Social and cultural anthropology Books

Book SynopsisThe role of cultural memory in American identityTerrorism in American Memory argues that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and all that followed in its wake were the primary force shaping United States politics and culture in the post-9/11 era. Marita Sturken maintains that during the past two decades, when the country was subjected to terrorist attacks and promulgated ongoing wars of aggression, we have veered into increasingly polarized factions and been extraordinarily preoccupied with memorialization and the politics of memory. The post-9/11 era began with a hunger for memorialization and it ended with massive protests over police brutality that demanded the destruction of historical monuments honoring racist historical figures. Sturken argues that memory is both the battleground and the site for negotiations of national identity because it is a field through which the past is experienced in the present. The paradox of these last two decades is that it gave rise to an era of intensely Trade Review"Revealing debates about how to memorialize the last two decades of enormous social disruption ... from 9/11 to Black Lives Matter ... [This book is] a relevant discussion of what sacredness of space means in terms of education, culture, and economics." * Kirkus Reviews *"Marita Sturken’s compelling new book charts a significant shift in how many Americans today understand national identity and purpose. Terror remains an active component, but activist memory projects focused on racial terrorism suggest heightened interests in reckoning with national histories of inequity and injustice. " * Erika Doss, author of Memorial Mania: Public Feeling in America *"There is no scholar better suited to undertake an analysis of the modes of memorialization in the post-9/11 era and their relationship to US national identity. In her deft analysis, Sturken painstakingly articulates the state of memory politics in the contemporary US. This is a must read for anyone interested in memorial forms and the cultural work they perform. " * Alison Landsberg, author of Engaging the Past: Mass Culture and the Production of Historical Knowledge *"Sturken presents an intriguing and impassioned argument that helps to document through words and images the recent decades of the ‘memory boom'" -- J. K. Dabbs, University of Minnesota--Morris * CHOICE *

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Book SynopsisThe role of cultural memory in American identityTerrorism in American Memory argues that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and all that followed in its wake were the primary force shaping United States politics and culture in the post-9/11 era. Marita Sturken maintains that during the past two decades, when the country was subjected to terrorist attacks and promulgated ongoing wars of aggression, we have veered into increasingly polarized factions and been extraordinarily preoccupied with memorialization and the politics of memory. The post-9/11 era began with a hunger for memorialization and it ended with massive protests over police brutality that demanded the destruction of historical monuments honoring racist historical figures. Sturken argues that memory is both the battleground and the site for negotiations of national identity because it is a field through which the past is experienced in the present. The paradox of these last two decades is that it gave rise to an era of intensely Trade Review"Revealing debates about how to memorialize the last two decades of enormous social disruption ... from 9/11 to Black Lives Matter ... [This book is] a relevant discussion of what sacredness of space means in terms of education, culture, and economics." * Kirkus Reviews *"Marita Sturken’s compelling new book charts a significant shift in how many Americans today understand national identity and purpose. Terror remains an active component, but activist memory projects focused on racial terrorism suggest heightened interests in reckoning with national histories of inequity and injustice." * Erika Doss, author of Memorial Mania: Public Feeling in America *"There is no scholar better suited to undertake an analysis of the modes of memorialization in the post-9/11 era and their relationship to US national identity. In her deft analysis, Sturken painstakingly articulates the state of memory politics in the contemporary US. This is a must read for anyone interested in memorial forms and the cultural work they perform." * Alison Landsberg, author of Engaging the Past: Mass Culture and the Production of Historical Knowledge *"Sturken presents an intriguing and impassioned argument that helps to document through words and images the recent decades of the ‘memory boom'" -- J. K. Dabbs, University of Minnesota--Morris * CHOICE *

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Book SynopsisIn the 19th century, personhood was a term of regulation and discipline in which slaves, criminals, and others, could be made and unmade. Yet it was precisely the fraught, uncontainable nature of personhood that necessitated its constant legislation, wherein its meaning could be both contested and controlled.Examining scientific and literary narratives, Nihad M. Farooq's Undisciplined encourages an alternative consideration of personhood, one that emerges from evolutionary and ethnographic discourse. Moving chronologically from 1830 to 1940, Farooq explores the scientific and cultural entanglements of Atlantic travelers in and beyond the Darwin era, and invites us to attend more closely to the consequences of mobility and contact on disciplines and persons. Bringing together an innovative group of readingsfrom field journals, diaries, letters, and testimonies to novels, stage plays, and audio recordingsFarooq advocates for a reconsideration of science, personhood, and the prioTrade ReviewPersuasive and thought-provoking,Undisciplinedargues against overly simplistic accounts of the work of modern science in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With dazzling archival work, Nihad M. Farooq examines the sometimes-playful and often-sobering negotiations of those who were being studied as they returned the gaze ofand spoke backtotheir Western observers. Engaging with histories of slavery, colonialism, and diaspora, Farooq makes a compelling case for the centrality of race within the emergent sciences of evolutionary biology and anthropology. -- Jane Thrailkill,author of Affecting Fictions: Mind, Body, and Emotion in American Literary RealismThis work would serve as a worthwhile addition to courses or reading lists on the history of science, anthropology, literature, and citizenship in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. * Civil War Book Review *

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Book SynopsisExplores the roots of modern understandings of bodily identityIn the mid-nineteenth-century United States, as it became increasingly difficult to distinguish between bodies understood as black, white, or Indian; able-bodied or disabled; and male or female, intense efforts emerged to define these identities as biologically distinct and scientifically verifiable in a literally marked body. Combining literary analysis, legal history, and visual culture, Ellen Samuels traces the evolution of the fantasy of identificationthe powerful belief that embodied social identities are fixed, verifiable, and visible through modern science. From birthmarks and fingerprints to blood quantum and DNA, she examines how this fantasy has circulated between cultural representations, law, science, and policy to become one of the most powerfully institutionalized ideologies of modern society.Yet, as Samuels demonstrates, in every case, the fantasy distorts its claimed scientific basis, suTrade ReviewIn this smart and readable book, Samuels traces her subject from the nineteenth century into the early twenty-first, where it persists in debates over blood quantum, DNA testing, and disabled parking permits. * American Literature *[Samuels] shows the impossibility of talking about, say, race or gender, without showing their formation through a body under inspection. She is less engaged with tilting against identify politics than showing how socially constructed identities are lived and situated within specific cultural parameters. * American Literary History *Fantasies of Identification, which sits at the intersection of US literary history, disability, gender, queer, and critical race studies, will have a powerful impact, not only on disability studies but also on intersectional and transgender studies in generalScholars of transgender studies and disability studies alike will appreciate such a fine model of vital contributions each makes to the other as they are, indeed, in integral relationships. * TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly *A beautifully written, ambitiously imagined, and wonderfully nuanced book. Samuels provides brilliantly argued case studies that demonstrate the discursive and visual processes by which Americans have, since the mid-nineteenth century, lived under various regimes of identificationboth those imposed and those claimed through ones subjective understanding of the world.Fantasies of Identificationwill be a marvelous contribution to disability studies, American studies, and literary historical studies. -- David Serlin,author of Replaceable You: Engineering the Body in Postwar AmericaWhether through measures of blood quantum, disability assessment, or sex/gender testing in athletics, Ellen Samuels makes clear that what she terms & biocertification continues to operate everywhere in contemporary cultures, regulating social worth, citizenship, and group membership. We have long neededFantasies of Identificationto understand more fully the ways in which disability is thickly interwoven with histories of race, sexuality, and gender in the United States. -- Robert McRuer,author of Crip Theory: Cultural Signs of Queerness and DisabilitySamuels examines in depth how stereotypes relating to disability, gender, and race are first created through literature, which shapes basic schema held by society. These stereotypes are then reinforced by media through cinematic representations of what Samuels calls & fantasy of identity or cultural tropes, often idealized with tangential relation to actual bodies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * Choice *Fantasies of Identificationis enormously suggestive, bringing together disability studies, comparative racialization, queer theory, and cultural analysis in new and exciting ways. * MELUS *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Crisis of IdentificationPart I Fantasies of Fakery1 Ellen Craft's Masquerade 2 Confidence in the Nineteenth Century3 The Disability Con Onscreen Part II Fantasies of Marking4 The Trials of Salome Muller 5 Of Fiction and Fingerprints Part III Fantasies of Measurement6 Proving Disability 7 Revising Blood Quantum 8 Realms of Biocertification 9 DNA and the Readable Self Conclusion: Future Identifications Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe unknown inside story of the NYPD's Italian-born detectives who fought both powerful gangsters and the deeply ingrained prejudice against their own beloved immigrant communityThe story begins in Sicily, on Friday, March 12, 1909, at 8:45 p.m. Three gunshots thundered in the night, and then a fourth. Two men fled, and investigators soon discovered who they had killed: Giuseppe Petrosino, the legendary American detective whose exploits in New York were celebrated even in Italy. The Italian Squad, by veteran New York City journalist and historian Paul Moses, explores the lives of the nationally celebrated detectives who followed in the slain Petrosino's footsteps as leaders of the New York City investigative squad: Anthony Vachris, Charles Corrao, and Michael Fiaschetti. Drawing on new primary sources such as private diaries and city, state, and federal documents, this dramatic narrative history follows the Italian Squad across the first two decades of the twentieth century as its deTrade Review"In his new book, reporter-historian Paul Moses writes about the NYPD officers who fought the extortion racket known as the Black Hand during the early part of the 20th century—and did so from a position of ethnic familiarity. Immigrants fighting immigrants, Italians battling Italians, crime fighters operating from within the community that was being preyed upon." * Wall Street Journal *"Moses provides the definitive account of a fascinating chapter in New York City’s law enforcement history. New York history nuts will be in heaven." * Publishers Weekly *"An original and deeply researched book that challenges many of the myths distorting our understanding of organized crime in the twentieth century. Paul Moses gracefully conjures the gritty world of Italian policemen, the struggles of the immigrant community they served, the complex realities of NYPD politics, and the formation of a transnational underworld stretching from New York to Sicily." -- Daniel Czitrom, author of New York Exposed"A well-researched examination of a little-known corner of the NYPD’s past." * Kirkus Reviews *"A story of ethnic stereotypes, immigration battles, and police brutality." * New York Daily News *"A thoughtful, enlightening, deeply researched exploration of the origins of organized crime in the United States. Moses brings to light the real-life origins of the Mafia and the attempts of Italian-American members of the NYPD to bring it to heel. The issues of ethnicity and criminality that Moses addresses are as timely today as they were a century ago. The Italian Squad is an engrossing read from first page to last." -- Peter Quinn, mystery writer, historian, and author of Banished Children of Eve: A Novel of Civil War New York"In this absorbing tale of a New York City plagued by bombings, blackmail, and child kidnappings, the unsung heroes of The Italian Squad battle ruthless Black Hand thugs as well as fierce Italian-American prejudice. Moses skillfully tells the little known story of how a group of undercover cops risked their lives to help a vulnerable Italian immigrant population grow and thrive." -- Maria Laurino, author of The Italian Americans: A History"In this impeccably researched book, Paul Moses does a masterful job bringing to life the brave men on the front lines of what was a new era in law enforcement. The Italian Squad is a must read for any student of history and organized crime." -- Matt Birkbeck, author of The Life We Chose and The Quiet Don"Moses shows how the Italian Squad was one of the first examples of community policing. With a reporter’s eye for detail and a writer’s feel for the sweep of history, Moses brings to life not only Petrosino, martyred during an investigation in Italy, but those many men and women who continued his fight for law and order for nearly two decades." -- Helene Stapinski, author of Murder in Matera"For Gang Land's money, this book should be required reading for law enforcement, a reminder of how powerful organized crime can grow when it's ignored." -- Jerry Capeci * Gang Land *"The Italian Squad is a true-crime story expertly told and, though set in a bygone century, relevant to today’s concerns about immigration, prejudice, and policing." * PopMatters *"Historian Moses carefully strips away the mythology that has always shrouded the Italian squad and instead offers a nuanced portrait of brave, but flawed men who fought the good fight for their people and their city." * Italia Report USA *"In this explosive story, Moses carefully strips away the mythology that has always enveloped the Italian Squad and offers instead a nuanced portrait of brave but flawed men who fought the good fight for their people and their city." * The Brooklyn Daily Eagle *

