Alien Nation - (The David J. Weber the New Borderlands History) by Elliott Young (Paperback)

About the Book

"Young traces the pivotal century of Chinese migration to the Americas, beginning with the 1840s at the start of the 'coolie' trade and ending during World War II. This book is the first transnational history of Chinese migration to the Americas. By focusing on the fluidity and complexity of border crossings throughout the Western Hemisphere, Young shows us how Chinese migrants constructed alternative communities and identities through these transnational pathways"--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

In this sweeping work, Elliott Young traces the pivotal century of Chinese migration to the Americas, beginning with the 1840s at the start of the "coolie" trade and ending during World War II. The Chinese came as laborers, streaming across borders legally and illegally and working jobs few others wanted, from constructing railroads in California to harvesting sugar cane in Cuba. Though nations were built in part from their labor, Young argues that they were the first group of migrants to bear the stigma of being "alien." Being neither black nor white and existing outside of the nineteenth century Western norms of sexuality and gender, the Chinese were viewed as permanent outsiders, culturally and legally. It was their presence that hastened the creation of immigration bureaucracies charged with capture, imprisonment, and deportation.

This book is the first transnational history of Chinese migration to the Americas. By focusing on the fluidity and complexity of border crossings throughout the Western Hemisphere, Young shows us how Chinese migrants constructed alternative communities and identities through these transnational pathways.

Review Quotes

"[This] solidly researched book [is] informative and rewarding, a welcome addition to a topic important then and now." -- Hispanic American Historical Review

"A sweeping yet nuanced study of transnational Chinese migration to the Americas, spanning the mid-nineteenth century through the decade of the Great Depression . . . . Young has done a great service for scholars of migration studies, the Chinese in the Americas, borderlands, and transnational history in general." -- H-Net Reviews

"An excellent contribution to our growing understanding of one of the 19th and 20th centuries' most significant migration flows." -- World History Connected

"Sheds light on many little known facts and details. . . . A fascinating, well-written, and well-documented work." -- Oregon Historical Quarterly

"The book remains valuable as a history of the development of anti-Chinese immigration systems across the Western Hemisphere." -- American Historical Review

"This excellent book will interest students of the formation of state immigration bureaucracies, administrative law, law as engaged by people, and Chinese diasporas." -- Journal of American History

"Young's intricately plotted story of Chinese alien status during the coolie era shows that it also had a racial dimension." -- American Quarterly

Provides a hemispheric and global perspective that builds on earlier studies, bringing them together into one comprehensive analysis." -- Labour/Le Travail