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Posts in Diversity
The Borders of Violence: Temporary Migration and Domestic and Family Violence

By Marie Segrave and Stefani Vasil

This book explores the structural harm of borders and non-citizenship, specifically temporary non-citizenship, in the perpetuation of domestic and family violence (DFV). It focuses on the stories and situations of over 300 women in Australia. The analysis foregrounds how the state and the migration system both sustain and enable violence against women. In doing so this book demonstrates how structural violence is an insidious component of gendered violence – limiting and curtailing women’s safety. The Borders of Violence advances contemporary research on DFV by considering the role of the state and the migration system. It bridges different fields of scholarship to interrogate our knowledge about DFV and its impacts and improve our critical accounts of gender, structural violence and borders. It illuminates the ways in which temporary non-citizens are often silenced and/or their experiences are obfuscated by state processes, policies and practices, which are weaponised by perpetrators in countries of destination and origin, with impunity. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of border criminology, criminology, sociology, politics, sociology, law and social policy. It offers key insights for professionals, policymakers, stakeholders and advocates working broadly to support temporary non-citizens and/or to address and eliminate violence against women.

London; New York: Routledge, 2025. 223p

Archives and Human Rights

Edited by Jens Boel, Perrine Canavaggio and Antonio González Quintana

Why and how can records serve as evidence of human rights violations, in particular crimes against humanity, and help the fight against impunity? Archives and Human Rights shows the close relationship between archives and human rights and discusses the emergence, at the international level, of the principles of the right to truth, justice and reparation. Through a historical overview and topical case studies from different regions of the world the book discusses how records can concretely support these principles. The current examples also demonstrate how the perception of the role of the archivist has undergone a metamorphosis in recent decades, towards the idea that archivists can and must play an active role in defending basic human rights, first and foremost by enabling access to documentation on human rights violations. Confronting painful memories of the past is a way to make the ghosts disappear and begin building a brighter, more serene future. The establishment of international justice mechanisms and the creation of truth commissions are important elements of this process. The healing begins with the acknowledgment that painful chapters are essential parts of history; archives then play a crucial role by providing evidence. This book is both a tool and an inspiration to use archives in defence of human rights.

Routledge, 2021. 353p

Banal Security: Queer Korea in the Time of Viruses

By Timothy Gitzen

The decades-long fear of South Korean national destruction has routinized national security and the sense of threat. In present day South Korea, national security includes not only war and the military, but national unity, public health, and the family. As a result, queer Koreans have become a target as their bodies are thought to harbor deadly viruses and are thus seen as carriers of diseases. The prevailing narrative already sees being queer as a threat to traditional family and marriage. By claiming that queer Koreans disrupt military readiness and unit cohesion, that threat is extended to the entire population. Queer Koreans are enveloped by the banality of security, treated as threats, while also being overlooked as part of the nation. What does it mean to be perceived as a national threat simply based on who you would like to sleep with? In their desire to be seen as citizens who support the safety and security of the nation, queer Koreans placate a patriarchal and national authority that is responsible for their continued marginalization. At the same time, they are also creating spaces to protect themselves from the security measures and technologies directed against them. Taking readers from police stations and the galleries of the Constitutional Court to queer activist offices and pride festivals, Banal Security explores how queer Koreans participate in their own securitization, demonstrates how security weaves through daily life in ways that oppress queer Koreans, and highlights the work of queer activists to address that oppression. In doing so, queer Koreans challenge not only the contours of national security in South Korea, but global entanglements of security.

Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 2023, 265 p.

The Long Arm of Liminal Immigration Laws

By Cecilia Menjívar

Stumpf and Manning’s Article, Liminal Immigration Law, explains the origin, mechanisms, and persistence of liminal laws in three cases they analyze: DACA, immigration detainers, and administrative closure. Their analysis unearths key similarities across these cases: the “stickiness” and robustness of liminal rules, their transitory nature, and their flexibility in contrast to the inflexibility of traditional law. This Essay expands Stumpf and Manning’s analysis by considering social science scholarship on the legal production of legal statuses. It examines the liminal case of Temporary Protected Status to capture the effects of liminality on the ground for individuals and families, the power of liminal rules as an instrument of immigration control and governance, and the key role of racialization practices in the creation, interpretation, and implementation of liminal rules. The conceptual extension in this Essay exemplifies how the analytic lens that Stumpf and Manning propose will prove generative for legal, socio-legal, and social science scholarship more generally.  