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Book SynopsisShows how mythologies of meritocracy, the land of opportunity, and the American dream remain firmly in place while simultaneously erasing injustices and the struggles of the working poorTrade Review"Mary Romero's book The Maid's Daughter is a rich and detailed sociological account of the lives of a live-in maid and her daughter." -- Jessica M. Vasquez * National Catholic Reporter *"While there are numerous books examining the lives of domestic workers, in The Maid's Daughter has delved into less-studied questions...while it is often argued...that microsociological research can yield results with macrosociological implications, Romero shows this more convincingly than many." -- Elizabeth J. Clifford * Ethnic and Racial Studies *"A compelling story of how a maid's daughter moves from a girlhood of rage and resentment to a level of empowerment, as a grown woman, that will make readers want to stand up and cheer. Blending life history and cultural analysis, Mary Romero shows that it is possible to do creative ethnographic work that is of service to both the academy and society. Although the identity of Romero's protagonist must remain anonymous, her struggle will live on in this memorable book." -- Ruth Behar,author of Translated Woman"A page-turner. The book's remarkable protagonist tells a compelling story...with each episode, the reader cannot wait for the next. How will she negotiate high school, dating, college campus politics? Mary Romero's more than two decades of research have produced a book worth waiting for." -- Renato Rosaldo,co-editor of The Anthropology of Globalization: Cultural Anthropology Enters the 21st Century"The circumstances of & Olivias true storygrowing up in the servants quarters of a gated luxury suburbmay evoke Upstairs, Downstairs meets Beverly Hills 90210, but the narrative is infinitely more profound and subversive. A unique, autobiographical collaboration between two brilliant women, The Maids Daughter relentlessly interrogates every facet of privilege and subalternity to achieve a psychological complexity and irony worthy of a great novel." -- Mike Davis,author of Planet of Slums"[Romero] transforms twenty years of recorded interviews with a woman referred to as 'Olivia Sanchez' into a highly readable book which juxtaposes Olivias story, as told to Romero, with sociological commentary, research and selected interviews with other children of domestic workers. This thought provoking study raises many questions to wrestle with on both individual and societal levels Open-minded readers may find their views transformed after reading this engaging narrative." * Englewood Review of Books *"Why read it: This isn't The Help. Romero's nonfiction book relies on 20 years of research and is an anthropological study into identity politics and the myth of meritocracy." * Diverse Magazine *"A valuable case study and a dramatic life story, this oral history explores identity and illuminates race, class, and gender in America at a peculiarly intimate intersection between upper-middle-class white families and the women of color who provide domestic labor for them" * Library Journal *"While The Maid's Daughter: Living Inside and Outside the American Dream is an emotionally draining book at times - the reader is witness to the abusive treatment of others - it is well worth the depth of experience and knowledge one gains by reading it...Author Romero has successfully encapsulated the plight and struggles of domestic workers and given the reader a great deal to contemplate." * New York Journal of Books *"For this sequel to her groundbreaking study on the social inequity of domestic work, Maid in the U.S.A., Romero spent two decades following Olivia, who was raised in between two worlds, living in an upscale Los Angeles house where her mother worked as a maid." * Ms. Magazine *"Twodecades of research culminate in the real-life story of a Mexican-American girl navigating issues of class, race, and identity in contemporary Los Angeles." * Los Angeles Magazine *"This detailed, intimate investigation of domestic work from the perspective of a domestic worker's child is a significant achievement that reads like a more academic Random Family." * Publishers Weekly *"A moving work that deconstructs the American Dream at the fraught intersection of race, class and gender." * Kirkus *"In her new book, The Maids Daughter, Romero is again the perfect scholar respectful, curious, honest about her own orientation. Shes a listener, allowing the women she talks with to guide the way in which their stories are revealed... Its very moving work; thoughtful, sensitive, the best possible use of scholarship to open our eyes." * Los Angeles Review of Books *"There are no inherently good and evil characters in this story--just people trying to deal with the problems that come with having too much money, or not enough." * Los Angeles Times *"Readers who found the popular novel The Help annoyingly glib and superficial may find The Maids Daughter, an oral history and sociological study, astonishingly complex and often raw with emotion." * Washington Independent *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction1 Who Is Caring for the Maid's Children? 2 Becoming the Maid's Daughter 3 Being the Maid's Daughter 4 Passing and Rebelling 5 Leaving "Home" 6 Making a Home Epilogue Notes References Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisWhatkind of woman dances naked for money? Bernadette Barton takes us insidecountless strip bars and clubs, from upscale to back road as well as those thatspecialize in lap dancing, table dancing, topless only, and peep shows, toreveal the startling lives of exotic dancers. Originally published in 2006, the product of years of first-hand research in strip clubs around the country, Stripped is a classic portrait of what it's like for those who choose to strip as a profession. Barton explores why women begin stripping, the initial excitement and financial rewards of the work, the dangers of the lifenamely, drugs and prostitutionand, inevitably, the difficulties in staying in the business over time, especially for their relationships, sexuality and self-esteem. In this completely revised and updated edition, Barton returns to the strip clubs she originally studied to observe the major changes in the industry that have occurred over the last decade. She examines how raunch culture affects eTrade Review"The thrust of stripper scholarship is that both dancers and customers are more like your next-door neighbors. Some are your next-door neighbors." * Philadelphia Inquirer *"Stripped is a revealing book about a revealing (and controversial) trade that focuses on a philosophical clash between old—and newschool feminism." * Courier-Journal *"Compelling. . . . This accessibly written, matter-of-fact book makes important contributions to what is known about the lives and experiences of the growing number of women who ‘dance’ naked for money. . . . Throughout, the author listens attentively to the shifting, insightful, diverse voices of women with whom she has a palpably respectful connection. Barton uses the complex picture that emerges to engage longstanding debates over the meanings of commodified femininity and sexuality." * Choice *"Makes an impressive contribution to the sociology of work and its intersection with sex and gender studies at the theoretical and applied levels. It is an excellent examples of the rich data and critical methodological insights that can emerge in the course of engaged field research." * American Journal of Sociology *"Written clearly with very little jargon, this volume sensitively explores the lives of exotic dancers." -- Noralee Frankel * Archives of Sexual Behavior *"A terrific read! Stripped is the best kind of feminist work: original, honest, and deeply engaging. Bartons remarkable insights into the work and private lives of exotic dancers move far beyond notions of strippers as exploited or empowered to uncover more hidden aspects of this worldits burdens of emotional labor, social stigma, exhaustion, and boredom as well as experiences of athleticism, ego-gratification, intimacy, and even spirituality." -- Kathleen Blee,author of Inside Organized Racism: Women in the Hate Movement"Barton presents [exotic dancers] as open-minded & intelligent risk takers who are & comfortable exploring things other people are scared of.-" -- Carlin Romano * Philadelphia Inquirer *"Fascinating, insightful, and surprisingly balanced. This book will take you way beyond Hollywood's clichés and into the realities of stripping, and you'll emerge with a deeper understanding of the pleasures and the costs of being the object of male fantasies." -- Susan Bordo,author of Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture and the Body"With Stripped, Barton makes an important contribution to the ongoing conversation about the effects of stripping on the women who actually take their clothes off. The polarized nature of the debates sometimes makes it difficult to say anything complicated about sex workit is either said to be empowering for women or degrading to them. Yet, of course, things are never that simpleand Bartons arguments provide a significant alternative to such binary thinking." -- Katherine Frank,author of G-Strings and Sympathy: Strip Club Regulars and Male Desire

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Book SynopsisHow the problematic behavior of private citizensand not just the police force itselfcontributes to the perpetuation of police brutality and institutional racismWarning: Neighborhood Watch Program in Force. If I don't call the police, my neighbor will!Signs like this can be found affixed to telephone poles on streets throughout the US, warning trespassers that the community is an active participant in its own policing efforts. Thijs Jeursen calls this phenomenon, in which individuals take on the responsibility of defending themselves and share with the police the duty to mitigate everyday insecurity, vigilant citizenship.Drawing on eleven months of fieldwork in Miami and sharing the stories and experiences of police officers, private security guards, neighborhood watch groups, civil society organizations, and a broad range of residents and activists, Jeursen uses the lens of vigilant citizenship to extend the analysis of police brutality beyond police encounters, focusing on the often bTrade ReviewFascinating . . . Sheds light on a variety of current debates surrounding policing, surveillance, gun ownership, and more. Through fast-paced and story-like prose, Jeursen furthers the essential project of understanding policing as something that extends beyond the uniformed police. -- William Garriott, Drake UniversityJeursen has skillfully captured how everyday people’s negotiations with and for security are a prevailing and socially differentiated aspect of life in the neoliberal city. The author provides a granular view of how policing goes beyond the institution and becomes a part of the way people understand their rights and roles as private residents. The Vigilant Citizen stands to make an important contribution to anthropological understandings of citizenship, policing, security, and the contemporary city. -- Kristin V. Monroe, University of Kentucky

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"In this impressive book, Taragin-Zeller skillfully articulates a new way to think about religiously inspired decision-making that goes beyond established tropes concerning piety and duty, and focuses in a sensitive and sophisticated way on how couples think in nuanced and flexible, albeit often anguished, ways about reproductive planning. Fascinating and poignant." -- Simon Coleman, Chancellor Jackman Professor of Religion, University of Toronto"Taragin-Zeller’s remarkable ability to bridge many fields will be celebrated by diverse scholars in anthropology, gender studies, religion, and politics, and by those curious about the powerful intersections of intimate desires and the state." -- Nurit Stadler, author of Yeshiva Fundamentalism: Piety, Gender, and Resistance in the Ultra-Orthodox World"This beautiful book illuminates matters at the heart of contemporary Israel and its timely struggles over nationhood. Taragin-Zeller skillfully brings to life everyday uncertainties around family-making among religious people and, in doing so, contributes invaluable insights on timeless questions of subjectivity and ethics." -- Ayala Fader, Fordham University

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Book SynopsisWINNER, 2024 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award- Social Sciences, Anthropology, and Folklore Category, given by the Association for Jewish StudiesAn intimate account of Orthodox family planning amid shifting state policies in IsraelIn recent years, Israeli state policies have attempted to dissuade Orthodox Jews from creating large families, an objective that flies in the face of traditional practices in their community. As state desires to cultivate a high-income, tech-centered nation come into greater conflict with common Orthodox familial practices, Jewish couples are finding it increasingly difficult to actualize their reproductive aims and communal expectations. In The State of Desire, Lea Taragin-Zeller provides an intimate examination of the often devastating effects of Israel's steep cutbacks in child benefits, which are aimed at limiting the rapid increase in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish population. Taragin-Zeller takes the reader beyond Orthodox taboos, capturing how cracks in religiousTrade ReviewIn this impressive book, Taragin-Zeller skillfully articulates a new way to think about religiously inspired decision-making that goes beyond established tropes concerning piety and duty, and focuses in a sensitive and sophisticated way on how couples think in nuanced and flexible, albeit often anguished, ways about reproductive planning. Fascinating and poignant. -- Simon Coleman, Chancellor Jackman Professor of Religion, University of TorontoTaragin-Zeller’s remarkable ability to bridge many fields will be celebrated by diverse scholars in anthropology, gender studies, religion, and politics, and by those curious about the powerful intersections of intimate desires and the state. -- Nurit Stadler, author of Yeshiva Fundamentalism: Piety, Gender, and Resistance in the Ultra-Orthodox WorldThis beautiful book illuminates matters at the heart of contemporary Israel and its timely struggles over nationhood. Taragin-Zeller skillfully brings to life everyday uncertainties around family-making among religious people and, in doing so, contributes invaluable insights on timeless questions of subjectivity and ethics. -- Ayala Fader, Fordham University

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2016 Association for Asian American Studies Award for Best Book in Cultural StudiesThe Exquisite Corpse ofAsian Americaaddresses this central question: if race has been settled as a legal or socialconstruction and not as biological fact, why do Asian American artists,authors, and performers continue to scrutinize their body parts? Engagingnovels, poetry, theater, and new media from both the U.S. andinternationallysuch as Kazuo Ishiguro's science fiction novel Never Let MeGo or Ruth Ozeki's My Year of Meats and exhibits like that of BodyWorlds in which many of the bodies on display originated from Chinese prisonsRachelC. Lee teases out the preoccupation with human fragments and posthumanecologies in the context of Asian American cultural production and theory. Sheunpacks how the designation of Asian American itself is a mental constructthat is paradoxically linked to the biologicaTrade ReviewLee convincingly shows that Asian Americanist critique in science and technology studies and analytic that takes seriously the biological in critical race and ethnic studies is not far-fetched. * Catalyst *[T]he study is provocative and evocative, raising such issues and questions as why Asian American artists (in fiction, theater, poetry, and comedy) are so preoccupied with fragments of 'self.' * Choice *Lees propositional and performative writing style will prod readers in (Asian) American studies, performative studies, and critical race theory to reexamine their scholarly assumptions... * Theatre Journal *Ambitious, original, and immensely generative,The Exquisite Corpse of Asian America challenges us to move outside the paradigms of the racialized body weve relied on in Asian American studies.Lee pushes our thinking in productive new ways to consider more broadly how critical race studies might incorporate new concepts and technologies related to the biological body. -- Josephine Lee,author of Performing Asian America: Race and Ethnicity on the Contemporary StageRachel Lees stunning new book explores contemporary Asian American performance, comedy, written word, and a body exhibit that concern racialized, gendered, militarized body parts. Drawing upon Science and Technology Studies and Asian American Studies, with the aid of transnational femiqueer, critical race, and disability studies, Lee eviscerates what we thought we knew about biopolitics and biosociality. -- Charis Thompson,author of Good Science: The Ethical Choreography of Stem Cell ResearchTable of ContentsContents Corpse Blood Introduction: Parts/Parturition 1 Kidney Lymphocytes 1. How a Critical Biopolitical Studies Lens Alters the Questions We Ask vis-a-vis Race 39 Teeth 2. The Asiatic, Acrobatic, and Aleatory Biologies Feet of Cheng-Chieh Yu's Dance Theater 66 Gamete Vagina 3. Pussy Ballistics and Peristaltic Feminism 97 GI Tract Parasite 4. Everybody's Novel Protist: Chimeracological Chromosome Entanglements in Amitav Ghosh's Fiction 126 Head 5. A Sideways Approach to Mental Disabilities: Incarceration, Kinesthetics, Affect, and Ethics 161 Breasts 6. Allotropic Conclusions: Propositions on Skin Race and the Exquisite Corpse 210 Tissue culture Tail Piece 245 Notes 259 Bibliography 295 Index 313 About the Author 325 An insert of color images follows page 138.

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Book SynopsisTransforming Citizenships engages the performativity of citizenship as it relates to transgender individuals and advocacy groups. Instead of reading the law as a set of self-executing discourses, Isaac West takes up transgender rights claims as performative productions of complex legal subjectivities capable of queering accepted understandings of genders, sexualities, and the normative forces of the law.Drawing on an expansive archive, from the correspondence of a transwoman arrested for using a public bathroom in Los Angeles in 1954 to contemporary lobbying efforts of national transgender advocacy organizations, West advances a rethinking of law as capacious rhetorics of citizenship, justice, equality, and freedom. When approached from this perspective, citizenship can be recuperated from its status as the bad object of queer politics to better understand how legal discourses open up sites for identification across identity categories and enable political activities that escaTrade ReviewChallenging critiques of the LGBTQ rights movement that portray it as an assimilationist, uncritical adoption of heterosexual norms,Transforming Citizenshipsoffers a robust account of transgender citizenship claims and their world-making potentials. In conceptualizing the law not as an abstraction but as enacted in everyday articulations beyond the courtroom, West compellingly shows how transformative different sorts of legal engagements might be. -- Paisley Currah,co-editor of TSQ: Transgender Studies QuarterlyInTransforming Citizenships, IsaacWestoffers a bold 'impure politics,' a new vision for queer understandings of the law, the way law operates in culture, and perhaps most importantly, the ways critics can make the discourse around it more effective. In his performance of each of these detailed case studies,Westoffers examples of how a rich community of criticism focused on the law can help reshape the conditions of the present and future. -- John M. Sloop,Vanderbilt UniversityWest uses the lens of transgender to show how citizenship can be performatively produced. * Choice *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Transgender Citizenships 1. Performative Repertoires of Citizenship 2. PISSAR's Critically Queer and Disabled Politics 3. INTRAAventions in the Heartland 4. GENDA Trouble 5. In Defense of an Impure Transgender Politics Notes Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisSpanning the 1990s to the present, the author takes in the sweep of literary and cultural texts by Arab-American writers in order to understand the ways in which their depictions of Arab homelands, whether actual or imagined, play a crucial role in shaping cultural articulations of US citizenship and belonging.Trade Review"Engaging a stunning array of Arab American writers, Fadda-Conrey offers an original analysis of the ways in which Arab American literature articulates new forms of citizenship, forms that are transnational in scope and that reconfigure notions of geography and belonging. This will be the go-to book on Arab American literature." -- Evelyn Alsultany,author of Arabs and Muslims in the Media"Fadda-Conrey's work is sure to make a lasting impact on the way we think about not only Arab American artistic and cultural production but also the relationship between ethnic identity, American citizenship, and transnational belonging." * MELUS *"This book can be read as an introduction to Arab-American literature or as a reference to enrich ones understanding of this relatively new and exciting field. Fadda-Conrey writes with passion and analytical precision about a topic in which she is obviously well versed and deeply involved." * Jordan Times *"[Fadda-Conreys] preference for the term & transnational enactments allows for such variances as physical mobility and imaginative attachment and favors & larger structures of belonging." * American Literary Scholarship *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Transnational Arab-American Belonging 1 Reimagining the Ancestral Arab Homeland 2 To the Arab Homeland and Back: Narratives of Returns and Rearrivals 3 Translocal Connections between the US and the Arab World 4 Representing Arabs and Muslims in the US after 9/11: Gender, Religion, and Citizenship Conclusion: Transnational Solidarity and the Arab UprisingsNotes Works Cited Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisA critical analysis of white, working class North Americans' motivations and experiences when traveling to Central Europe for donor egg IVFEach year, more and more Americans travel out of the country seeking low cost medical treatments abroad, including fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). As the lower middle classes of the United States have been priced out of an expensive privatized baby business, the Czech Republic has emerged as a central hub of fertility tourism, offering a plentitude of blonde-haired, blue-eyed egg donors at a fraction of the price. Fertility Holidays presents a critical analysis of white, working class North Americans' motivations and experiences when traveling to Central Europe for donor egg IVF. Within this diaspora, patients become consumers, urged on by the representation of a white Europe and an empathetic health care system, which seems nonexistent at home. As the volume traces these American fertility journeys halfway around the woTrade ReviewFertility Holidays focuses on a group of North Americans traveling to the Czech Republic in search of respectful medical care at market-driven low prices, combined with a European vacation. In Speiers adroit analysis, their layers of techno-hope cannot be separated from a desire to stabilize their chances of giving birth to 'white' babies. This compelling ethnographic account of Eastern European fertility entrepreneurship provides feminist insight into the marketization of reproductive bodies, showing how multilayered and multi-sited medical travel has become. -- Rayna Rapp,author of Testing Women, Testing the Fetus: the Social Impact of Amniocentesis in AmericaOne of the first ethnographies on reproductive tourism, this book offers a captivating read into what these multi-faceted transnational experiences are like for the women, and men, involved as patients, clients, consumers, vacationers, and sometimes, parents. Through her nimble fieldwork, Amy Speier allows readers to see what it means in practice to seek out IVF as a patient-tourist in a global neoliberal marketplace of reproductive technologies and affective labor. . . . An intimate glimpse into the 21st century systems of hope on which many infertile heterosexual couples now depend to become parents, Fertility Holidays is timely and fascinating; a must read! -- Susan Frohlick,University of British Columbia

