his fellowsfromthe
of
control natureand circumstance whichso thoroughly dominates
primitive man.
It happens,however, thattheprocessof acculturation and as-
similationand the accompanying amalgamationof racial stocks
does not proceedwiththe same ease and the same speed in all
cases. Particularly wherepeopleswhocometogether are of diver-
gentculturesand widelydifferent racial stocks,assimilationand
amalgamationdo not take place so rapidlyas theydo in other
cases. All our so-calledracialproblemsgrowout of situationsin
whichassimilation and amalgamation do nottake place at all, or
takeplace veryslowly.As I havesaid elsewhere, thechiefobstacle
to the culturalassimilation of races is not theirdifferentmental,
but rathertheirdivergent physicaltraits.It is notbecauseof the
mentality of theJapanesethattheydo notso easilyassimilateas
do theEuropeans.It is because
theJapanese bearsinhisfeatures racialhallmark,
a distinctive thathe wears,
so to speak,a racialuniformwhichclassifieshim.He cannotbecomea mere
individual, in thecosmopolitan
indistinguishable massof thepopulation, as is
true,forexample, oftheIrish,and,to a lesserextent,
ofsomeoftheotherim-
migrant races.TheJapanese, liketheNegro,is condemned to remainamongus
an abstraction,
a symbol-anda symbol notmerely ofhisownracebutofthe

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 HUMAN MIGRATION AND THE MARGINAL MAN 89I

andofthatvague,ill-defined
Orient referto as the"yel-
menacewesometimes
lowperil."''2
Under such circumstances peoples of different racial stocks
maylivesideby sidein a relationofsymbiosis, each playinga role
in a commoneconomy,but notinterbreeding to any greatextent;
each maintaining, like thegypsyor thepariahpeoplesof India, a
moreor less completetribalorganization or societyof theirown.
Such was the situationof theJewin Europe up to moderntimes,
and a somewhatsimilarrelationexiststodaybetweenthe native
whiteand the Hindu populationsin SoutheastAfricaand in the
WestIndies.
In thelongrun,however, peoplesand raceswholivetogether,
sharinginthesameeconomy, inevitablyinterbreed, and in thisway
ifinnoother,therelationswhichweremerelyco-operative and eco-
nomicbecomesocial and cultural.Whenmigration leads to con-
quest,eithereconomicor political,assimilation is inevitable.The
conquering peoplesimposetheircultureand theirstandardsupon
theconquered, and therefollowsa periodofculturalendosmosis.
Sometimes relationsbetweentheconquering and theconquered
peoplestaketheformofslavery;sometimes theyassumetheform,
as in India, of a systemof caste. But in eithercase thedominant
and thesubjectpeoplesbecome,in time,integralpartsof one so-
ciety. Slaveryand caste are merelyformsof accommodation, in
whichtheraceproblemfindsa temporary solution.The case ofthe
Jewswas different. Jewsneverwerea subjectpeople,at leastnotin
Europe. They wereneverreducedto the positionof an inferior
caste. In theirghettosin whichtheyfirstelected,and thenwere
forced,to live,theypreservedtheirowntribaltraditions and their
cultural,ifnottheirpolitical,independence.The Jewwholeftthe
ghettodid notescape; he desertedand becamethatexecrableob-
ject,an apostate.The relationoftheghettoJewto thelargercom-
munity in whichhe livedwas,and to someextentstillis, symbiotic
ratherthansocial.
When,however,the walls of the medievalghettowere torn
downand theJewwas permitted to participatein theculturallife
Groups,"Publications
in Secondary
12 "RacialAssimilation So-
oftheAmerican
Vol.VIII (I9I4).
Society,
ciological