  IOWA LAW REVIEW ONLINE,  Vol. 110:51 2024, 16 p.

Permanent Legal Immigration to the United States: Policy Overview

By William A. Kandel

Four major principles underlie current U.S. legal permanent immigration policy: allowing families to reunify, admitting needed skilled workers, providing humanitarian protection, and fostering geographic diversity among lawful permanent residents (LPRs; also referred to as immigrants). These principles are embodied in provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) for family-sponsored immigration, employment-based immigration, the U.S. refugee and asylee programs, and the diversity immigrant visa, respectively. Additional INA provisions provide LPR status but account for relatively few immigrants. Among these are special immigrant visas for certain Iraqis and Afghans employed by U.S. Government and their spouses and children; cancellation of removal for foreign nationals in removal proceedings; U nonimmigrant visas for crime victims who assist law enforcement agencies; and T status for human trafficking victims. As defined in the INA, the term “immigrants” is synonymous with LPRs, also known more informally as green card holders, and refers to foreign nationals who come to live lawfully and permanently in the United States. Foreign nationals can either apply to adjust from a temporary, typically nonimmigrant status to LPR status from within the United States, or apply for an immigrant visa from a U.S. embassy or consulate and request admission as an LPR upon arrival to the United States from abroad. The INA imposes an annual worldwide permanent immigration level of 675,000 persons: 480,000 family-sponsored immigrants, made up of family-sponsored “immediate relatives” and “preference immigrants”; 140,000 employment-based immigrants; and 55,000 diversity immigrants. However, the INA worldwide limit is a permeable cap that is regularly breached because immediate relatives and asylees are not numerically limited. In addition, the number of refugees admitted each year is determined by the President in consultation with Congress. As a result, the number of individuals approved for LPR status each year typically exceeds the INA numerical limits that are intended to process this demand fairly and in accordance with the national interest. In FY2023, the United States granted LPR status to 1,172,910 foreign nationals. The INA further imposes, for family-sponsored preference and employment-based immigrants, a per-country limit of 7% of their annual worldwide levels. The 7% limit is intended to prevent nationals of one or a few countries from dominating immigrant flows. For countries that send many prospective immigrants to the United States, the 7% limit often results in years-long waits for LPR status. From FY2014 to FY2023, the United States granted LPR status to an average of about 1 million foreign nationals each year. Of these, 65% acquired LPR status as family-based immigrants, 16% as employment-based immigrants, 11% as refugees and asylees adjusting to LPR status, 4% as diversity immigrants, and 4% as other immigrants. On average, 54% of all immigrants adjusted to LPR status from within the United States during this time. Top immigrant source countries over the period included Mexico (14%), China (7%), India (6%), the Philippines (5%), and the Dominican Republic (5%). In FY2024, an estimated 4 million prospective family-sponsored preference immigrants possessed approved immigrant petitions and were waiting overseas to apply for a statutorily numerically limited immigrant visa. In addition, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved a sizeable number of petitions for family-sponsored preference and employment-based immigrants based in the United States and overseas who represent an indeterminate number of prospective immigrants in a corresponding and sometimes overlapping queue. USCIS also has about 230,000 pending petitions for U nonimmigrant status pertaining to crime victims which, if approved, would make these petitioners eligible for LPR status. Proponents of reducing permanent immigration often contend that family-sponsored immigration allows relatively large numbers of foreign nationals to settle permanently in the United States without regard to their skills, education levels, potential contributions to the U.S. economy or potential fiscal impacts on U.S. taxpayers. Others argue that family-sponsored immigration should be limited to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and LPRs. Still others support limiting employmentbased LPRs to only very highly skilled workers, admitting employment-based immigrants using merit-based point systems instead of or in addition to employer sponsorship, and eliminating the diversity immigrant program. Proponents of increasing permanent immigration typically emphasize the positive impacts of skilled and other migration generally to the U.S. economy, the need for more workers in labor-short occupations and industries, or concerns over demographic trends that portend future U.S. population decline.  

Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service 2024.   27p.

Asylum and Nonreligion: Emotions, Evidence-making and Credibility

By Ben Laws

This open access Palgrave Pivot explores the experiences of nonreligious asylum seekers in Northern Europe. While religious persecution is often cited as a reason for seeking asylum, nonbelievers also face significant persecution in their home countries due to their lack of religious affiliation. Despite this, their experiences are frequently overlooked in academic discussions, and asylum assessment centers have been slow to develop frameworks that address their unique challenges. Drawing on in-depth qualitative research from Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands, this book provides a comprehensive examination of the challenges nonbelievers face, as well as the opportunities they create as agents within the system. Emotions offer an analytical window into the world of nonbelievers, highlighting their desperation and innovative practices of evidence creation. Throughout the book, the logics of credibility assessment are critically explored, revealing the cultural chasm between assessors and nonreligious claimants.

Cham: Springer Nature, 2024.

Antisemitism in the Arabic Speaking Sphere. Historical Roots, Contemporary Dynamics, and Global Impact

By Omar Mohammed

This study explores the deep-rooted and evolving nature of antisemitism in the Arabic-speaking world. It traces its historical roots from pre-1948 socio-cultural and religious dynamics, through the impact of Nazi Germany and Soviet-era propaganda, to contemporary times where radical Islamist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and ISIS perpetuate antisemitic ideologies. The digital age has amplified the spread of hate speech via social media. Addressing antisemitism is challenging due to widespread denial and lack of Holocaust education in the Arab world. The

study recommends educational reforms, interfaith dialogues, and international collaboration to combat antisemitism and promote tolerance .

Washington, DC: Program on Extremism at George Washington University , 2025. 55p.

Racial Disparities in Family Income, Assets, and Liabilities: A Century After the 1921 Tulsa Massacre

By William A. Darity Jr., Raffi E. García, Lauren Russell & Jorge N. Zumaeta

This paper examines the financial health of racial-ethnic groups in Tulsa, Oklahoma, nearly a century after the 1921 Tulsa Massacre. We use data from the Tulsa National Asset Scorecard for Communities of Color (NASCC) survey to assess the financial health of two demographic groups that were historically the victims of racial violence - Native Americans and Black Americans. Specifically, we investigate financial outcomes a century after these groups made significant economic gains during the Tulsa oil boom in the early 1900 s and were subsequently victimized by racial violence. We find that Black households have statistically significantly less wealth and income than Whites in Tulsa. Our decomposition analysis shows household demographic differences between Blacks and Whites largely do not explain these wealth and income gaps, suggestive of historical discrimination. While in the case of the Native American tribes and Whites, the findings generally show no statistical significance. Compared to other NASCC-surveyed cities that did not experience destruction to the level of the Tulsa Massacre, the Black-White wealth and income gaps and the unexplained portion of the decompositions are the largest in Tulsa. Our results provisionally suggest that past exposure to racial violence can have long-term effects on the economic outcomes of the affected groups decades later.

Journal of Family and Economic Issues (2024) 45:256–275

George Eliot's Life: as Related in her Letters and Journals

Edited by J. W. Cross

"George Eliot's Life" by J.W. Cross is a three-volume biography that provides a detailed account of the life of the renowned author George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans). Compiled by her husband, John Walter Cross, the biography is based on her letters and journals, offering a unique perspective on her personal and professional life.

Volume 1 covers Eliot's early life from 1819 to 1857. It begins with her childhood, her move to Coventry, and her early literary career. It also details her travels to Geneva and her initial forays into writing[1].

Volume 2: The second volume spans the years 1857 to 1870, focusing on Eliot's rise to literary fame. It includes her relationships with key figures in the literary world, her partnership with George Henry Lewes, and the publication of her major works such as "Adam Bede" and "Middlemarch"[1].

Volume 3: This final volume covers Eliot's later years, from 1870 until her death in 1880. It discusses her continued literary success, her marriage to John Cross, and her reflections on her life and work. It also includes insights into her personal struggles and triumphs[1].

These volumes provide a comprehensive look at George Eliot's life, though some critics have noted that Cross's portrayal may lack some of the "salt and spice" of Eliot's unconventional life[2][1].