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Book SynopsisA New York City ethnography that explores men''s unique approaches to Catholic devotionEvery Saturday, and sometimes on weekday evenings, a group of men in old clothes can be found in the basement of the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Each year the parish hosts the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and San Paolino di Nola. Its crowning event is the Dance of the Giglio, where the men lift a seventy-foot tall, four-ton tower through the streets, bearing its weight on their shoulders.Drawing on six years of research, Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada reveals the making of this Italian American tower, as the men work year-round to prepare for the Feast. She argues that by paying attention to this behind-the-scenes activity, largely overlooked devotional practices shed new light on how men embody and enact their religiosity in sometimes unexpected ways.Lifeblood of the Parish evocatively and accessibly presents the sensory and Trade ReviewOffers readers a look into a complicated history between various cultures and communities, one collectively built up over decades and, quite literally, on the shoulders of men. Maldonado-Estrada complicates what masculinity looks like in the Catholic Church, marking it as a process that occurs over years of piety, devotion, but above all work. * National Catholic Reporter *Lifeblood of the Parish is a thoroughly researched, impressively crafted, and beautifully written contribution to the study of religious practice. Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada takes us into the behind-the-scenes places where it becomes possible to understand the relationships of masculinity, ethnicity, and Catholic devotion in new ways. I enthusiastically recommend it to urban sociologists and anthropologists as well as to scholars of religion. -- Robert Wuthnow, Princeton UniversityLifeblood of the Parish is a beautifully crafted ethnography of men’s devotions, the power of place, and the bonds of friendship. This is, without a doubt, the best study of men and religion I’ve ever read. Dr. Maldonado-Estrada has set a very high bar for scholars of religion, and I thank her for this exceptional book. -- Kristy Nabhan-Warren, author of The Virgin of El BarrioIn Lifeblood of the Parish, Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada presents a rich ethnography of Catholic men in Brooklyn crafting their masculinity in tattoos, costumed re-enactments, and the production of devotional artifacts. Devotion, she persuasively argues, is not just prayer and affection for the saints. It is the very production of masculinity. A remarkable contribution to the study of lived religion and its material culture, this book shows how fundamental gender, ethnicity, and community are to understanding religion as material practice. -- David Morgan, Duke UniversityIn this deeply immersive ethnography, Maldonado-Estrada shows how the men of Italian Williamsburg create and perform themselves as men in their fierce devotion to each other, to the neighborhood, and especially to the work of staging of the annual feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. For all its joyful masculine exuberance, Maldonado-Estrada is unflinching in her treatment of the event’s racist undertow and homophobia, its exclusion of women, and its ugliness towards upper-middle class newcomers to Brooklyn. There is no better book about the fate of Italian American working-class masculinity and religion in the neoliberal fever dream that is New York City today than Lifeblood of the Parish. This is a major contribution to the literature of contemporary urban religion. -- Robert A. Orsi, author of The Madonna of 115th StreetThe subtitle of Lifeblood of the Parish seems straightforward enough, but Maldonado-Estrada’s sensually sharp observations prove that there’s more at stake than a certain demographic population. In contrast to secularization theories and facile equations of women and devotion, Maldonado-Estrada finds masculine devotion at its most vigorous in basements and pizzerias, with liquor and cigars, tattoos and strong arms, against the background of gentrification and immigration. -- S. Brent Plate, author of A History of Religion in 5 1/2 ObjectsChapter-by-chapter the author’s descriptive language makes readers feel as though they are at the places under study, observing the conspicuous aspects of religion and newly considering the places where religion may be found…By the end of the book, readers should be convinced that religion is not merely found but is actually collectively forged in such spaces and represented on inked bodies and in the conviction with which collective stories of the neighborhood are told. * American Religion *Lifeblood of the Parish turns on its head our understanding of Catholic devotionalism among Italian Americans and among Catholics in the United States more generally…It is difficult to imagine a list of must-read books about Italian American Catholics that does not include Lifeblood of the Parish. * Italian American Review *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAn important study of the ways in which feeding children reflects larger social anxieties, from issues of class and racial identities to morally loaded ideas about nutrition and childrearing. While recognizing the centrality of parental engagement to children’s lives, Patico compellingly asserts the need for governmental interventions to bring about structural changes that don’t rely on moralized notions of individual parental care. Everyone interested in how America feeds its children—or fails to—should read this book. -- Darra Goldstein, Founding Editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and CultureA beautifully written account of the double bind faced by many contemporary parents: how to be ‘engaged’ and ‘concerned’ about their children’s eating, without being overly ‘neurotic’ or ‘anxious.’ Thick with detailed ethnographic observation, the book illuminates the politics of parenting from the ground up, forcing the reader to reflect on why children’s eating has become both individualized and moralized in recent years, as well as pushing us to consider other, more collaborative possibilities. In addition to parents themselves, this highly readable book will be of interest to those across the social sciences, particularly scholars of parenting, gender, food, and health. -- Charlotte Faircloth, University College LondonThis book is rife with interesting details, describing a life that will be familiar to many academics. * CHOICE *The Trouble With Snack Time by Dr. Jennifer Patico explores this food environment through a fascinating ethnography of an Atlanta charter school and its surrounding neighbourhood. * Agriculture and Human Values *

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Book SynopsisAn engaging ethnography of Korean American immigrant families navigating the United States Both scholarship and popular culture on Asian American immigrant families have long focused on intergenerational cultural conflict and stereotypes about tiger mothers and model minority students. This book turns the tables on the conventional imagination of the Asian American immigrant family, arguing that, in fact, families are often on the same page about the challenges and difficulties navigating the U.S.'s racialized landscape. The book draws on a survey with over 200 Korean American teens and over one hundred parents to provide context, then focusing on the stories of five families with young adults in order to go in-depth, and shed light on today's dynamics in these families. The book argues that Korean American immigrant parents and their children today are thinking in shifting ways about how each member of the family can best succeed in the U.S. Rather than being marked by a generational Trade Review"Conventional or stereotypical discourse surrounding Asian American families, Korean Americans in particular, in both popular and scholarly literature indicates that immigrant parents, even at the sacrifice of their own future, pressure their children to be successful academically or professionally while ignoring other aspects of their children’s growth … Okazaki and Abelmann's research reveals a very different picture from that simplified portrait of Korean Americans." -- Choice"In this must-read book, Okazaki and Abelman rigorously capture portraits of how Korean American immigrant parents and their childrenmake family work. These vivid portraits provide stereotype-breaking depictions based on lived reality riddled with nativism and racism andnotsimplistic accounts of 'Tiger Moms,' high expectations, and Asian immigrant success. This riveting book powerfully turns the Model Minority Stereotype on its head!" -- Gilberto Q. Conchas,UC Irvine

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Book SynopsisHonorable Mention, 2019 Barbara T. Christian Literary Award, given by the Caribbean Studies AssociationWinner, 2017 Clifford Geertz Prize in the Anthropology of Religion, presented by the Society for the Anthropology of Religion section of the American Anthropological AssociationFinalist, 2017 Albert J. Raboteau Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions presented by the Journal of Africana ReligionsAn examination of the religious importance of food among Caribbean and Latin American communitiesBefore honey can be offered to the Afro-Cuban deity Ochún, it must be tasted, to prove to her that it is good. In African-inspired religions throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States, such gestures instill the attitudes that turn participants into practitioners. Acquiring deep knowledge of the diets of the gods and ancestors constructs adherents' identities; to learn to fix the gods' favorite dishes is to be seTrade ReviewReligion in the Kitchenis the product of Pe´rez longstanding interest in the religious phenomena of Black Atlantic communities, and builds on a number of prior projects, revisiting, revising, and creating a thoughtful and fascinating ethnographic text . . . [W]ill fascinate both the academic community and the interested layperson. * Journal of Religious History *[A] major contribution to the scholarship of Black Atlantic traditions, bringing much needed attention to cooking, talking, and the women and gay men who do both . . . With an accessible introduction and opening chapters, Pe´rezs careful, erudite analysis offers methodological direction and a theoretical vocabulary for all scholars interested in the intersection of everyday practice with religious subject formation. * Nova Religio *[W]ell crafted, theoretically engaging, and insightful . . . Pérez adroitly maps those interstitial spaces often historically relegated solely to women and their labor. This book provides a rare view into the liminal space of the Lucumí cloister and the coded dialogues therein . . . By queering her analysis inReligion in the Kitchen, Pérez substantively and subtly illuminates the temple-house communitys cohesion across its various subject positions . . . The role and signification of who cooks, what they cook, for whom they are cooking, who gets to eat and why suddenly opens up new avenues for inquiry and analysis under Pérezs gaze. * Food, Culture & Society *Chapter three is my favorite in the book . . . a prime example of Geertzs model of thick description as applied to religion and food. Readers will no doubt find themselves comparing Pe´rezs work to that of Karen McCarthy Brown (2001) inMama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, which has become a classic in the field. Pe´rezs questions and conclusions are different than Browns, but I suspect that likeMama Lola, Pe´rezs Religion in the Kitchen will become a go-to book for the study of Afro-Caribbean traditions in the USA. * Material Religion *With clear description and sharp analysis Pérez highlights ways in which cookingand its related activities such as conversationis the stuff of religious engagement and a symbol of connection between humanity and divinity. Anyone concerned with better understanding how ordinary spaces and practices take on religious significance will value this book. -- Anthony Pinn, Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religion, Rice UniversityA deeply researched, contextually rich and ambitious intervention into the literature on Black Atlantic religions. While most scholars of Santería and other Black Atlantic traditions have focused on initiation as the paradigmatic site where religious values are inculcated and religious subjects are `reborn, Pérez directs her attention to a more prosaicand unjustly overlookedsetting: the kitchen. By cooking for the orishas, Pérez asserts, participants are themselves being cooked; that is, they are being socialized into the complex world of Santería aesthetics and ethics. In focusing on the informal spaces and behind-the-scenes work so fundamental to the molding of religious subjects and the perpetuation of Black Atlantic religious forms, Pérez opens up a whole world. Compelling as an ethnography and theoretically astute, Religion in the Kitchenoffers a thought-provoking analysis of how religious norms are internalized and reproduced. A stunning achievement. -- Kelly E. Hayes, author of Holy Harlots: Femininity, Sexuality and Black Magic in BrazilReligion in the Kitchenby Elizabeth Pérez is a stunning achievement, both for its methodological sophistication and its timely focus . . . Situating her analysis within multiple academic venues, including anthropology, history, and the arts, Pérez engages a methodological turn that is of inestimable value to scholars of religion. How fitting that a text about cooking and conversation sets a special place at the table for Africana traditions . . .Religion in the Kitchenis hearty and satisfying fare, served with academic rigor, the 'special sauce' for acuity and balance in the study of religion. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Here is a new approach to the syncretic black religions of the Atlantic world. Though Pérez's research site was a Cuban Lucumi (also called Santería) temple in Chicago, her insights and conclusions apply far beyond . . . Research on the aesthetics of everyday life is burgeoning everywhere and not only in philosophy, as this fine example demonstrates. * Choice *Pérez's reorientation of seemingly mundane gastronomical activities towardreligiousfunctionality in an effort to present a different approach to the study of Black Atlanticreligionmakes this book invaluable to scholars and students interested in African diasporicreligionsand anthropology/history ofreligion. * Religious Studies Review *A pleasure to read. The lucid writing … illuminates the spaces in the back of the house, where so much of the crucial work of making food and making family takes place. -- New West Indian Guide

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Book SynopsisDelves into the long history of Asian American sporting cultures, considering how identities and communities are negotiated on sporting fieldsThrough a close examination of Asian American sporting cultures ranging from boxing and basketball to spelling bees and wrestling, the contributors reveal the intimate connection between sport and identity formation. Sport plays a special role in the processes of citizen-making and of the policing of national and diasporic bodies. It is thus one key area in which Asian American stereotypes may be challenged, negotiated, and destroyed as athletic performances create multiple opportunities for claiming American identities. This volume incorporates work on Pacific Islander, South Asian, and Southeast Asian Americans as well as East Asian Americans, and explores how sports are gendered, including examinations of Asian American men's attempts to claim masculinity through sporting cultures as well as the Orientalism evident in discussions of mixed maTrade ReviewA wonderful read for and about sportss observers, participants, scholars, and fans. With a wide variety of approaches ranging from media analysis to autoethnography, this collection of smart and accessible essays provides a great model for thinking about sportsand through sports about ethnicity, race, and gender in specific local, transnational, and historical contexts. -- Erica Rand,author of Red Nails, Black Skates: Gender, Cash, and Pleasure On and Off the IceSports is one of the most important arenas of socialization and popular culture, and Asian Americans have often been seen as having a disjunctive or non-existent relationship to it. This sui generis collection shows in unexpected and startling ways how a long but under-examined history of Asian American sporting culturefrom participation and competition to spectatorship and fandomfundamentally reshapes allegories of national belonging and race at the heart of athletics. -- David L. Eng,University of Pennsylvania

