This is the first book in more than thirty years to discuss
critically both the historical and contemporary experiences of
Hawai'i's Japanese Americans. Given that race was the foremost
organizing principle of social relations in Hawai'i and was
followed by ethnicity beginning in the 1970s, the book interprets
these experiences from racial and ethnic perspectives. The
transition from race to ethnicity is cogently demonstrated in the
transformation of Japanese Americans from a highly racialized
minority of immigrant laborers to one of the most politically and
socio-economically powerful ethnic groups in the islands. To
illuminate this process, the author has produced a racial history
of Japanese Americans from their early struggles against oppressive
working and living conditions on sugar plantations_to their labor
organizing and active role in the Democratic Party's rise to power
following World War II. He goes on to analyze how Japanese
Americans have maintained their political power into the
twenty-first century and discusses the recent advocacy and activism
of individual yonsei (fourth-generation Japanese Americans) working
on behalf of ethnic communities other than their own. From Race to
Ethnicity resonates with scholars currently de- bating the relative
analytical significance of race and ethnicity. Its novel analysis
convincingly elucidates the differential functioning of race and
ethnicity over time insofar as race worked against Japanese
Americans and other non-Haoles (whites) by restricting them from
full and equal participation in society, but by the 1970s ethnicity
would work fully in their favor as they gained greater political
and economic power. The author reminds readers, however, that
ethnicity has continued to work against Native Hawaiians, Filipino
Americans, and other minorities-although not to the same extent as
race previously-and thus is responsible for maintaining ethnic
inequality in Hawai'i.
General
Imprint: |
University of Hawaii Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
Race and Ethnicity in Hawai`i |
Release date: |
July 2014 |
First published: |
June 2014 |
Authors: |
Jonathan Y. Okamura
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 28mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth over boards
|
Pages: |
248 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8248-3950-5 |
Categories: |
Books >
Social sciences >
General
|
LSN: |
0-8248-3950-1 |
Barcode: |
9780824839505 |
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