Originally published by HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE. 1885.

The Writings of Thomas Paine: Volumes 1-4

The four volumes of Thomas Paine's writings, edited by Moncure Daniel Conway, offer a comprehensive collection of Paine's influential works. Here's a brief summary of each volume:

  1. Volume 1 includes early political writings, such as Common Sense and The American Crisis. These works were pivotal in inspiring American colonists to seek independence from Britain. Paine's clear and persuasive arguments helped galvanize public opinion in favor of the revolutionary cause[1].

  2. Volume 2 focuses on Paine's writings during the French Revolution. It includes "Rights of Man," in which Paine defends the Revolution and argues for natural rights and democratic government. His critiques of monarchy and advocacy for social reforms are central themes.

  3. Volume 3 contains Paine's religious and philosophical writings, most notably "The Age of Reason." In this work, Paine critiques organized religion and promotes deism, emphasizing reason and scientific inquiry over religious dogma.

  4. Volume 4: This final volume includes Paine's later political and social writings, such as "Agrarian Justice." In it, Paine discusses economic inequality and proposes a form of social security funded by a landowner tax. The volume also includes various letters and essays on political and social issues.

These volumes collectively showcase Paine's profound impact on political thought and his enduring legacy as a champion of liberty, equality, and reason.

The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

John Bunyan (1628-1688) was a prolific English writer and preacher, best known for his allegorical works that reflect his deep Christian faith and experiences. Here's an overview of some of his most notable works:

  1. The Pilgrim's Progress: This is Bunyan's most famous work, an allegory of a Christian's journey from the "City of Destruction" to the "Celestial City." It is divided into two parts, following the protagonist, Christian, and later his wife, Christiana.

  2. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners: This autobiographical work details Bunyan's spiritual journey and conversion, offering a candid look at his inner struggles and ultimate redemption.

  3. The Holy War: Another allegory, this book depicts the battle for the town of Mansoul, representing the human soul, between Shaddai (God) and Diabolus (Satan).

  4. The Life and Death of Mr. Badman: This work is a companion to The Pilgrim's Progress, presenting a contrasting narrative of a wicked man's life and the consequences of his sinful actions.

  5. The Heavenly Footman: A treatise encouraging Christians to persevere in their faith and strive for spiritual goals, using the metaphor of a race.

  6. The Barren Fig Tree: This work explores the Bible parable of the barren fig tree, emphasizing the importance of repentance and bearing spiritual fruit.

Bunyan's writings are characterized by vivid imagery, deep theological insights, and practical applications for Christian living. They have had a lasting impact on Christian literature and continue to be widely read and studied.

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Unauthorised Migration: Timeline and Overview of UK-French Co-operation

By Melanie Gower

There is a long history of cooperation between the UK and France over immigration controls at their shared borders. This has been formalised through a series of bilateral agreements, including the Sangatte Protocol (1991) and the Treaty of Le Touquet (2003). The latter allowed for France and the UK to carry out immigration controls in each other’s territories at seaports. The Sandhurst Treaty (2018) provided a legal framework for broader cooperation on border and migration issues. Early agreements addressed security around the Channel Tunnel and ferry terminals and preventing people crossing the border by hiding in vehicles. Since 2019 cooperation has focused on small boat crossings. Small boats have been the predominant recorded method of irregular arrival in the UK since 2020. The Home Office says 82 organised criminal gangs responsible for people smuggling by small boats have been “dismantled” since a Joint Intelligence Cell with France was established in July 2020. UK funding commitments Many border control agreements since 2014 have had associated funding commitments. The UK will provide €541 million (around £476 million at the time of the agreement) between 2023/24 and 2025/26, under a three-year deal made in March 2023. France is due to make an unspecified “substantial and continuing” contribution. How is the effectiveness of UK spending assessed? There is limited official information published about how the funding attached to successive agreements is spent and monitored. The government says France and the UK jointly assess the impact of cooperation and funding through regular strategic reviews. The government doesn’t publish details of review outcomes. It says doing so could undermine border security controls and the UK-France relationship.