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Book SynopsisOffers a greater understanding of the spread of Protestant Christianity, both regionally and globally, by studying local transformations in the Haitian diaspora of the Bahamas. In the Haitian diaspora, as in Haiti itself, the majority ofHaitians have long practiced Catholicism or Vodou. However, Protestant forms ofChristianity now flourish both in Haiti and beyond. In the Bahamas, whereapproximately one in five people are now Haitian-born or Haitian-descended,Protestantism has become the majority religion for immigrant Haitians. In My Soul Is in Haiti, Bertin M. Louis, Jr. hascombined multi-sited ethnographic research in the United States, Haiti, and theBahamas with a transnational framework to analyze why Protestantism hasappealed to the Haitian diaspora community in the Bahamas. The volumeillustrates how devout Haitian Protestant migrants use their religiousidentities to ground themselves in a place that is hostile to them as migrants,and it also uncovers how their religious faith Trade ReviewDr. Bertin M. Louis Jr. has just offered to the world of intelligentsia a remarkable book on the culture of Haitian Protestantism in the Haitian diaspora of the Bahamas. It is, without a doubt, a roadmap for cultural anthropology or ethnography designed for researchers with deep insights, students, and scholars to address religious issues, not only under the lens of inquiry, but with a profound thirst for social justice. * Ethnic and Racial Studies,Clarence St. Hilaire *My Soul is in Haitioffers much for us to seriously contemplate. * Black Theology *[F]or bringing Haitian Protestantism to our attentionand apparently to the attention of Bahamiansand for linking religion to class, race, and transnational variables, the project is a welcome addition to the literature on Latin and Caribbean Christianity. * Anthropology Review Database *A ground breaking study of the evangelical Protestant churches in the Haitian communities of the Bahamas, describing the ways in which these churches provide their congregations with a sense of national and transnational identity. Vital for students of diasporic and transnational studies, anthropologists, historians and sociologists of religion, this book is a comprehensive study likely to be the authoritative source on this topic for years to come. -- Leslie G. Desmangles,Trinity CollegeA ground-breaking study drawing on five years of transnational ethnographic research in the Bahamas, Haiti, and the United States. As a Haitian-American, Louis is cognizant of the subtleties of Haitian culture and the cultural differences between Haitians living in Haiti and Haitians living abroad. A major strength of this book is the authors keen recognition of the importance of boundary maintenance and his insights into native constructions of 'religion,' such as the distinction Haitians make between being Protestant (Pwotestan) and being Christian (Kretyen). -- Stephen D. Glazier,University of Nebraska-LincolnTable of ContentsContents Acknowledgments xi Pronunciation of Haitian Creole Terminology xv Introduction 1 1. Haitian Protestant Culture 19 2. Haitians in the Bahamas 47 3. Pastors, Churches, and Haitian Protestant Transnational Ties 71 4. Haitian Protestant Liturgy 95 5. "The People Who Have Not Converted Yet," 119 Protestant, and Christian Conclusion: Modernity Revisited 143 Notes 153 References 163 Index 169 About the Author 179

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Book SynopsisWinner, The Early American Literature Book PrizeEthnology and Empire tells stories about words and ideas, and ideas aboutwords that developed in concert with shifting conceptions about Native peoplesand western spaces in the nineteenth-century United States. Contextualizing theemergence of Native American linguistics as both a professionalized researchdiscipline and as popular literary concern of American culture prior to theU.S.-Mexico War, Robert Lawrence Gunn reveals the manner inwhich relays between the developing research practices of ethnology, works offiction, autobiography, travel narratives, Native oratory, and sign languagesgave imaginative shape to imperial activity in the western borderlands. In literary andperformative settings that range from the U.S./Mexico borderlands to the GreatLakes region of Tecumseh's Pan-Indian Confederacy and the hallowed halls oflearned societies in New York aTrade ReviewA superb work. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * Choice *Ethnology and Empire demonstrates the power and flexibility of postmodern approaches to the study of colonial relationships. * American Quarterly *An original, beautifully written book on the rapidly changing ideas about language in American culture during the early nineteenth century. Ethnology and Empireengages the social history of the borderlands and linguistics to introduce a new way of looking at the formation of ideas about race and ethnography in the antebellum period. A fascinating read. -- Kirsten Silva Gruesz,author of Ambassadors of Culture: The Transamerican Origins of Latino WritingThrough masterful engagement with nineteenth century literary production and ethnology, Robert Gunn underscores how the cultural work of linguistic contact is vital to our understanding of the ideologies of empire that slowly gained force in the evolving U.S. nation-state.Ethnology and Empiremakes a significant contribution in the hemispheric turn in American studies, threading together little-known histories that advance the field and push our thinking about borderlands in innovative ways. -- Robert David Aguirre,author of Informal Empire: Mexico and Central America in Victorian CultureTable of ContentsContents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Philologies of Race: Ethnological Linguistics and Novelistic Representation 17 2 Empire, Sign Languages, and the Long Expedition, 1819-1821 52 3 John Dunn Hunter, Tecumseh, and the Linguistic Politics of Pan-Indianism 83 4 Connecting Borderlands: Native Networks and the Fredonian Rebellion 114 5 John Russell Bartlett's Literary Borderlands: Ethnology, the U.S-Mexico War, and the United States Boundary Survey 145 Indian Passports 177 Notes 187 Index 229 About the Author 242

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Book SynopsisHonorable Mention, 2019 Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing, given by the Society for Humanistic AnthropologyHonorable Mention, 2019 Sharon Stephens Prize, given by the American Ethnological SocietyExamines the role that race played in the inception of the airline industryEmpire in the Air is at once a history of aviation, and an examination of how air travel changed lives along the transatlantic corridor of the African diaspora. Focusing on Britain and its Caribbean colonies, Chandra Bhimull reveals how the black West Indies shaped the development of British Airways.Bhimull offers a unique analysis of early airline travel, illuminating the links among empire, aviation and diaspora, and in doing so provides insights into how racially oppressed people experienced air travel. The emergence of artificial flight revolutionized the movement of people and power, and Bhimull makes the connection between airplanes and Trade ReviewBhimulls luminous work is much more than a deeply researched and compellingly argued study of British civil aviation in the interwar period. It is a radical attempt to consider the place of empire, colonialism, and race, in a history from which they have been systematically effaced. It is a declaration of the importance of reading the Caribbean, and the perspectives of those racially subjected there and elsewhere, back into the center of empires third dimension. At the heart of Empire in the Air, and perhaps its most unsettling implication, is an exposure of the violence of flight in the present, as much as in the past: of the ways in which imperial privilege and racism continue to take to the air in ways generally ignored from above, even as they remain acutely visible, from below. -- Paul Eiss, Carnegie Mellon UniversityBy sheer coincidence, I read Chandra Bhimulls masterful book on a long, red-eye flight from L.A. to São Paulo, with a layover in Panama City. My Copa Airlines flight exemplified what Bhimull calls the brown corridor; I traveled with descendants of imperial subjects and working people caught in a neoliberal landscape of migrant, precarious labor. I never slept; I couldnt put the book down. Gripping, eloquent, poetic, Empire in the Air strips the history of air travel of its romantic aura to expose the racial operations and experiences of the fittingly named Imperial Airways, and the manner in which imperial subjects came to seeand be seenat an altitude of 25,000 feet. I read the last pages upon our descent at São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport. Like everyone on board, I applauded. -- Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Africa Speaks, America Answers: Modern Jazz in Revolutionary TimesAlert and astute, Empire in the Air lifts us onto a new plane. * Journal of Transport History *

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Book SynopsisWinner, Lois P. Rudnick Book Prize presented by the New England American Studies AssociationAcross the twentieth century, national controversies involving Asian Americans have drawn attention to such seemingly unremarkable activities as eating rice, greeting customers, and studying for exams. While public debates about Asian Americans have invoked quotidian practices to support inconsistent claims about racial difference, diverse aesthetic projects have tested these claims by experimenting with the relationships among habit, body, and identity. In The Racial Mundane, Ju Yon Kim argues that the ambiguous relationship between behavioral tendencies and the body has sustained paradoxical characterizations of Asian Americans as ideal and impossible Americans. The body's uncertain attachment to its routine motions promises alternately to materialize racial distinctions and to dissolve them. Kim's study focuses on works of theater, fiction, and film that explore the interface between racializTrade Review"A beautifully written and original discussion of Asian American performance and the politics of the everyday. The Racial Mundaneillustrateshow Asian Americans, whether historically marginalized or celebrated as model minorities, have come into the public eye, and will surely open up important new dialogues on Asian American culture and racial representation." -- Josephine Lee,author of Performing Asian America: Race and Ethnicity on the Contemporary Stage"Impressive and compelling,The Racial Mundanedefamiliarizes everyday behaviors in order to expose the racial formation of Asian Americans. In this beautifully rendered, standout book, Ju Yon Kimbreaks new ground, opening the theoretical framework of race and performance in original and exciting ways." -- Shannon Steen,author of Racial Geometries of The Black Atlantic, Asian Pacific, and American Theatre"Kims methodology throughout reminds us that scholarship is its own practice and the 'theoretical elasticity'demonstrated in these studies highlights the complexity of Asian American cultural works and their unfolding critical praxis." * American Literature *Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgments vii Introduction: Ambiguous Habits and the Paradox of Asian American Racial Formation 1 1. Trying on The Yellow Jacket at the Limits of Our Town: The Routines of Race and Nation 25 2. Everyday Rituals and the Performance of Community 71 3. Making Change: Interracial Conflict, Cross-Racial Performance 123 4. Homework Becomes You: The Model Minority and Its Doubles 173 Afterword: The Everyday Asian American Online 231 Notes 251 Index 277 About the Author 287

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Book SynopsisOffers a look at contemporary Muslim American life in Texas. This book illuminates the dynamics of the Pakistani Muslim community in Houston, a city with one of the largest Muslim populations in the south and southwestern United States.Trade Review"Afzal deftly puts ethnography to work in describing the complexities facing Pakistanis in the Lone Star State. This significant book demonstrates how Muslims confront a wide range of issues such as racism, sexuality, and class and gender roles, while offering nuanced lessons from everyday life." -- Junaid Rana,University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"Ahmed Afzals Lone Star Muslims is an ambitious project that reaches across Asian American, Muslim American and South Asian American studies to question how Islam and diasporic South Asian histories are connected to everyday negotiations of transnational Pakistani Muslim identity and practice in Houston, Texas.As a project that details the diversity of a transnational community, Afzals book is a significant contribution to critical literature on South Asian Muslim identity in post 9/11 America." * Social Anthropology *"Lone Star Muslims is an important addition to the literature on Asian and Muslim Americans, the contemporary metropolitan South, and the South Asian diaspora. Among the many strengths of the book are poignant, perceptive glimpses into the lives of individuals who, all too often, remain invisible and voiceless to all but the most observant." * Journal of Asian American Studies *"This engaging work on Pakistani American and Pakistani immigrant experiences in Texas offers both in-depth ethnography and insightful theoretical discussions. Afzal makes major contributions to the wide array of interdisciplinary issues he covers: the case studies are innovative, the research sensitively conducted, and the conclusions compellinglypresented." -- Karen Leonard,University of California, Irvine"Through chapters on Houstons ethno-racial history, model-minority Ismaili Muslims in corporate America, Pakistani American small businesses and the underclass that sustains them, gay men of Pakistani descent, and the strategic importance of local cultural festivals and radio respectively, Afzals monograph intersects with such different academic fields as ethnic studies, Asian American studies, southern studies, and queer studies Lone Star Muslims is a valuable contribution to scholarship, breaking new ground across several academic disciplines." * Journal of American Studies *"Throughout this book, Afzal demonstrates the limits of homogenized images of & Muslims, powerfully capturing the pleasures and hopes, but also the suffering and uncertainties shaping a South Asian experience in the United States today This is an important study, not simply of Pakistani Muslims or immigration, but of religion, sexuality and place making the United States It is an exemplary ethnography, one that makes an important contribution well beyond the disciplinary boundaries of cultural anthropology. It is accessible to the general reader and deserves to figure in academic programs spanning urban studies, religious studies, as well as studies of contemporary sexuality." * Ethnic and Racial Studies *"An important addition to the ethnographic study of Muslim and Pakistani Americans aswell as the broader anthropological study of immigrant lives and transnational identities,Lone Star Muslimstrains a remarkably wide lens on Pakistanis and PakistaniAmericans in Houston.To his considerable credit and using multisited methods, AhmedAfzal ensures diverse coverage of various sectors of Houston Pakistani communities." * American Anthropologist *"Lone Star Muslimsportrays the 'heterogeneity of the Muslim American experience in the early twenty-first century,' which is sorely needed when Muslims are easily stereotyped and vilified; it also teaches us that there are 'space for building alliances and solidarity' within ethnic Muslim communities and between them and the wider society. Thebook is a valuable contribution to the anthropology of American Islam." * Anthropology Review Database *"Methodologically and theoretically,Lone Star Muslimsopens up new possibilities for research of transnational communities in the U.S. Afzals decision to conduct his fieldwork in Houston addresses the long ignored reality that the American South has become an increasingly popular destination for South Asian and Muslim immigrants. Afzals multi-sited approach recognizes the heterogeneity of the Pakistani American experience along lines of race, class, gender, religion, and sexuality." * Anthropological Quarterly *"In this thought-provoking dual treatment of the historical legacy of Texas and the diasporic experience of Ismaili Shia and homosexual Muslims living in Houston and its suburbs, Afzal argues against the works of scholars presenting the various facets of the South Asian community as a monolith of Islamic practices and heterosexuality This is new at the forefront of religion." * Choice *"Lone Star Muslimcontributes in significant ways to the study of Muslim communities there is much to recommend Afzals work." * Reading Religion *"The ethnography crosses important and revealing sectarian and class lines and also challenges the heteronormative bias of the subfield... Afzal juxtaposes the narratives of unemployed and underemployed Pakistani-Americans in revealing ways, from upwardly-mobile Ismaili Pakistani Americans whose “model minority” ambitions are dashed to working class Pakistani migrants on the edges of the neoliberal economy, his account upends the false problem of “Americanization” that preoccupied an earlier generation of scholars." -- Zareena Grewal, Essential Readings on Islam in the United States, Jadaliyya.comTable of ContentsContents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Houston: Race, Class, Oil, and the Making of "America's Most Diverse City" 30 2 "A Dream Come True": Shia Ismaili Experiences in Corporate America 64 3 "It's Allah's Will": The Transnational Muslim Heritage Economy 95 4 "I Have a Very Good Relationship with Allah": Pakistani Gay Men and Transnational Belonging 124 5 The Pakistan Independence Day Festival: The Making of a "Houston Tradition" 152 6 "Pakistanis Have Always Been Radio People": Transnational Media, Business Imperatives, and Homeland Politics 178 Conclusion 205 Notes 215 Bibliography 233 Index 257 About the Author 263