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 892 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

ofthepeoplesamongwhomhe lived,thereappeareda newtypeof

personality,namely,a culturalhybrid,a manlivingand sharingin-
timatelyin theculturallifeand traditions of twodistinctpeoples;
neverquite willingto break,even if he werepermitted to do so,
withhis past and his traditions,and not quite accepted,because
of racialprejudice,in thenew societyin whichlhenow soughtto
finda place. He was a manon themarginoftwoculturesand two
societies,whichnevercompletely interpenetrated and fused. The
emancipatedJewwas, and is, historically and typicallythe mar-
ginalman,the firstcosmopoliteand citizenof the world. He is,
par excellence,the "stranger," whomSimmel,himselfa Jew,has
describedwithsuchprofound insightand understanding in his So-
ciologie. Mostifnotall thecharacteristics oftheJew,certainly his
pre-eminence as a traderand his keenintellectual interest,his so-
phistication,hisidealismand lack ofhistoricsense,are thecharac-
teristicsof thecityman,themanwhorangeswidely,livesprefer-
ablyin a hotel-in short,thecosmopolite.The autobiographies of
Jewishimmigrants, ofwhicha greatnumberhavebeenpublishedin
Americain recentyears,areall different versionsofthesamestory
-the storyofthemarginalman; themanwho,emerging fromthe
ghettoin whichhe livedin Europe,is seekingto finda place in the
freer,morecomplexand cosmopolitan lifeofan Americancity.One
maylearnfromtheseautobiographies howtheprocessof assimila-
tionactuallytakesplace in theindividualimmigrant. In themore
sensitivemindsitseffectsare as profound and as disturbing as some
ofthereligious conversionsofwhichWilliamJameshas givenus so
classical an account in his Varieties of Religious Experience. In
theseimmigrant autobiographies theconflict ofcultures,
as it takes
place in themindof theimmigrant, is just theconflict
of "the di-
videdself,"theold selfand thenew. Andfrequently thereis no sat-
isfyingissueof thisconflict, whichoftenterminates in a profound
as described,forexample,in Lewisohn'sautobiog-
disillusionment,
raphyUp Stream.But Lewisohn'srestlesswaveringbetweenthe
warmsecurity oftheghetto, whichhe has abandoned,and thecold
freedom oftheouterworld,in whichhe is notyetquiteat home,is
typical.A century earlier,HeinrichHeine,tornwiththesamecon-
flicting
loyalties,struggling to be at thesametimea Germanand a

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 HUMAN MIGRATION AND THE MARGINAL MAN 893

Jew,enacteda similarrole. It was, accordingto his latestbiog-

rapher,thesecretand thetragedyofHeine'slifethatcircumstance
condemnedhimto live in twoworlds,in neitherof whichhe ever
quitebelonged.It was thisthatembittered hisintellectual lifeand
gavetohiswritings thatcharacterofspiritualconflict and instabil-
itywhich,as Brownesays,is evidenceof "spiritualdistress."His
mindlackedtheintegrity whichis based on conviction:"His arms
wereweak"-to continuethe quotation-"because his mindwas
divided;hishandswerenervelessbecausehissoulwas in turmoil."
Something ofthesamesenseofmoraldichotomy and conflict is
probablycharacteristic of everyimmigrant duringthe periodof
transition, whenold habitsare beingdiscardedand new ones are
notyet formed.It is inevitablya periodof innerturmoiland in-
tenseself-consciousness.
Thereare no doubtperiodsof transition and crisisin thelives
ofmostof us thatare comparablewiththosewhichtheimmigrant
experiences whenhe leaveshometo seekhis fortunes in a strange
country. But in thecase of themarginalman theperiod ofcrisisis
relatively permanent.The resultis thathe tendsto becomea per-
sonalitytype. Ordinarily themarginalmanis a mixedblood,like
theMulattoin theUnitedStatesor theEurasianin Asia, butthat
is apparentlybecausetheman of mixedbloodis one wholivesin
twoworlds,in bothof whichhe is moreor less of a stranger.The
Christianconvertin Asia or in Africaexhibitsmanyifnotmostof
the characteristics of the marginalman-the same spiritualin-
stability,intensified restlessness,
self-consciousness, and malaise.
It is in themindof themarginalman thatthe moralturmoil
whichnew culturalcontactsoccasionmanifestsitselfin themost
obviousforms.It is in themindof themarginalman-where the
changesand fusionsofculturearegoingon-that we can beststudy
theprocessesofcivilization and ofprogress.

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