Chinese Americans and the Politics of Race and Culture

"Covering a wide range of historical and contemporary issues in Chinese American life, this anthology is vastly informed and filled with fresh research drawing on archives or documents that hitherto have not been accessed. The ideas contained in the essays are so original and comprehensive that together, they constitute both a theoretically and empirically engaging challenge to tradition-centric concepts in Chinese American studies. I find few existing scholarly works that can match the scope and depth of this volume's broad and thought-provoking coverage of Chinese American history." Xiao-huang Yin, author of Chinese American Literature since the 1850s "Chan's introductory chapter offers an excellent and comprehensive literature review to demonstrate the synergy in Chinese American History and historiography... Each chapter in this collection is remarkable for its interesting stories, keen observations, methodical analyses, and intriguing insights. The authors are attentive to detail and examine the complexities of the topics through a transnational or diasporic lens, avoiding ideological assertions and questionable assumptions... It makes an original contribution to Chinese American history and historiography, a topic that will surely continue to attract attention in the next several decades." The Journal of Chinese Overseas, November 2008 "The essays in this volume are based on themes that the community-based historian Him Mark Lai introduced. Sucheng Chan's introduction provides an up-to-date bibliographical essay on Chinese American historiography from its inception in the 1850s to after the mid-1980s, when Chinese American studies matured and became more objective... All of the chapters are well written and researched and contribute to our understanding of the Chinese American experience. I highly recommend this book." - Journal of American History, March 2009 "This anthology of seven fine essays honor[s] the pathbreaking, prolific, and generous historian Him Mark Lai...The editors have put together a thoughtful, remarkably cohesive collection that spans in chronological scope the late-nineteenth century to the present; nearly all of the contributors are historians... Taken together, this is a solid, versatile collection ideal for classroom use, or for readers interested in getting a taste of the vibrant state of Chinese American history, whether one calls it social, cultural, or political history." Western Historical Quarterly, Autumn 2009 "Put together by two leading scholars in the field, Chinese Americans and the Politics of Race and Culture represents an important contribution to the study of Chinese American history... [T]he anthology offers an important framework through the notion of 'politics of culture,' which is articulated in the preface written by Chan...The introduction, also by Chan, gives us a most comprehensive historiographical account of Chinese American history. Her discussions in the preface and introduction help us appreciate the intellectual importance and coherence of the book... In short, the intellectual insights of this compelling volume will benefit scholars of Chinese America as well as Asian America and immigration and ethnicity." - American Studies "This is a must read for those interested in the field of Chinese American history...This collection of essays...covers a broad range of both historical and contemporary issues and has none of the Western cultural biases usually seen in an anthology of this kind. Together, the authors of Chinese Americans and the Politics of Race and Culture represent cutting-edge scholarship from a new generation of Chinese historians. Their contributions make new and original inroads into Chinese American history and historiography, even as they challenge Western-centric concepts. The book is as timely as it is honest, and it will help to teach us to avoid the ideological assertions and questionable assumptions usually attached to Chinese American history. Sucheng Chan, in her introduction to this valuable new anthology, not only provides us with a comprehensive time line of Chinese American history...This book is a benchmark for our continued understanding of the Chinese American experience. It is also a very enjoyable read." The Journal of American Ethnic History, Winter 2011