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"An important study of the ways in which feeding children reflects larger social anxieties, from issues of class and racial identities to morally loaded ideas about nutrition and childrearing. While recognizing the centrality of parental engagement to children’s lives, Patico compellingly asserts the need for governmental interventions to bring about structural changes that don’t rely on moralized notions of individual parental care. Everyone interested in how America feeds its children—or fails to—should read this book." -- Darra Goldstein, Founding Editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture"A beautifully written account of the double bind faced by many contemporary parents: how to be ‘engaged’ and ‘concerned’ about their children’s eating, without being overly ‘neurotic’ or ‘anxious.’ Thick with detailed ethnographic observation, the book illuminates the politics of parenting from the ground up, forcing the reader to reflect on why children’s eating has become both individualized and moralized in recent years, as well as pushing us to consider other, more collaborative possibilities. In addition to parents themselves, this highly readable book will be of interest to those across the social sciences, particularly scholars of parenting, gender, food, and health." -- Charlotte Faircloth, University College London"This book is rife with interesting details, describing a life that will be familiar to many academics." * CHOICE *"The Trouble With Snack Time by Dr. Jennifer Patico explores this food environment through a fascinating ethnography of an Atlanta charter school and its surrounding neighbourhood." * Agriculture and Human Values *

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Book SynopsisWinner, The Early American Literature Book PrizeEthnology and Empire tells stories about words and ideas, and ideas aboutwords that developed in concert with shifting conceptions about Native peoplesand western spaces in the nineteenth-century United States. Contextualizing theemergence of Native American linguistics as both a professionalized researchdiscipline and as popular literary concern of American culture prior to theU.S.-Mexico War, Robert Lawrence Gunn reveals the manner inwhich relays between the developing research practices of ethnology, works offiction, autobiography, travel narratives, Native oratory, and sign languagesgave imaginative shape to imperial activity in the western borderlands. In literary andperformative settings that range from the U.S./Mexico borderlands to the GreatLakes region of Tecumseh's Pan-Indian Confederacy and the hallowed halls oflearned societies in New York aTrade ReviewA superb work. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * Choice *Ethnology and Empire demonstrates the power and flexibility of postmodern approaches to the study of colonial relationships. * American Quarterly *An original, beautifully written book on the rapidly changing ideas about language in American culture during the early nineteenth century. Ethnology and Empireengages the social history of the borderlands and linguistics to introduce a new way of looking at the formation of ideas about race and ethnography in the antebellum period. A fascinating read. -- Kirsten Silva Gruesz,author of Ambassadors of Culture: The Transamerican Origins of Latino WritingThrough masterful engagement with nineteenth century literary production and ethnology, Robert Gunn underscores how the cultural work of linguistic contact is vital to our understanding of the ideologies of empire that slowly gained force in the evolving U.S. nation-state.Ethnology and Empiremakes a significant contribution in the hemispheric turn in American studies, threading together little-known histories that advance the field and push our thinking about borderlands in innovative ways. -- Robert David Aguirre,author of Informal Empire: Mexico and Central America in Victorian CultureTable of ContentsContents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Philologies of Race: Ethnological Linguistics and Novelistic Representation 17 2 Empire, Sign Languages, and the Long Expedition, 1819-1821 52 3 John Dunn Hunter, Tecumseh, and the Linguistic Politics of Pan-Indianism 83 4 Connecting Borderlands: Native Networks and the Fredonian Rebellion 114 5 John Russell Bartlett's Literary Borderlands: Ethnology, the U.S-Mexico War, and the United States Boundary Survey 145 Indian Passports 177 Notes 187 Index 229 About the Author 242

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Book SynopsisA critical analysis of white, working class North Americans' motivations and experiences when traveling to Central Europe for donor egg IVFEach year, more and more Americans travel out of the country seeking low cost medical treatments abroad, including fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization (IVF). As the lower middle classes of the United States have been priced out of an expensive privatized baby business, the Czech Republic has emerged as a central hub of fertility tourism, offering a plentitude of blonde-haired, blue-eyed egg donors at a fraction of the price. Fertility Holidays presents a critical analysis of white, working class North Americans' motivations and experiences when traveling to Central Europe for donor egg IVF. Within this diaspora, patients become consumers, urged on by the representation of a white Europe and an empathetic health care system, which seems nonexistent at home. As the volume traces these American fertility journeys halfway around the woTrade Review"Fertility Holidays focuses on a group of North Americans traveling to the Czech Republic in search of respectful medical care at market-driven low prices, combined with a European vacation. In Speiers adroit analysis, their layers of techno-hope cannot be separated from a desire to stabilize their chances of giving birth to 'white' babies. This compelling ethnographic account of Eastern European fertility entrepreneurship provides feminist insight into the marketization of reproductive bodies, showing how multilayered and multi-sited medical travel has become." -- Rayna Rapp,author of Testing Women, Testing the Fetus: the Social Impact of Amniocentesis in America"One of the first ethnographies on reproductive tourism, this book offers a captivating read into what these multi-faceted transnational experiences are like for the women, and men, involved as patients, clients, consumers, vacationers, and sometimes, parents. Through her nimble fieldwork, Amy Speier allows readers to see what it means in practice to seek out IVF as a patient-tourist in a global neoliberal marketplace of reproductive technologies and affective labor. . . . An intimate glimpse into the 21st century systems of hope on which many infertile heterosexual couples now depend to become parents, Fertility Holidays is timely and fascinating; a must read!" -- Susan Frohlick,University of British Columbia

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Book SynopsisSince the 1990s, Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) programs have experienced unprecedented expansion in American public schools. The program and its proliferation in poor, urban schools districts with large numbers of Latina/o and African American students is not without controversy. Public support is often based on the belief that the program provides much-needed discipline for at risk youth. Meanwhile, critics of JROTC argue that the program is a recruiting tool for the U.S. military and is yet another example of an increasingly punitive climate that disproportionately affect youth of color in American public schools. Citizen, Student, Soldier intervenes in these debates, providing critical ethnographic attention to understanding the motivations, aspirations, and experiences of students who participate in increasing numbers in JROTC programs. These students have complex reasons for their participation, reasons that challenge the reductive idea that they are either dangeroTrade ReviewCitizen, Student, Soldieroffers a nuanced portrait of the nexus between race, militarism, and contemporary public education, giving fresh insight to the deeply intertwined histories of Latina/os and military service. Written in accessible prose and drawing from Latina/o studies, political science, anthropology, and critical military studies, Perezs text represents an invaluable contribution toward our understanding of race, social membership. National belonging and what it means to be a & good citizen. * Lat Stud *Citizen, Student, Soldieris an important book for scholars and students of U.S. anthropology. It could form the backbone for a course on an increasingly militarized homeland that stubbornly remains invisible. By making & America visible, Perez also makes it available for critique. * American Anthropologist *Readers will find detailed descriptions of marginalized youths attempts to undertake positive forms of development that might lead to social inclusion. Perez puts these descriptions in context in terms of the current debates about citizenship in the US, including civic obligation, social opportunity, and US militarism in the & land of opportunity. * CHOICE *In this important and much anticipated work anthropologist extraordinaire Gina Pérez provides a powerful portrait of the making of American citizenship today. By examining Latino/a youth and their aspirations and attitudes towards the JROTC in relation to the rapid expansion of the military and larger neoliberal policies of retrenchment, Perez challenges narrow understandings of citizenship through a rich portrayal that truly honors their voices and dreams. -- Arlene Davila,New York UniversityPresents a provocative analysis of how young Latinas and Latinos navigate the JROTC program, where significant portions of the participants are students of color and young women, in the context of neoliberalism and the new American militarism. Pérez argues persuasively that Latina/o youths aspirations for recognition as full citizens within limited structural conditions lead them toward the personal, social, and economic benefits offered by the military. Her work provides a fresh perspective on Latino youth, the military as an avenue for upward mobility, and citizenship in the post 9/11 era. -- Patricia Zavella,University of California, Santa CruzPerezs new book is a very readable, even conversational, account of the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps or JROTC in a high school in OhioCitizen, Student, Soldier is highly accessible, depending more heavily on descriptions and interviews than on theoretical argument. While Perez does engage some of the theoretical questions of the day, the book is not especially theory-driven. That is mostly a positive for making the book readable and relevant * Anthropology Review Database *

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Book SynopsisIn gay bars and nightclubs across America, and in gay-oriented magazines and media, the buff, macho, white gay man is exalted as the idealthe most attractive, the most wanted, and the most emulated type of man. For gay Asian American men, often viewed by their peers as submissive or too pretty,' being sidelined in the gay community is only the latest in a long line of racially-motivated offenses they face in the United States.Repeatedly marginalized by both the white-centric queer community that values a hyper-masculine sexuality and a homophobic Asian American community that often privileges masculine heterosexuality, gay Asian American men largely have been silenced and alienated in present-day culture and society. In Geisha of a Different Kind, C. Winter Han travels from West Coast Asian drag shows to the internationally sought-after Thai kathoey, or ladyboy, to construct a theory of queerness that is inclusive of the race and gender particularities of the gay Asian male experience Trade ReviewGeisha of a Different Kind bravely engages with the struggles and triumphs of Asian American gay men as they inhabit American society and its gay mainstream.A lucid study with an unflinching focus on the daily contingencies of these men's lives, this book is an important contribution to the scholarly understanding of contemporary U.S. sex/gender systems and their fraught links to racial formations. -- Martin F. Manalansan IV,author of Global Divas: Filipino Gay Men in the DiasporaThe sharp analysis in this book offers a way to see the deeply penetrating influence of race while offering expansive models for living in (LGBTQI) America. * American Journal of Sociology *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Geisha of a Different Kind 1. Being an Oriental, I Could Never Be Completely a Man: Gendering Asian Men 2. Sexy Like a Girl and Horny Like a Boy: Contemporary Gay "Western" Narratives about Gay "Asian" Men 3. It's Like They Don't See Us at All: Race and Racism in Gay America 4. Asian Girls Are Prettier: How Drag Queens Saved Us 5. Finding Home in Gaysian America: Constructing Gay Asian Male Identities Conclusion: Who Gets to Be Gay, Who Gets to Be Asian? References Notes Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisOffers a look at contemporary Muslim American life in Texas. This volume explores everyday Muslim lives at the intersection of race, class, profession, gender, sexuality, and religious sectarian affiliation to demonstrate the complexity of the South Asian experience. It also incorporates narratives of gay Muslim American men of Pakistani descent.Trade Review"Afzal deftly puts ethnography to work in describing the complexities facing Pakistanis in the Lone Star State. This significant book demonstrates how Muslims confront a wide range of issues such as racism, sexuality, and class and gender roles, while offering nuanced lessons from everyday life." -- Junaid Rana,University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"Ahmed Afzals Lone Star Muslims is an ambitious project that reaches across Asian American, Muslim American and South Asian American studies to question how Islam and diasporic South Asian histories are connected to everyday negotiations of transnational Pakistani Muslim identity and practice in Houston, Texas.As a project that details the diversity of a transnational community, Afzals book is a significant contribution to critical literature on South Asian Muslim identity in post 9/11 America." * Social Anthropology *"Lone Star Muslims is an important addition to the literature on Asian and Muslim Americans, the contemporary metropolitan South, and the South Asian diaspora. Among the many strengths of the book are poignant, perceptive glimpses into the lives of individuals who, all too often, remain invisible and voiceless to all but the most observant." * Journal of Asian American Studies *"This engaging work on Pakistani American and Pakistani immigrant experiences in Texas offers both in-depth ethnography and insightful theoretical discussions. Afzal makes major contributions to the wide array of interdisciplinary issues he covers: the case studies are innovative, the research sensitively conducted, and the conclusions compellinglypresented." -- Karen Leonard,University of California, Irvine"Through chapters on Houstons ethno-racial history, model-minority Ismaili Muslims in corporate America, Pakistani American small businesses and the underclass that sustains them, gay men of Pakistani descent, and the strategic importance of local cultural festivals and radio respectively, Afzals monograph intersects with such different academic fields as ethnic studies, Asian American studies, southern studies, and queer studies Lone Star Muslims is a valuable contribution to scholarship, breaking new ground across several academic disciplines." * Journal of American Studies *"Throughout this book, Afzal demonstrates the limits of homogenized images of & Muslims, powerfully capturing the pleasures and hopes, but also the suffering and uncertainties shaping a South Asian experience in the United States today This is an important study, not simply of Pakistani Muslims or immigration, but of religion, sexuality and place making the United States It is an exemplary ethnography, one that makes an important contribution well beyond the disciplinary boundaries of cultural anthropology. It is accessible to the general reader and deserves to figure in academic programs spanning urban studies, religious studies, as well as studies of contemporary sexuality." * Ethnic and Racial Studies *"An important addition to the ethnographic study of Muslim and Pakistani Americans aswell as the broader anthropological study of immigrant lives and transnational identities,Lone Star Muslimstrains a remarkably wide lens on Pakistanis and PakistaniAmericans in Houston.To his considerable credit and using multisited methods, AhmedAfzal ensures diverse coverage of various sectors of Houston Pakistani communities." * American Anthropologist *"Lone Star Muslimsportrays the 'heterogeneity of the Muslim American experience in the early twenty-first century,' which is sorely needed when Muslims are easily stereotyped and vilified; it also teaches us that there are 'space for building alliances and solidarity' within ethnic Muslim communities and between them and the wider society. Thebook is a valuable contribution to the anthropology of American Islam." * Anthropology Review Database *"Methodologically and theoretically,Lone Star Muslimsopens up new possibilities for research of transnational communities in the U.S. Afzals decision to conduct his fieldwork in Houston addresses the long ignored reality that the American South has become an increasingly popular destination for South Asian and Muslim immigrants. Afzals multi-sited approach recognizes the heterogeneity of the Pakistani American experience along lines of race, class, gender, religion, and sexuality." * Anthropological Quarterly *"In this thought-provoking dual treatment of the historical legacy of Texas and the diasporic experience of Ismaili Shia and homosexual Muslims living in Houston and its suburbs, Afzal argues against the works of scholars presenting the various facets of the South Asian community as a monolith of Islamic practices and heterosexuality This is new at the forefront of religion." * Choice *"Lone Star Muslimcontributes in significant ways to the study of Muslim communities there is much to recommend Afzals work." * Reading Religion *"The ethnography crosses important and revealing sectarian and class lines and also challenges the heteronormative bias of the subfield... Afzal juxtaposes the narratives of unemployed and underemployed Pakistani-Americans in revealing ways, from upwardly-mobile Ismaili Pakistani Americans whose “model minority” ambitions are dashed to working class Pakistani migrants on the edges of the neoliberal economy, his account upends the false problem of “Americanization” that preoccupied an earlier generation of scholars." -- Zareena Grewal, Essential Readings on Islam in the United States, Jadaliyya.comTable of ContentsContents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Houston: Race, Class, Oil, and the Making of "America's Most Diverse City" 30 2 "A Dream Come True": Shia Ismaili Experiences in Corporate America 64 3 "It's Allah's Will": The Transnational Muslim Heritage Economy 95 4 "I Have a Very Good Relationship with Allah": Pakistani Gay Men and Transnational Belonging 124 5 The Pakistan Independence Day Festival: The Making of a "Houston Tradition" 152 6 "Pakistanis Have Always Been Radio People": Transnational Media, Business Imperatives, and Homeland Politics 178 Conclusion 205 Notes 215 Bibliography 233 Index 257 About the Author 263

