The Politics of Armenian Migration to North America, 1885–1915: Sojourners, Smugglers and Dubious Citizens by David E. Gutman (review)

That the principle of equality in the basis for citizenship codified by the 1876 Constitution remained at the formal level and led to no distinct improvements in the lives of the empire's Christian elements instigated a process in which these elements created organized structures along the axis of a certain political awakening. Fundamentally, the steps toward reform that were made in Istanbul and initiated through the Tanzimat did not lead to any changes in the lives of the non-Muslim subjects—particularly the Armenians. Societal unrest was on the rise, especially in the eastern provinces where the Armenian population was concentrated. The defeats in the war of 1828–29 and the Crimean War in 1853–56 with Czarist Russia concurrently brought about significant humanitarian tragedies for the Muslim population living in this region. The population living in the Caucasus and Russia, the largest group being the Circassians, was rescued from this tragedy and fled to Anatolia. The Ottoman state, forced to "manage" and "administer" this population, resorted to dispersing them throughout the eastern provinces.

The Armenians were already under constant threat from the manifold Kurdish tribes in the region and were suddenly confronted with this scattered and landless population comprising mostly Circassians. They paid taxes to both the central government and to these tribes and were, in this way, able to ensure their own security. They were forced to share, both with the central government and the Kurdish tribes acting as a local government structure, the revenues they acquired from the lands they cultivated. Coming to the late nineteenth century, there was consistently an atmosphere of "insecurity" that allowed for ethno-religious conflicts in which the fault lines I roughly drew in the eastern provinces became further entrenched.

The Armenian migrations in the Ottoman Empire transpired in this historical-political context. Harput is one of the most significant regions from which the first Armenian migration to North America took place. David E. Gutman's important study entitled The Politics of Armenian Migration to North America, 1885–1915: Sojourners, Smugglers and Dubious Citizens meticulously presents the social, political, economic, and historical causes and outcomes of this migration. One notable aspect of the book is the systematic discussion of the migration policies of the Ottoman state and bureaucracy specific to the Armenians and particularly in the Harput province. As Gutman points out, "Between 1885 and 1915, at least sixty-five thousand Armenians left the Ottoman Empire for the United States… At least half of the Armenians who migrated to North America left between 1888 and 1908, during which time the Ottoman state enforced a strict ban on Armenian overseas migration" (p. 4).

It is important to emphasize that this ban was enacted during Abdülhamid II's reign (c. 1876–1909). Abdülhamid, with the domestic and international travel bans, sought to obstruct the networks of political-social relations that were rapidly developing and expanding among the Armenian communities and, accordingly, to prevent the political and social mobilization of Armenian society. These travel restrictions were removed with the Young Turk Revolution in July 1908. In his book, Gutman examines in detail the state policies that restricted and prohibited the Armenians' mobility and analyzes how an underground economy aiming to overcome these prohibitions emerged among the Armenians who were left, as a result of these policies, with the option of migrating for a better and more secure life. Ultimately, a common "smuggling network" appeared. Gutman concretizes these secret networks and presents the strategies the state adopted in order to prevent them.

By analyzing the relationships between both migrants and smugglers as well as the central government and its local representatives, he allows us to see explicitly the social and political dynamics that shaped the power of the state and its power of sanction. In this regard, he shows how the state redefined concepts...