Recent statistics The UK–France Joint Leaders’ Declaration issued in March 2023 included an agreement to increase the interception rate of boats crossing the English Channel and to “drastically reduce the number of crossings year on year”. Fewer people and boats were detected arriving in the UK in 2023 compared with 2022. The number of people intercepted and returned to France was also lower. • 36% fewer people were detected arriving by small boats in 2023 than in 2022. The Home Office says this is largely explained by a 93% reduction in Albanian nationals arriving by small boats 2023, which it attributes to recent partnership work between the UK and Albania. Arrivals of other nationalities reduced by 14% overall. • 46% fewer boats were detected arriving in the UK without permission in 2023 than in 2022, although the average number of people in each boat increased from 41 to 49. • France prevented fewer crossing attempts in 2023 than in 2022. The Home Office says this reflects the decline in the overall number of crossing attempts in 2023. Data for the first nine months of 2024 shows the number of people arriving in small boats (25,244) was slightly more than for the same period in 2023 (24,830). This is despite fewer boats (479) arriving in the first nine months of 2024 than over the same period in 2023 (506). More recent provisional data shows significantly more people and boats arrived in October and November 2024 compared to in 2023. The Home Office has cited weather conditions as a relevant factor. Topical issues Some stakeholders, including Border Force unions, some MPs, and migrants’ rights advocates, have criticised agreements between the UK and France for falling short of what they think is needed to address unauthorised border crossings. Their alternative suggestions have included powers for French law enforcement to arrest and detain intercepted migrants; powers for UK counterparts in France; and enhanced safe and legal routes for asylum seekers wishing to come to the UK. There have been reports of French police intervening more to prevent small boat departures since the 2023 UK-France funding agreement. Some commentators have linked the increased funding with an increase in migrant fatalities in 2024. Recent UK governments have wanted formal agreements with European states to return unauthorised migrants who travel to the UK. So far, the Labour government has prioritised practical cooperation with neighbouring countries over pursuing a formal returns agreement with the EU.

London: UK House of Commons Library, 2024. 31p.

The Works of William Carleton Volume 2

Complied by Jane Sinclair

The document is an excerpt from“The Works of William Carleton, Volume I,”which includes multiple novels such as“Willy Reilly,” “Farnborough the Miser,” “The Black Baronet; or, The Chronicles of Bally train,”and“The Evil Eye; or, The Black Spectre.”The Specific section provided focuses on“Willy Reilly,”detailing the initial chapters where the protagonist, Willy Reilly, saves Squire Folliard from the Red Rapparee, leading to a developing relationship with Folliard’s daughter, Helen, also known as the Colleen Bawn. The narrative explores themes of love, loyalty, religious conflict, and intrigue, set against the backdrop of rural Ireland In “Willy Reilly,” Squire Folliard and his servant Andy Cumm is key lose their way in a foggy moor and encounter the Red Rapparee, who threatens to kill them. Willy Reilly intervenes and saves them, leading to his introduction to Helen Folliard. Despite the religious and social barriers, Reilly and Helen develop a mutual affection. However, Sir Robert Whitecraft, a suitor of Helen, manipulates Mr. Folliard against Reilly, leading to tension and conflict. Helen declares her love for Reilly, defying her father’s wishes and Sir Robert's Schemes. The narrative hints at future challenges and dangers for Reilly and Helen due to their love and the surrounding political and social tensions.

P.F. Collier, 1881, 638 pages

Immigration Enforcement and COVID-19 Death Disparities among Latinx People

By Paola Echave and Dulce Gonzalez

Latinx populations have been among those with disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 infection and mortality (Mackey et al. 2021). The factors underlying these disparities are many. One is Latinx people’s disproportionate employment in occupations with high risk for coronavirus exposure (Do and Frank 2020; Goldman et al. 2021). Others include limited access to federally funded public health insurance for immigrants and employment in occupations that do not offer paid sick leave (Glynn and Farrell 2012). But studies have not yet examined how immigration enforcement has contributed to disparities in COVID-19 mortality among Latinx populations, despite evidence that immigration enforcement affects Latinx people’s health and health care access (Capps et al. 2015; Castañeda et al. 2015).