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Book SynopsisIn a century of mass atrocities, the Khmer Rouge regime marked Cambodia with one of the most extreme genocidal instances in human history. What emerged in the aftermath of the regime's collapse in 1979 was a nation fractured by death and dispersal. It is estimated that nearly one-fourth of the country's population perished from hard labor, disease, starvation, and executions. Another half million Cambodians fled their ancestral homeland, with over one hundred thousand finding refuge in America. From the Land of Shadows surveys the Cambodian diaspora and the struggle to understand and make meaning of this historical trauma. Drawing on more than 250 interviews with survivors across the United States as well as in France and Cambodia, Khatharya Um places these accounts in conversation with studies of comparative revolutions, totalitarianism, transnationalism, and memory works to illuminate the pathology of power as well as the impact of auto-genocide on individual and collective healingTrade ReviewOffering an impressive archive of the legacy of the Khmer Rouge,From the Land of Shadowsprovides vivid first-hand accounts of starvation, hard labor, disappearances and executions, post-migration trauma, and intergenerational remembering and forgetting. With beautiful storytelling and compelling prose, Khatharya Um deftly situates rich narratives of the survivors struggles to make meaning out of lives that have been forever ruptured within the larger historical context of Cambodias colonial and post-colonial history. A deeply affecting and much-awaited book. -- Yen Le Espiritu,author of Body Counts: The Vietnam War and Militarized Refuge(es)With rich ethnographic details, From the Land of Shadows places survivor narratives in conversation with literature on revolution, diaspora, transnationalism, and memory. Khatharya Um makes visible the lived experiences of Cambodians as they try to make sense of their new identities in multiple contexts. A remarkable book. -- Chia Youyee Vang,author of Hmong America: Reconstructing Community in DiasporaThe book, which includes an incisive discussion of the paradoxes but necessity of return, will interest those considering the nature of diasporas. * Choice *Um writes with scholarly rigor. * Journal of American History *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA ground-breaking study of Southern Latinidad that brings to the fore the political, cultural, and social pressures shaping the everyday lives of immigrant musicians. Under the weight of anti-immigrant legislation and public backlash, Latinas/os of the 'Queen City' are exerting a sense of community, belonging, and cultural citizenship through music making and dance. This book is detailed in its analysis, theoretically nuanced, and richly documented based on Byrdsextensive fieldwork in this global city. It will inspire much needed scholarship on current Latina/o music and dance not only in the global South but wherever new Latina/o communities are remaking the musical landscapes of cities and towns across the United States. -- David Garcia,University of North Carolina at Chapel HillA timely and exciting book offering a fresh look at the growing significance of Latino/a musicians in Charlotte and their role in the making of Southern latinidad. Byrd offers insight into different musical communities in Charlotte through the experiences of Latino/a musicians and illuminates issues related to politics, community, social class, belonging, and immigration. . . . Makes a valuable contribution to anthropology, sociology, and Latino/a studies and is a must-read for anyone interested Latino expressive culture, especially in the U.S. South. -- Kimberly Eison Simmons,University of South CarolinaSamuel K. Byrd offers an insightful musical snapshot of what statistics, policy think tanks, and others rechristened twenty years ago as the & Nuevo Latino SouthSounds of Latinidad demonstrates how the demographic shifts in southern states are heard as an intercultural fusion of Latino music, signaling a southern form of Latinidad. Byrd brings Charlotte and Las Carolinas to our attention as an exciting immigrant gateway to listen to. * Journal of Popular Music Studies *Table of Contentsv Contents Preface vii Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1. Charlotte, a Globalizing City 17 2. The Latin Music Scene in Charlotte 41 3. Bands Making Musical Communities 59 4. "Thursday Is Bakalao's Day!" Bands at Work and Play 85 5. The "Collective Circle": Music and Ambivalent Politics in Charlotte 107 6. Shifting Urban Genres 141 7. Race and the Expanding Borderlands Condition 165 8. The Festival: Marketing Latinidad 189 9. Musicians' Ethics and Aesthetics 217 Conclusion 237 Notes 255 Bibliography 265 Index 281 About the Author 287

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Book SynopsisExplores the roots of modern understandings of bodily identityIn the mid-nineteenth-century United States, as it became increasingly difficult to distinguish between bodies understood as black, white, or Indian; able-bodied or disabled; and male or female, intense efforts emerged to define these identities as biologically distinct and scientifically verifiable in a literally marked body. Combining literary analysis, legal history, and visual culture, Ellen Samuels traces the evolution of the fantasy of identificationthe powerful belief that embodied social identities are fixed, verifiable, and visible through modern science. From birthmarks and fingerprints to blood quantum and DNA, she examines how this fantasy has circulated between cultural representations, law, science, and policy to become one of the most powerfully institutionalized ideologies of modern society.Yet, as Samuels demonstrates, in every case, the fantasy distorts its claimed scientific basis, suTrade ReviewIn this smart and readable book, Samuels traces her subject from the nineteenth century into the early twenty-first, where it persists in debates over blood quantum, DNA testing, and disabled parking permits. * American Literature *[Samuels] shows the impossibility of talking about, say, race or gender, without showing their formation through a body under inspection. She is less engaged with tilting against identify politics than showing how socially constructed identities are lived and situated within specific cultural parameters. * American Literary History *Fantasies of Identification, which sits at the intersection of US literary history, disability, gender, queer, and critical race studies, will have a powerful impact, not only on disability studies but also on intersectional and transgender studies in generalScholars of transgender studies and disability studies alike will appreciate such a fine model of vital contributions each makes to the other as they are, indeed, in integral relationships. * TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly *A beautifully written, ambitiously imagined, and wonderfully nuanced book. Samuels provides brilliantly argued case studies that demonstrate the discursive and visual processes by which Americans have, since the mid-nineteenth century, lived under various regimes of identificationboth those imposed and those claimed through ones subjective understanding of the world.Fantasies of Identificationwill be a marvelous contribution to disability studies, American studies, and literary historical studies. -- David Serlin,author of Replaceable You: Engineering the Body in Postwar AmericaWhether through measures of blood quantum, disability assessment, or sex/gender testing in athletics, Ellen Samuels makes clear that what she terms & biocertification continues to operate everywhere in contemporary cultures, regulating social worth, citizenship, and group membership. We have long neededFantasies of Identificationto understand more fully the ways in which disability is thickly interwoven with histories of race, sexuality, and gender in the United States. -- Robert McRuer,author of Crip Theory: Cultural Signs of Queerness and DisabilitySamuels examines in depth how stereotypes relating to disability, gender, and race are first created through literature, which shapes basic schema held by society. These stereotypes are then reinforced by media through cinematic representations of what Samuels calls & fantasy of identity or cultural tropes, often idealized with tangential relation to actual bodies. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * Choice *Fantasies of Identificationis enormously suggestive, bringing together disability studies, comparative racialization, queer theory, and cultural analysis in new and exciting ways. * MELUS *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Crisis of IdentificationPart I Fantasies of Fakery1 Ellen Craft's Masquerade 2 Confidence in the Nineteenth Century3 The Disability Con Onscreen Part II Fantasies of Marking4 The Trials of Salome Muller 5 Of Fiction and Fingerprints Part III Fantasies of Measurement6 Proving Disability 7 Revising Blood Quantum 8 Realms of Biocertification 9 DNA and the Readable Self Conclusion: Future Identifications Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe Sounds of Latinidad explores the Latino music scene as a lens through which to understand changing ideas about latinidad in the New South. Focusing on Latino immigrant musicians and their fans in Charlotte, North Carolina, the volume shows how limited economic mobility, social marginalization, and restrictive immigration policies have stymied immigrants' access to the American dream and musicians' dreams of success. Instead, Latin music has become a way to form community, debate political questions, and claim cultural citizenship. The volume illuminates the complexity of Latina/o musicians' lives. They find themselves at the intersection of culture and politics, often pushed to define a vision of what it means to be Latino in a globalizing city in the Nuevo South. At the same time, they often avoid overt political statements and do not participate in immigrants' rights struggles, instead holding a cautious view of political engagement. Yet despite this politics of ambivalence, LatiTrade ReviewA ground-breaking study of Southern Latinidad that brings to the fore the political, cultural, and social pressures shaping the everyday lives of immigrant musicians. Under the weight of anti-immigrant legislation and public backlash, Latinas/os of the 'Queen City' are exerting a sense of community, belonging, and cultural citizenship through music making and dance. This book is detailed in its analysis, theoretically nuanced, and richly documented based on Byrdsextensive fieldwork in this global city. It will inspire much needed scholarship on current Latina/o music and dance not only in the global South but wherever new Latina/o communities are remaking the musical landscapes of cities and towns across the United States. -- David Garcia,University of North Carolina at Chapel HillA timely and exciting book offering a fresh look at the growing significance of Latino/a musicians in Charlotte and their role in the making of Southern latinidad. Byrd offers insight into different musical communities in Charlotte through the experiences of Latino/a musicians and illuminates issues related to politics, community, social class, belonging, and immigration. . . . Makes a valuable contribution to anthropology, sociology, and Latino/a studies and is a must-read for anyone interested Latino expressive culture, especially in the U.S. South. -- Kimberly Eison Simmons,University of South CarolinaSamuel K. Byrd offers an insightful musical snapshot of what statistics, policy think tanks, and others rechristened twenty years ago as the & Nuevo Latino SouthSounds of Latinidad demonstrates how the demographic shifts in southern states are heard as an intercultural fusion of Latino music, signaling a southern form of Latinidad. Byrd brings Charlotte and Las Carolinas to our attention as an exciting immigrant gateway to listen to. * Journal of Popular Music Studies *Table of Contentsv Contents Preface vii Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1. Charlotte, a Globalizing City 17 2. The Latin Music Scene in Charlotte 41 3. Bands Making Musical Communities 59 4. "Thursday Is Bakalao's Day!" Bands at Work and Play 85 5. The "Collective Circle": Music and Ambivalent Politics in Charlotte 107 6. Shifting Urban Genres 141 7. Race and the Expanding Borderlands Condition 165 8. The Festival: Marketing Latinidad 189 9. Musicians' Ethics and Aesthetics 217 Conclusion 237 Notes 255 Bibliography 265 Index 281 About the Author 287

