Tag Archives: books
“A place in the generous heart of America”: Reflecting on New York’s immigrant history through Tyler Anbinder’s City of Dreams
I moved to New York City seven months ago, and I’ve spent the last several weeks lugging an extra heavy bag onto the subway during my commutes. Besides my laptop, the main culprit is a 735-page hardcover book – Tyler Anbinder’s City of Dreams: The 400-Year Epic History of Immigrant New York. When I manage […]
Favorite Immigration Reads of 2015
Below are our favorite immigration reads of 2015. They range from fiction to non-fiction to short stories and memoir, and are geared to varying degrees of relaxation and contemplation for the library of migrationists everywhere. These books were not necessarily published in 2015, simply read this year by a regular contributor or guest contributor, and enjoyed […]
Review of ‘Homesickness: An American History’ by Susan J. Matt
By Sara Burnett In a nation that’s been around for over 200 years, a surprising number of Americans still trace their ancestry to the countries where their families immigrated from before they came to the U.S. Among the many persistent myths of U.S. immigration, is the one of eternal optimism and relentless enthusiasm despite the […]
Immigration Stories: The more things change, the more they stay the same
I recently had a chance to read a book that I’ve been wanting to dive into for years. Immigration Stories, edited by David A. Martin and Peter H. Schuck, is part of the Stories Series, which relates the political and historical context behind some of the more important case law in a variety of different […]
Favorite Immigration Reads of 2014
If you’re anything like me, you mine these end-of-the-year book lists for your 2015 “to-read” list. So here’s an immigration-themed to-read list from the contributors here at The Migrationist that spans both fiction and non-fiction. There’s some themes – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah is mentioned by several of us, author W.G. Sebald got multiple shout outs. […]
“Undocumented” is not as old as you think it is
Aviva Chomsky’s most recent book, Undocumented: How Immigration Became Illegal (Beacon Press, 2014), brings up a common narrative most American children learn early on in school: “We are a country of immigrants.” Throughout the book, Chomsky questions the historically situated ways in which we have defined who is an immigrant and who is not, largely […]
Review: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration Isabel Wilkerson, 2011, Vintage Books: New York. Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk The United States is a nation of immigrants. What is often overlooked is that it has also historically been a land of dynamic internal movement. Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic […]
Governing Immigration Through Crime
A frequent argument against the pathway to citizenship is the one used by Senator Cruz in his closing statements before the Senate Judiciary Committee on S.744. He cited the rule of law, but most Americans would point to the simple fact that the illegal immigrants broke the law and should not be rewarded for […]
Mobility: Past, Present and Future – Inevitable and Desirable?
Exceptional People – How migration shaped our world and will define our future Ian Goldin, Geoffrey Cameron and Merra Balarajan, 2011, Princeton Press: Princeton. Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk Exceptional People – How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future – the 2011 book by Economist and Professor Ian Goldin, Researcher Geoffrey Cameron and Dr […]