In this study, we assess whether medium-to-high exposure to immigration enforcement between 2008 and 2017 in a given county was associated with county-level disparities in COVID-19 deaths between Latinx people and non-Latinx white people (hereafter referred to as “white people”).

We first describe our measures of COVID-19 deaths and immigration enforcement and assess the relationship between the two, overall and among Latinx-concentrated counties (i.e., those with concentrations of Latinx residents greater than 10 percent). We then describe our statistical analyses of the relationship between the number of years a county had medium-to-high exposure to immigration enforcement and Latinx-white COVID-19 death disparities, controlling for select, observable characteristics of Latinx-concentrated counties. We find the following: 

  • Across all US counties,

    • white people had slightly higher COVID-19 death rates than Latinx people (350 versus 348 deaths per 100,000 people) between 2020 and 2022;

    • just over half of counties (56 percent) had one or more years of medium-to-high exposure to immigration enforcement between 2008 and 2017;

    • counties with one or more years of medium-to-high immigration-enforcement exposure were primarily located along the southern border and in the western and eastern US, and had high Latinx population concentrations and high COVID-19 death-disparity ratios; and

    • as the number of years of medium-to-high immigration-enforcement exposure increases, so does the Latinx-white COVID-19 disparity ratio.  

  • Among Latinx-concentrated counties,

    • the majority (88 percent) showed a COVID-19 death-disparity ratio between Latinx and white people larger than 1, meaning Latinx people were more likely to die from COVID-19 than white people in those counties; and

    • most (71 percent) were at or above the annual average for deportations at least once between 2008 and 2017.

  • As the number of years a county is exposed to medium-to-high immigration enforcement increases by one, the Latinx-white COVID-19 death-disparity ratio increases by 21 percent, after controlling for counties’ key observable characteristics.

Our findings contribute to the literature by exploring how exposure to immigration enforcement over time may be related to COVID-19 death disparities for Latinx populations. Because of limitations in our data, we provide only an exploratory and descriptive snapshot of the association between immigration enforcement and COVID-19 death disparities. The results of this study, however, reinforce the importance of acknowledging the role of immigration enforcement as a social determinant of health.

Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2024. 44p

Black Women’s Stories of Everyday Racism: Narrative Analysis for Social Change

By Simone Drake, James Phelan, Robyn Warhol, and Lisa Zunshine

Black Women’s Stories of Everyday Racism puts literary narrative theory to work on an urgent real-world problem. The book calls attention to African American women’s everyday experiences with systemic racism and demonstrates how four types of narrative theory can help generate strategies to explain and dismantle that racism. This volume presents fifteen stories told by eight midwestern African American women about their own experiences with casual and structural racism, followed by four detailed narratological analyses of the stories, each representing a different approach to narrative interpretation. The book makes a case for the need to hear the personal stories of these women and others like them as part of a larger effort to counter the systemic racism that prevails in the United States today. Readers will find that the women’s stories offer powerful evidence that African Americans experience racism as an inescapable part of their day-to-day lives—and sometimes as a force that radically changes their lives. The stories provide experience-based demonstrations of how pervasive systemic racism is and how it perpetuates power differentials that are baked into institutions such as schools, law enforcement, the health care system, and business. Containing countless signs of the stress and trauma that accompany and follow from experiences of racism, the stories reveal evidence of the women’s resilience as well as their unending need for it, as they continue to feel the negative effects of experiences that occurred many years ago. The four interpretive chapters note the complex skill involved in the women’s storytelling. The analyses also point to the overall value of telling these stories: how they are sometimes cathartic for the tellers; how they highlight the importance of listening—and the likelihood of misunderstanding—and how, if they and other stories like them were heard more often, they would be a force to counteract the structural racism they so graphically expose.

London; New York: Routledge, 2024. 137p

ONE THOUSAND HOMELESS MEN: A STUDY OF ORIGINAL RECORDS

By ALICE WILLARD SOLENBERGER

This book is a detailed study of 1,000 homeless men in Chicago, conducted by Alice Willard Solenberger. It examines their physical conditions, causes of homelessness, and social remedies early in the 20th century.. Solenberger applied charity organization methods to homeless men, similar to those used for families, to understand and address their needs more effectively.. The study highlights the inadequate treatment of homeless men and suggests that personalized, in-depth approaches can lead to better outcomes and contains extensive raw data and information. Finally, it emphasizes the need for better laws and facilities to support homeless individuals and reduce vagrancy.