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Book SynopsisA different look at heterosexuality in the twenty-first centuryA straight white girl can kiss a girl, like it, and still call herself straighther boyfriend may even encourage her. But can straight white guys experience the same easy sexual fluidity, or would kissing a guy just mean that they are really gay? Not Gay thrusts deep into a world where straight guy-on-guy action is not a myth but a reality: there's fraternity and military hazing rituals, where new recruits are made to grab each other's penises and stick fingers up their fellow members' anuses; online personal ads, where straight men seek other straight men to masturbate with; and, last but not least, the long and clandestine history of straight men frequenting public restrooms for sexual encounters with other men. For Jane Ward, these sexual practices reveal a unique social space where straight white men canand dohave sex with other straight white men; in fact, she argues, to do so reaffirms rather thaTrade ReviewWards book is confident and theoretically well-informed, and offers a rich, often counterintuitive and thought-provoking tour through straight white mens homosexual activities and their shifting meanings in history, in the military, in fan fiction, in French kissing among Hells Angel members, as well as in the accounts of pop psychological experts who assure straight men having sex with other men that they arenot gay. In short, this is cultural studies at its best. * Times Higher Education *[Not Gay] provides a compelling and intriguing argument, that, rather than erasing queer identities, complicates the concept of identity itself. * The Society Pages *What I love about this book is that it expands our notions about what it means to be human. * Women’s Studies Quarterly *The title of Jane Wards book is not meant to be ironic. Her argument is that while sexual activity between straight white men does take place, it doesnt mean that the participants are gay. The book is about exploring the circumstances under which this situation can be said to arise. * The Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review *A key contribution of the book is its documentation of the freedom and power enjoyed by straight white men to define what 'not gay'and 'real'homosexuality looks like and in what circumstances these terms are applied . . . well-written and direct in both its presentation and synthesis of a range of materials. * Qualitative Sociology *[]Not Gay, an insightful treatise on the nature of heterosexual male interaction with other men, addresses many of the stereotypes and assumptions associated with straight and gay men. The book also skillfully analyzes the often fluid nature of sexuality, race, privilege, and the taboo crossover behavior between sexually active men of opposing preferences. * The Bay Area ReporterWard writes with refreshing candor that other readers will likely appreciate By drawing on multiple forms of evidence, she offers a fascinating reconsideration of how we think about mens sexuality. * Men and Masculinities *Rather than focusing so much on sexual orientation, or trying to unmask the feelings of these men, who position themselves as heterosexual yet engage in same-sex sexual behavior, Ward turns her attention to the ways in which certain organizations use homosexual acts to further men's investment in heterosexuality, hypermasculinity and homosociality in order to build lasting, strong bonds and friendships and to reassert white manhood. * Metapsychology *This fascinating book explores the worlds of white men who have sex with other white men and yet identify as straight. * Pacific Standard *Ward's significant contribution to the current discourse on sexual fluidity lies in her deep reflection on how self-identified straight men construct an identity where context-specific, same-sex, sexual behavior can be incorporated into an otherwise white, straight, masculine identity. * PsycCRITQUES *Ward's idea that our cultural understanding of men's sexuality has been way too simplistic for way too long is fundamentally sound and refreshing. Ward's research suggests she's well on her way to enacting the change she intended with her writing. Greater understanding of any cultural phenomenon is only a good thing for the world. * Gawker.com *With a lot of nuanced arguments and a provocative, corrective thesis,Not Gayis undoubtedly a book that demands to be read. * Gender & Society *Listed on Gift Guide 2015: LBGT Titles to Round out Your Holiday Shopping Lists: Plenty of straight guys have sex with other men while protesting vehemently that they are & not gay. This provocative book is an attempt to understand that phenomenon. * Gift Guide 2015 *Not Gay is nothing less than a breath of fresh air. This book is certain to change the way that we think about heterosexualitys relations with the homoerotic. -- Roderick Ferguson,author of Aberrations in Black: Toward a Queer of Color CritiqueClear-eyed and unsqueamish, Not Gay defiantly insists that sex between contemporary American straight white men is in fact meaningful sex that can'tand shouldn'tjust be hand-waved away. Jane Ward provides a timely and convincing corrective. -- Hanne Blank,author of Virgin: The Untouched HistoryNot Gayopens up a discussion of male sexual fluidity that is real and needed. * Bitch Magazine *Ward presents a critical piece missing from GBLTQ studies: the examination of white homoerotic activity within heterosexuality...Ward exposes the cultural construct of heterosexuality as it applies to men and women, illuminating the patriarchal and gendered roles assigned to gay and not-gay men and women. [] A valuable study for those interested in gender and GBLTQ studies. Summing Up: Essential. * Choice *Table of Contents1.Nowhere Without It: The Homosexual Ingredient in the Making of Straight White Men 2. A Century of Not-Gay Sex 3. Here's How You Know You're Not Gay: The Popular Science of Heterosexual Fluidity 4. Average Dudes, Casual Encounters: White Homosociality and Heterosexuality Authenticity 5. Haze Him!: White Masculinity, Anal Resilience, and the Erotic Spectacle of Repulsion 6. Against Gay Love: This One Goes Out to the Queers Acknowledgments Notes Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisHonorable Mention, 2019 Barbara T. Christian Literary Award, given by the Caribbean Studies AssociationWinner, 2017 Clifford Geertz Prize in the Anthropology of Religion, presented by the Society for the Anthropology of Religion section of the American Anthropological AssociationFinalist, 2017 Albert J. Raboteau Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions presented by the Journal of Africana ReligionsAn examination of the religious importance of food among Caribbean and Latin American communitiesBefore honey can be offered to the Afro-Cuban deity Ochún, it must be tasted, to prove to her that it is good. In African-inspired religions throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States, such gestures instill the attitudes that turn participants into practitioners. Acquiring deep knowledge of the diets of the gods and ancestors constructs adherents' identities; to learn to fix the gods' favorite dishes is to be seTrade ReviewReligion in the Kitchenis the product of Pe´rez longstanding interest in the religious phenomena of Black Atlantic communities, and builds on a number of prior projects, revisiting, revising, and creating a thoughtful and fascinating ethnographic text . . . [W]ill fascinate both the academic community and the interested layperson. * Journal of Religious History *[A] major contribution to the scholarship of Black Atlantic traditions, bringing much needed attention to cooking, talking, and the women and gay men who do both . . . With an accessible introduction and opening chapters, Pe´rezs careful, erudite analysis offers methodological direction and a theoretical vocabulary for all scholars interested in the intersection of everyday practice with religious subject formation. * Nova Religio *[W]ell crafted, theoretically engaging, and insightful . . . Pérez adroitly maps those interstitial spaces often historically relegated solely to women and their labor. This book provides a rare view into the liminal space of the Lucumí cloister and the coded dialogues therein . . . By queering her analysis inReligion in the Kitchen, Pérez substantively and subtly illuminates the temple-house communitys cohesion across its various subject positions . . . The role and signification of who cooks, what they cook, for whom they are cooking, who gets to eat and why suddenly opens up new avenues for inquiry and analysis under Pérezs gaze. * Food, Culture & Society *Chapter three is my favorite in the book . . . a prime example of Geertzs model of thick description as applied to religion and food. Readers will no doubt find themselves comparing Pe´rezs work to that of Karen McCarthy Brown (2001) inMama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn, which has become a classic in the field. Pe´rezs questions and conclusions are different than Browns, but I suspect that likeMama Lola, Pe´rezs Religion in the Kitchen will become a go-to book for the study of Afro-Caribbean traditions in the USA. * Material Religion *With clear description and sharp analysis Pérez highlights ways in which cookingand its related activities such as conversationis the stuff of religious engagement and a symbol of connection between humanity and divinity. Anyone concerned with better understanding how ordinary spaces and practices take on religious significance will value this book. -- Anthony Pinn, Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religion, Rice UniversityA deeply researched, contextually rich and ambitious intervention into the literature on Black Atlantic religions. While most scholars of Santería and other Black Atlantic traditions have focused on initiation as the paradigmatic site where religious values are inculcated and religious subjects are `reborn, Pérez directs her attention to a more prosaicand unjustly overlookedsetting: the kitchen. By cooking for the orishas, Pérez asserts, participants are themselves being cooked; that is, they are being socialized into the complex world of Santería aesthetics and ethics. In focusing on the informal spaces and behind-the-scenes work so fundamental to the molding of religious subjects and the perpetuation of Black Atlantic religious forms, Pérez opens up a whole world. Compelling as an ethnography and theoretically astute, Religion in the Kitchenoffers a thought-provoking analysis of how religious norms are internalized and reproduced. A stunning achievement. -- Kelly E. Hayes, author of Holy Harlots: Femininity, Sexuality and Black Magic in BrazilReligion in the Kitchenby Elizabeth Pérez is a stunning achievement, both for its methodological sophistication and its timely focus . . . Situating her analysis within multiple academic venues, including anthropology, history, and the arts, Pérez engages a methodological turn that is of inestimable value to scholars of religion. How fitting that a text about cooking and conversation sets a special place at the table for Africana traditions . . .Religion in the Kitchenis hearty and satisfying fare, served with academic rigor, the 'special sauce' for acuity and balance in the study of religion. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Here is a new approach to the syncretic black religions of the Atlantic world. Though Pérez's research site was a Cuban Lucumi (also called Santería) temple in Chicago, her insights and conclusions apply far beyond . . . Research on the aesthetics of everyday life is burgeoning everywhere and not only in philosophy, as this fine example demonstrates. * Choice *Pérez's reorientation of seemingly mundane gastronomical activities towardreligiousfunctionality in an effort to present a different approach to the study of Black Atlanticreligionmakes this book invaluable to scholars and students interested in African diasporicreligionsand anthropology/history ofreligion. * Religious Studies Review *A pleasure to read. The lucid writing … illuminates the spaces in the back of the house, where so much of the crucial work of making food and making family takes place. -- New West Indian Guide

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Book SynopsisAn indispensable collection that re-examines what it means to belong in the world. "Where are you from?" The word cosmopolitan was first used as a way of evading exactly this question, when Diogenes the Cynic declared himself a kosmo-polites, or citizen of the world. Cosmopolitanism displays two impulseson the one hand, a detachment from one's place of origin, while on the other, an assertion of membership in some larger, more compelling collective. Cosmopolitanisms works from the premise that there is more than one kind of cosmopolitanism, a plurality that insists cosmopolitanism can no longer stand as a single ideal against which all smaller loyalties and forms of belonging are judged. Rather, cosmopolitanism can be defined as one of many possible modes of life, thought, and sensibility that are produced when commitments and loyalties are multiple and overlapping. Featuring essays by major thinkers, including Homi Bhabha, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Thomas Bender, Leela Gandhi, Ato Quayson, and David Hollinger, among others, this collection asks what these plural cosmopolitanisms have in common, and how the cosmopolitanisms of the underprivileged might serve the ethical values and political causes that matter to their members. In addition to exploring the philosophy of Kant and the space of the city, this volume focuses on global justice, which asks what cosmopolitanism is good for, and on the global south, which has often been assumed to be an object of cosmopolitan scrutiny, not itself a source or origin of cosmopolitanism. This book gives a new meaning to belonging and its ground-breaking arguments call for deep and necessary discussion and discourse.Trade ReviewThis edited volume reignites many of the incessant debates on cosmopolitanism, its origin, development, andraison dêtre, not only from difference disciplinary traditions and & world views but also from different points in time. . . . The vibrancy of the field is shown by the list of influential critics in this volume, who do not take the notion of cosmopolitanism for granted but engage with it from positions that are both critical and creative. * boundary2 *

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Book SynopsisAddresses the politics of immigration, in the everyday lives of one communityNational immigration debates have thrust both opponents of immigration and immigrant rights supporters into the news. But what happens once the rallies end and the banners come down? What is daily life like for Latinos who have been presented nationally as terrorists, drug smugglers, alien gangs, and violent criminals? Latino Heartland offers an ethnography of the Latino and non-Latino residents of a small Indiana town, showing how national debate pitted neighbor against neighborand the strategies some used to combat such animosity. It conveys the lived impact of divisive political rhetoric on immigration and how race, gender, class, and ethnicity inform community belonging in the twenty-first century. Latino Heartland illuminates how community membership was determined yet simultaneously re-made by those struggling to widen the scope of who was imagined as a legitimate resident citizen of this Midwestern spacTrade ReviewWriting with grace and compassion, Sujey Vega shows how Latinos seek to belong to the heartland of America, even while suffering from daily hurts and insults that wound their souls. A book about the heartland that is utterly heartbreaking, Vega makes a passionate call for justice and the urgent need to rethink U.S. immigration policy on humanistic terms. -- Ruth Behar,author of Traveling Heavy: A Memoir in between JourneysFinally, an ethnographically rich work documenting the Latinization of a Midwestern city. Vega challenges us to rethink notions of community and belonging in our increasingly ethnically and racially diverse society, and offers a much-needed corrective vision to counter many of our fictive and obsolete ideas about our contemporary Midwestern cities, and of the United States in general. -- Arlene Davila,New York UniversityLatino Heartlandis an important read for anyone who is an instructor or graduate student of Latino studies, or who teaches of researches the sociology or anthropology of immigration. I also wholeheartedly recommend this book to all K-12 teachers and administrators. * Lat Stud *Latino Heartlandilluminates how community membership was determined yet simultaneously re-made by those struggling to widen the scope of who was imagined as a legitimate resident citizen of this Midwestern space. * Law Professor Blogs Network,ImmigrationProf Blog *Latino Heartlandis an important read given the current atmosphere regarding the issue of immigration. * American Anthropologist *[] Vega notes in closing, Latinos in central Indiana, like all populations in all places and times, & created new networks, new tradition, and new ways of coping with the realities they faced. They are truly imaginative ones, and Vega rightly urges anthropologists (and good citizens) to pay more attention and respect to these fascinating and courageous acts. * Anthropology Review Database *Overall, this is a fascinating work that offers a fresh perspective on a frequently overlooked community (Latinos) in a frequently overlooked place (the rural Midwest). It is indeed a wake-up call to those of us who have the privilege of forgetting. * Contemporary Rural Social Work *Vega has written a wide-ranging study of Latinos in Greater Lafayette, IN, that challenges the notion of Midwestern homogeneity and the novelty of Latino immigration to the region.[T]he interviews that form the core of Vegas source base provide invaluable insight into the immigrant and non-white experience in the Midwest. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * Choice *Latino Heartlandis brilliant because it provides a ground-level analysis of the ways racist immigration policy affects the lives of Latino immigrants in a region where many people see them as a threat. * The Annals of Iowa *Table of ContentsContents Preface: Pioneering Ownership of Greater Lafayette ix Introduction: Bienvenidos a Hoosierlandia: Asserting Ethnic Belonging at the "Crossroads of America" 1 1. Recuerdos de Lafayette: The Making and Forgetting of the Past in Central Indiana 21 2. Kneading Home: Creating Community While Navigating Borders 61 3. Written Otherings: Policing Community at the "Crossroads of America" 99 4. Clashes at the Crossroads: The Impact of Microaggressions and Other Otherings in Daily Life 135 5. "United We Are Stronger": Clarifying Everyday Encounters with Belonging 173 Conclusion: The Politics of Belonging Wages On: How State-Based Legislation Affects Community in Indiana 217 Notes 227 Bibliography 241 Index 259 About the Author 263

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2014 Bonnie Ritter Book AwardWinner of the 2013 James W. Carey Media Research AwardAs unprecedented waves of young, rural women journey to cities in China, not only to work, but also to see the world and gain some autonomy, they regularly face significant institutional obstacles as well as deep-seated anti-rural prejudices. Based on immersive fieldwork, Cara Wallis provides an intimate portrait of the social, cultural, and economic implications of mobile communication for a group of young women engaged in unskilled service work in Beijing, where they live and work for indefinite periods of time.While simultaneously situating her work within the fields of feminist studies, technology studies, and communication theory, Wallis explores the way in which the cell phone has been integrated into the transforming social structures and practices of contemporary China, and the ways in which mobile technology enables rural young wTrade ReviewInTechnomobility in China, Wallis brings the story of young female migrant labourers to public attention. Their aspirations and the different strategies they use to & get by in the city cuts through the stereotype that they are passive vessels waiting for instruction. The thick descriptions accompanying Wallis arguments of the ideological, social and economic barriers that tend to limit the success of migrant workers efforts drive this point home: these barriers are neither necessary nor deterministic. Perhaps, just as Wallis gave back to the community while conducting her ethnography, her book will contribute to the improvement of the social and political conditions migrant labourers face. * Pacific Affairs *Wallis decision to study mobile phone use among the worlds largest migrant population possesses a natural affinity, which seems destined from the outset to deliver noteworthy findings. The resultant volume is made all the more remarkable owing to the surprising discovery that her participants young rural migrant women working in Beijings service sector are in fact defined by their experience of numerous forms of immobility. * Social Anthropology *An interesting, well-researched, and well-supported study. -- A. Heaphy * Choice *Cara Wallis has contributed a significant and unique piece of scholarship that enriches, sharpens, and humanizes our understanding of the techno-social and cultural transformations of our era and the concomitant grand narratives of Chinas rise and its attainment of globalized modernity. The work is not only highly sophisticated in its theoretical conceptualization, but also extremely rich in its empirical description. The analysis is careful, nuanced and always well-contextualized. This is a superb, insightful, and self-reflexive piece of scholarship. -- Yuezhi Zhao,Professor and Canada Research Chair in Political Economy of Global Communication, Simon Fraser UniveAn ethnographically rich and empathetic portrayal of the intricacies of life among young female migrants navigating the experience of & immobile mobility. Bringing together the best of cultural studies, communication and feminist scholarship, Wallis theoretically sophisticated ethnography is a welcome and valuable addition to our understanding of communication, mobility and contemporary China. -- Heather A. Horst,Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and co-author of The Cell PhoneCara Wallis is the perfect observer to help us understand mobile phone use among young Chinese working class women, dagongmei, who live and work in the major cities far away from their rural homes. Through rigorous field work, excellent access, and a sensitive ear, she offers unique insight into how mobile phones both liberate and subjugate these young women. This supple and theoretically grounded work demands our attention. -- Rich Ling,author of The Mobile Connection: The Cell Phone's Impact on SocietyTable of Contents1. Market Reforms, Global Linkages, and (Dis)continuity in Post-Socialist China 2. "My First Big Urban Purchase": Mobile Technologies and Modern Subjectivity3. Navigating Mobile Networks of Sociality and Intimacy 4. Picturing the Self, Imagining the World 5. Mobile Communication and Labor Politics

