History

Committee members: Judy Yung and Amy Suey

Winner:

Andrea Geiger—Subverting Exclusion: Transpacific Encounters with Race, Caste, and Borders, 1885–1928. (Yale University Press)

Andrea Geiger breaks new ground while challenging conventional scholarship in this thought-provoking study of how mibun (caste) factored into Japanese immigrant negotiations of race, class, and gender as well as shaped definitions of nation, race, and empire at the borders of Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Based on an impressive array of primary sources in Japanese and English (government and immigration documents, newspaper accounts, oral histories and memoirs, and the writings of missionaries, political leaders, and labor organizations), Geiger cogently argues that not all Japanese immigrated to America as sojourners and for economic reasons only. Some emigrated for social mobility from their burakumin (outcaste) status, only to encounter another system of exclusion based on white racism. As one anonymous Japanese put it, “In Japan, I am an outcaste. In America, I am an outcaste called ‘Jap.’”

Although the transpacific migration of burakumin may have been small, acknowledging their presence and the persistence of caste-based prejudice among the Japanese helps us better understand the strategies that were employed by power brokers in Meiji Japan, Canada, and the U.S. to maintain caste and racial hierarchies while ensuring a sufficient labor supply for the undesirable jobs. By passing laws against Japanese immigration and full citizenship, Canada and the U.S. in essence relegated Japanese immigrants to the status of social outcastes. From the mibun point of view, such actions were not only unfair but also a humiliating affront on Japan’s status as a modern and civilized country. But rather than confront white racism and push for reforms, the Japanese government and local leadership adopted the mibun strategy of blaming the outcaste for the prejudice against them and putting the burden on them to prove themselves worthy of inclusive immigration and citizenship. Consequently, Japan failed to defend the equal rights of Japanese immigrants and its status as a favored nation. It would take a group of Japanese shoemakers in San Francisco and the rise of Suihei (anti-burakumin) activists in the 1920s to call attention to the need for Japan to eradicate the caste system at home before it can effectively challenge white racism in North America.

Thanks to Andrea Geiger’s broad knowledge of Japanese history and culture, immigration and legal studies, her fine research, analytical, and writing skills, and her incorporation of personal stories into the narrative, Subverting Exclusion is an enjoyable read and an important contribution to the field of Asian American studies.

Honorable Mention:

Richard S. Kim—The Quest for Statehood: Korean Immigrant Nationalism and U.S. Sovereignty. (Oxford University Press)

Richard Kim’s The Quest for Statehood is an important transnational history of early Korean immigrants and their central role in liberating Korea from Japanese colonialism. Building on past scholarship and based on extensive research of government documents and newspaper accounts in both Korean and English, Kim traces how Korean immigrants articulated visions of national sovereignty and came to rely on U.S. state power to mobilize international support for their cause. He makes an innovative contribution to current understandings of immigrant history and Americanization by arguing that a strong ethnic identity fueled Korean immigrants’ incorporation into the American political system. An important bridge between Korean and Korean American studies, The Quest for Statehood makes the complex issue of nation-building central to the transnational analysis of Korean immigration and ethnicity.