NY. Russell Sage Foundation. 1911. 397p.

In a New Land: A Comparative View of Immigration

By Nancy Foner

A comparative analysis of the U.S.'s contemporary immigrants to those who arrived a century ago. According to the 2000 census, more than 10% of U.S. residents were foreign-born; together with their American-born children, this group constitutes one-fifth of the nation's population. What does this mass immigration mean for America? Leading immigration studies scholar, Nancy Foner, answers this question in her study of comparative immigration. Drawing on the rich history of American immigrants and current statistical and ethnographic data, In a New Land compares today’s new immigrants with the past influxes of Europeans to the United States and across cities and regions within the United States. Foner looks at immigration across nation-states, and over different periods, offering a comprehensive assessment and analysis. This original approach to the study of recent U.S. immigration focuses on race and ethnicity, gender, and transnational connections. Centering her analysis on the groups that have come through and significantly shaped New York City, Foner compares today’s Latin American, Asian, and Caribbean newcomers with eastern and southern European immigrants a century ago and with immigrants in other major U.S. cities. Looking beyond the United States, Foner compares West Indian immigrants in New York with those in London. And, more generally, the book views the process of immigrants’ integration in New York against other recent immigrant destinations in Europe. Drawing on a wealth of historical and contemporary research, and written in a clear and lively style, In a New Land provides fresh insights into the dynamics of immigration today and the implications for where we are headed in the future.

New York: NYU Press, 2005.

Conditional Freedom:  Free Soil and Fugitive Slaves from the U.S. South to Mexico’s Northeast, 1803–1861

By Thomas Mareite

While the literature on slave flight in nineteenth-century North America has commonly focused on fugitive slaves escaping to the U.S. North and Canada, Conditional Freedom provides new insights on the social and political geography of freedom and slavery in nineteenth-century North America by exploring the development of southern routes of escape from slavery in the U.S. South and the experiences of self-emancipated slaves in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands. In Conditional Freedom, Thomas Mareite offers a social history of U.S. refugees from slavery and provides a political history of the clash between Mexican free soil and the spread of slavery west of the Mississippi Valley during the nineteenth century.

The Hague; Boston: Brill, 2022. 

Critical Rhetorics of Race

By Kent A. Ono and Michael G. Lacy

According to many pundits and cultural commentators, the U.S. is enjoying a post-racial age, thanks in part to Barack Obama's rise to the presidency. This high gloss of optimism fails, however, to recognize that racism remains ever present and alive, spread by channels of media and circulated even in colloquial speech in ways that can be difficult to analyze. In this groundbreaking collection edited by Michael G. Lacy and Kent A. Ono, scholars seek to examine this complicated and contradictory terrain while moving the field of communication in a more intellectually productive direction. An outstanding group of contributors from a range of academic backgrounds challenges traditional definitions and applications of rhetoric. From the troubling media representations of black looters after Hurricane Katrina and rhetoric in news coverage about the Columbine and Virginia Tech massacres to cinematic representations of race in Crash, Blood Diamond, and Quentin Tarantino’s films, these essays reveal complex intersections and constructions of racialized bodies and discourses, critiquing race in innovative and exciting ways. Critical Rhetorics of Race seeks not only to understand and navigate a world fraught with racism, but to change it, one word at a time.

New York: NYU Press, 2011.

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After Race: Racism After Multiculturalism

By Darder, Antonia and Torres, Rodolfo D.

After Race pushes us beyond the old "race vs. class" debates to delve deeper into the structural conditions that spawn racism. Darder and Torres place the study of racism forthrightly within the context of contemporary capitalism. While agreeing with those who have argued that the concept of "race" does not have biological validity, they go further to insist that the concept also holds little political, symbolic, or descriptive value when employed in social science and policy research. Darder and Torres argue for the need to jettison the concept of "race," while calling adamantly for the critical study of racism. They maintain that an understanding of structural class inequality is fundamentally germane to comprehending the growing significance of racism in capitalist America.

New York: NYU Press, 2004.