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Book SynopsisWinner, 2019 Inaugural Outstanding Ethnography Book Award, given by the Ethnography in Education Research ForumWinner, 2019 Outstanding Book Award, given by the Council on Anthropology and EducationThe stories of Mexican migrant women who parent from afar, and how their transnational families stay together While we have an incredible amount of statistical information about immigrants coming in and out of the United States, we know very little about how migrant families stay together and raise their children. Beyond the numbers, what are the everyday experiences of families with members on both sides of the border? Focusing on Mexican women who migrate to New York City and leave children behind, Motherhood across Borders examines parenting from afar, as well as the ways in which separated siblings cope with different experiences across borders. Drawing on more than three years of ethnographic research, Gabrielle Oliveira offers a unique focus on the many consequences of maternal migratiTrade Review"In five well-written, well-researched chapters, Oliveira focuses on the tensions and expectations immigrant mothers face, on the participation of these mothers in the education of their children in both Mexico and in the US, and on the ways children maintain bonds with mothers and siblings across two nations and cultures. She also notes the distinctive gender differences and educational achievements among these children. This book will be useful to anyone interested in the contours of transnational parenting in the 21st century." -- CHOICE"Motherhood across Borders is a vivid and engaging ethnography about how mothers, grandmothers, caregivers, and children fare when they are divided by, but also connected despite, the U.S.-Mexico border. Focusing on the voices of those directly impactedpeople of all ages, across generations, and in both Mexico and the United StatesOliveira provides an intimate portrayal of the ways that motherhood, and caregiving more generally, is shifting in transnational context." -- Deborah A. Boehm,author of Returned: Going and Coming in an Age of Deportation""In this astute and sensitive ethnography, Oliveira does a remarkable job of capturing the poignant, mundane, tragic, and frustrating aspects of mothering from afar. The Mexican migrant women in her book spend their lives caring-- for children and other family members back home, family members in New York City, and often other peoples children, too--but all of their caring is not capable of fully bridging the distance or healing family ties broken by cruel immigration policies. If early studies of transnationalism made us optimistic that technology could link diasporic communities, this book reminds us that even in an era of Facetime and Facebook, migration involves separation. The difficult negotiations between mothers, other caregivers, and children, as well as between children (often siblings who have never met), are portrayed with compassion and sensitivity. " -- Alyshia Gálvez,Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at Lehman College/CUNY"Redolent with themes and experiences that are shared by millions of families around the globe. ... Blazes a pathway toward a richer understanding of how senses of belonging shift across the multiple affiliations maintained by these mobile populations: to their family networks, to their communities, and to more than one nation-state." * Political and Legal Anthropology Review *

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Book SynopsisAn ethnographic investigation into the dynamics between space and security in countries around the world It is difficult to imagine two contexts as different as a soccer stadium and a panic room. Yet, they both demonstrate dynamics of the interplay between security and space. This book focuses on the infrastructures of security, considering locations as varied as public entertainment venues to border walls to blast-proof bedrooms. Around the world, experts, organizations, and governments are managing societies in the name of security, while scholars and commentators are writing about surveillance, state violence, and new technologies. Yet in spite of the growing emphasis on security, few truly consider the spatial dimensions of security, and particularly how the relationship between space and security varies across cultures. This volume explores spaces of security not only by attending to how security is produced by and in spaces, but also by emphasizing the ways in which it is construTrade ReviewSpaces of Security is a richly detailed volume examining the multiple dimensions, practices, and formulations of security that increasingly shape the conditions for modern life, as well as the discourses that have shaped how security is understood…. Spaces of Security ethnography, by demonstrating the dimensional detail frequently elided in the body of existing research. And it does so convincingly, with a sustained attention to the interacting complexities recognizable in different subjectivities, temporalities, practices, and scales the notion of securityscapes proposes. The utility in such a shift is an important one, and gestures toward scholarship to come. -- Society & SpaceAn impressive collection of articles that address the spatial aspects of anthropological writings about security. These articles demonstrate the ways the spatial could be used to provide a better understanding of aspects of security and insecurity in Kenya, Romania, border areas in Latin America, Brazil, South Africa, Israel, military bases in Guam and in the United States...a welcome addition to anthropological and other social science studies that address the multiple aspects of security at a specific moment. -- Aseel Sawalha,Fordham UniversityThis pathbreaking volume brings together perspectives from anthropology, geography and political theory to put the securitization of home, body, borders and other quotidian spaces in a new conceptual light. With a fine eye to earlier theories, the authors also move us forward to re-imagine the relationship between security and insecurity, showing that these are not two sides of the same coin but two dynamic and co-produced space-making principles. It will be read and used by scholars and teachers across the human sciences. -- Arjun Appadurai,Goddard Professor in Media, Culture and Communication, New York UniversityWhat is security? It is a dominating concern in contemporary society, but its meaning is elusive. This powerful collection offers a way to understand it. The book uses the concept of securityscape, the landscape of security, to examine ethnographically the spatial and temporal dimensions of security, including its infrastructure walls and borders and its affective and imaginary worlds. It shows brilliantly how the concern with security both excludes and includes, exacerbating existing racial, gendered, and economic inequalities. -- Sally Engle Merry,New York University

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Book SynopsisComplicating perspectives on diversity in video gamesGamers have been troublemakers as long as games have existed. As our popular understanding of gamer shifts beyond its historical construction as a white, straight, adolescent, cisgender male, the troubles that emerge both confirm and challenge our understanding of identity politics. In Gamer Trouble, Amanda Phillips excavates the turbulent relationships between surface and depth in contemporary gaming culture, taking readers under the hood of the mechanisms of video games in order to understand the ways that difference gets baked into its technological, ludic, ideological, and social systems. By centering the insights of queer and women of color feminisms in readings of online harassment campaigns, industry animation practices, and popular video games like Portal and Mass Effect, Phillips adds essential analytical tools to our conversations about video games. She embraces the trouble that attends disciplinary crossroads, linking thTrade Review"Gamer Trouble is a much-needed twist on representation, gaming culture, and the technology–human interaction through a feminist lens in gaming studies ... Embracing the generative power of troubling ruptures in gaming conversations, Phillips moves the discussion surrounding gaming studies toward a productive avenue that will change how understand the relationship between games, people, and politics." * The Journal of Popular Culture *"Absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in video games or game studies. Inspired by queer (and) women of color feminism, this much-needed, timely, and insightful book troubles the figure of the gamer and boldly shifts how we understand video games and their place in society." -- Bonnie Ruberg, author of Video Games Have Always Been Queer"As Phillips demonstrates, the gaming world is no stranger to the turbulence and struggle over meaning, identity, and culture. But by historicizing both the racism and sexism in the industry, Gamer Trouble demands a different kind of engagement by the user: one that does not shy away from this complexity. Rather, Phillips lifts the hood to understand how these histories are made both part and parcel of gameplay." -- Radhika Gajjala, author of Digital Diasporas: Labor and Affect in Gendered Indian Digital Publics"I learnt a lot from Gamer Trouble, from its feminist citational multiplicity, alternative methods of textual analysis, and inspirational structural flow. All of these will have a lasting influence towards my own approaches to studying and writing about video games." * First Person Scholar *

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Book SynopsisA New York City ethnography that explores men''s unique approaches to Catholic devotionEvery Saturday, and sometimes on weekday evenings, a group of men in old clothes can be found in the basement of the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Each year the parish hosts the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and San Paolino di Nola. Its crowning event is the Dance of the Giglio, where the men lift a seventy-foot tall, four-ton tower through the streets, bearing its weight on their shoulders.Drawing on six years of research, Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada reveals the making of this Italian American tower, as the men work year-round to prepare for the Feast. She argues that by paying attention to this behind-the-scenes activity, largely overlooked devotional practices shed new light on how men embody and enact their religiosity in sometimes unexpected ways.Lifeblood of the Parish evocatively and accessibly presents the sensory and Trade ReviewOffers readers a look into a complicated history between various cultures and communities, one collectively built up over decades and, quite literally, on the shoulders of men. Maldonado-Estrada complicates what masculinity looks like in the Catholic Church, marking it as a process that occurs over years of piety, devotion, but above all work. * National Catholic Reporter *Lifeblood of the Parish is a thoroughly researched, impressively crafted, and beautifully written contribution to the study of religious practice. Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada takes us into the behind-the-scenes places where it becomes possible to understand the relationships of masculinity, ethnicity, and Catholic devotion in new ways. I enthusiastically recommend it to urban sociologists and anthropologists as well as to scholars of religion. -- Robert Wuthnow, Princeton UniversityLifeblood of the Parish is a beautifully crafted ethnography of men’s devotions, the power of place, and the bonds of friendship. This is, without a doubt, the best study of men and religion I’ve ever read. Dr. Maldonado-Estrada has set a very high bar for scholars of religion, and I thank her for this exceptional book. -- Kristy Nabhan-Warren, author of The Virgin of El BarrioIn Lifeblood of the Parish, Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada presents a rich ethnography of Catholic men in Brooklyn crafting their masculinity in tattoos, costumed re-enactments, and the production of devotional artifacts. Devotion, she persuasively argues, is not just prayer and affection for the saints. It is the very production of masculinity. A remarkable contribution to the study of lived religion and its material culture, this book shows how fundamental gender, ethnicity, and community are to understanding religion as material practice. -- David Morgan, Duke UniversityIn this deeply immersive ethnography, Maldonado-Estrada shows how the men of Italian Williamsburg create and perform themselves as men in their fierce devotion to each other, to the neighborhood, and especially to the work of staging of the annual feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. For all its joyful masculine exuberance, Maldonado-Estrada is unflinching in her treatment of the event’s racist undertow and homophobia, its exclusion of women, and its ugliness towards upper-middle class newcomers to Brooklyn. There is no better book about the fate of Italian American working-class masculinity and religion in the neoliberal fever dream that is New York City today than Lifeblood of the Parish. This is a major contribution to the literature of contemporary urban religion. -- Robert A. Orsi, author of The Madonna of 115th StreetThe subtitle of Lifeblood of the Parish seems straightforward enough, but Maldonado-Estrada’s sensually sharp observations prove that there’s more at stake than a certain demographic population. In contrast to secularization theories and facile equations of women and devotion, Maldonado-Estrada finds masculine devotion at its most vigorous in basements and pizzerias, with liquor and cigars, tattoos and strong arms, against the background of gentrification and immigration. -- S. Brent Plate, author of A History of Religion in 5 1/2 ObjectsChapter-by-chapter the author’s descriptive language makes readers feel as though they are at the places under study, observing the conspicuous aspects of religion and newly considering the places where religion may be found…By the end of the book, readers should be convinced that religion is not merely found but is actually collectively forged in such spaces and represented on inked bodies and in the conviction with which collective stories of the neighborhood are told. * American Religion *Lifeblood of the Parish turns on its head our understanding of Catholic devotionalism among Italian Americans and among Catholics in the United States more generally…It is difficult to imagine a list of must-read books about Italian American Catholics that does not include Lifeblood of the Parish. * Italian American Review *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewKeywords for Asian American Studiesis an extraordinary volume, one positioned to make indispensable contributions to Asian American Studies specifically and to interdisciplinary scholarship more generally. With contributions from a diverse and distinguished group of scholars, this book illuminates the field with new clarity when viewed as the cumulative creation of people of diverse national, generational, and social identities, further demonstrating how and why Asian American Studies has become a generative site of new knowledge. -- George Lipsitz,author of How Racism Takes PlaceThis work provides a comprehensive overview of Asian American studies and contributes to related fields in the social sciences and humanities. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * Choice *Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgments Introduction Cathy J. Schlund-Vials, Linda Trinh V?, and K. Scott Wong 1. Adoption Catherine Ceniza Choy 2. Art Margo Machida 3. Assilimilation Lisa Sun-Hee Park 4. Brown Nitasha Tamar Sharma 5. Citizenship Helen Jun 6. Class Min Hyoung Song 7. Commodification Nhi T. Lieu 8. Community Linda Trinh V? 9. Coolie Kornel Chang 10. Cosmopolitanism Lucy Mae San Pablo Burns 11. Culture Robert G. Lee 12. Deportation Bill Ong Hing 13. Diaspora Evelyn Hu-Dehart 14. Disability Cynthia Wu 15. Discrimination John S.W. Park 16. Education Shirley Hune 17. Empire Moon-Ho Jung 18. Enclave Yoonmee Chang 19. Entrepreneur Pawan Dhingra 20. Environment Robert T. Hayashi 21. Ethnicity Rick Bonus 22. Exclusion Greg Robinson 23. Family Evelyn Nakano Glenn 24. Film Jigna Desai 25. Food Anita Mannur 26. Foreign Karen Leong 27. Fusion Mari Matsuda 28. Gender Judy Tzu-Chun Wu 29. Generation Andrea Louie 30. Genocide Khatharya Um 31. Globalization Robyn Magalit Rodriguez 32. Health Grace Yoo 33. Identity Jennifer Ho 34. Immigration Shelley Sang-Hee Lee

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn five well-written, well-researched chapters, Oliveira focuses on the tensions and expectations immigrant mothers face, on the participation of these mothers in the education of their children in both Mexico and in the US, and on the ways children maintain bonds with mothers and siblings across two nations and cultures. She also notes the distinctive gender differences and educational achievements among these children. This book will be useful to anyone interested in the contours of transnational parenting in the 21st century. -- CHOICEMotherhood across Borders is a vivid and engaging ethnography about how mothers, grandmothers, caregivers, and children fare when they are divided by, but also connected despite, the U.S.-Mexico border. Focusing on the voices of those directly impactedpeople of all ages, across generations, and in both Mexico and the United StatesOliveira provides an intimate portrayal of the ways that motherhood, and caregiving more generally, is shifting in transnational context. -- Deborah A. Boehm,author of Returned: Going and Coming in an Age of Deportation"In this astute and sensitive ethnography, Oliveira does a remarkable job of capturing the poignant, mundane, tragic, and frustrating aspects of mothering from afar. The Mexican migrant women in her book spend their lives caring-- for children and other family members back home, family members in New York City, and often other peoples children, too--but all of their caring is not capable of fully bridging the distance or healing family ties broken by cruel immigration policies. If early studies of transnationalism made us optimistic that technology could link diasporic communities, this book reminds us that even in an era of Facetime and Facebook, migration involves separation. The difficult negotiations between mothers, other caregivers, and children, as well as between children (often siblings who have never met), are portrayed with compassion and sensitivity. -- Alyshia Gálvez,Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at Lehman College/CUNYRedolent with themes and experiences that are shared by millions of families around the globe. ... Blazes a pathway toward a richer understanding of how senses of belonging shift across the multiple affiliations maintained by these mobile populations: to their family networks, to their communities, and to more than one nation-state. * Political and Legal Anthropology Review *

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