Arthur W. Helweg

Book Review: The Hazards of Afghanistan: An Historical, Cultural, Economic and Political StudyThe Hazards of Afghanistan: An Historical, Cultural, Economic and Political Study. By MousaviSayed Askar. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. Pp. 265

arguments used by the anti-immigranr lobby, arguments focusing on issues of the environment and population, the dysfunctions of the immigration control system, the economic impact of immigration, and the alleged failure of recent immigrants to assimilate. Reimers principal conclusion is that the restrictionists have so far largely failed in their campaign to decrease legal and illegal immigration levels. There have been significant attempts at legislation, but the penultimate chapter discusses how the diverse proimmigration forces such as business interests and ethnic lobbies have come to constitute an almost unbeatable political coalition. Those who pay close attention to the American medias coverage of immigration issues will find much here that is familiar. In addition to reviewing a variety of polemical books, however, Reimers also draws on sixteen interviews he conducted with movement leaders as well as the publications of a variety of organizations, such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Population-Environment Balance, and English First. Observers of American immigration politics have grown accustomed to books that take strong positions in the debate. Although at times Reimers presents his own views on immigration, his apparent main purpose is less to evaluate the various arguments than to present a historical account of their emergence and development. In this respect, readers will appreciate the very extensive documentation. Those looking for forceful rebuttals (or confirmation) of the restrictionists arguments, however, will find only limited instances of critique. While some may find the book dissatisfying for this reason, others will be thankful that it is neither another Alien Nation (Peter Brimelow) nor its polemical antithesis. Reimers stakes out a middle ground, and Unwelcome Strangers is first and foremost a scholarly book. As noted above, the core of the book is organized around the four main themes emphasized by anti-immigrant activists. Within chapters, however, there are no subject headings, and the argument seems to meander at times. In other respects, the book is well written and clear, and those interested in the topic will find it useful.

Book Review: Contesting Culture: Discourses of Identity in Multi-Ethnic LondonContesting Culture: Discourses of Identity in Multi-Ethnic London. By BaumannGerd. Cambridge, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Pp. 215.

Gerd Baumanns Contesting Culture is an excellent contribution in developing a broad and comprehensive framework for understanding the social and cultural dynamics of a multiethnic settlement. The study does not focus on London, as the title suggests,but on Southall, a London Borough which is a heavily studied, multiethnic settlement Sikhs (the majority), Hindus, Muslims, AfroCaribbeans, and whites (primarily Irish) comprise the prominent groups. The value of Baumanns work is in his methodological approach and theoretical orientation. Instead of focusing on one group, such as the Sikhs, he uses Southall as his unit of analysis. He argues that focusing on a specific ethnic group tends to result in a cultural determinist explanation, e.g., people who are Sikhs have this culture or behavior because they are Sikhsother influences such as place of employment, television or school are neglected. Such studies, he states, reenforce stereotypes by reducing a peoples culture to their ethnic identity, such as, whatever an Asian informant says is interpreted in stunning regularity as a consequence of their Asiannes, their ethnic identity or the culture of their community. Baumann first presents a good explanation of his methodological and theoretical frameworks as well as relevant background information concerning Southall. Then, by using quantitative and qualitative data, he sets forth the dominant discourse which equates ethnic categories with social groups under the name community and it identifies each community with a reified culture. After setting forth the various ways groups form and change their identity reinforcing the fact that identity is mutable Baumann then focuses on the processes and forces denying or challenging the dominant discourse. The counterprocess, or demotic discourse, focuses on the divisive forces affecting ethnic communities as well as those contributing to the creation of new ethnic groupings. Last he sets forth the relationship between these two discourses and how they context each other in multiethnic Southall. This study is an excellent contribution by providing a methodological and theoretical supplement to analyzing and understanding rnultierhnic settlements. It is a framework that can be built on, refined, and developed. Also, Baumann demonstrates an excellent understanding of ethnic dynamics in Southall. The explanations of his theory and methodology are clear, concise, and understandable. His concluding chapter is especially good. The book, however is weak in that it omits any consideration of the transnationalist approach or literature that considers the ongoing influence of the sending society. Second, it neglects the variety of practices concerning institutions such as marriage and caste as practiced in the sending society such as India. Last he assumes that anthropologists agree on the definition of such concepts as culture. In spite of these limitations, I highly recommend ContestingCulture as a book well worth reading.

Book Review: Economy & Culture in Pakistan: Migrants and Cities in a Muslim SocietyEconomy & Culture in Pakistan: Migrants and Cities in a Muslim Society. Edited by DonnanHastings and WerbnerPninaNew York:St. Martin's Press, 1991. Pp. 287.

successful countries in the world at attracting jmnIigration. Although a lot has been written on various aspects of Argentine immigration in recent years, one area that has been neglected is the development and influence of immigration policy. The publication of Do~d S. C~tro:s revised and updated 1970 dissertation IS therefore welcome. Castros purpose is to investigate and evaluate the Argentine elites motives and attitudes moving them to encourage immigration, how they formulated policy, the politics of policy development and Implementation, and how effective were they in achieving their goals (p. 2). In other words, why did the ruling Argentine elites ~h to encourage immigration, and what role, ifany, did the government play in attracting the large number ofimmigrants who came to the country? Castro approaches these questions in a series of chronologically organized chaptersthe origins of the liberal elites philosophy To Govern is to Populate, the search for a system ofimmigration and colonization (1862-1874), the establishment of such a system under the 1876 Law on Immigration and Colonization during the Avellaneda Administration (18741880), the experimentation with artificial immigration (1880-1892), and the experience of the immigrants in the city and in the countryside during mass migration (1880-1914). There is one additional chapter that spans the entire period which is devoted to the activities of immigration agents in Europe. The books greatest contribution is to provide an institutional history of the Argentine national immigration service. Castro examines the efforts of the Argentine governments to implement the pro-immigration provisions of the Constitution of 1853 and the intense struggle between those within the political elite who favored spontaneous migration on the one hand and those who believed in artificial or government-assisted migration on the other. The proponents of artificial migration reached the peak oftheir influence during the 18805 when new public works-the building ofthe provincial capital in La Plata, the development of the port of Buenos Aires and the rapid expansion of the railroads-created an immediate and extensive need for labor. Their efforts culminated in government-subsidized passages for immigrants during a short period at the end of the 1880s, but the policy proved to be costly, ineffective in many respects, and unnecessary to attract immigrants. Future governments abandoned subsidized passages and relied instead on the countrys natural attraction ofimmigration to meet the demand for labor. I found the chapter on the immigration agents in Europe to be especially informative. In it, Castro discusses the activities of the different kinds of agents involved in the governments propaganda services: the official immigration agent, the maritime or steamship company agent, and the commercial agent. With data that complements the work of the late Robert Harney on the Commerce of Migration, this chapter helps us understand how personal self-interest and gain frequently undermined official intents and goals. After reading this book, one must conclude that the efforts of the Argentine government were not all that important to the remarkable success of the country in attracting immigrants. For the most part, immigrants would have come with or without the programs, agents and laws of the government. A lot of effort went into recruiting immigrants, but they came primarily because of perceived opportunity and the lack oflaws and regulations to restrict their activities.

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The people of India have a long history of emigration. With almost 9 million comprising their overseas community, they have a contingent in almost every country in the world (in the United States they identify themselves as Asian Indians). The study oftheir enclaves has increased over the past decade, especially in the United States and England. However, one of the more significant groups of the Indian diaspora is the community of South Africa. It is noteworthy as one ofthe earlier settlements oflndias overseas population, and where Mahatma Gandhi initiated the satyagraha, or passive form of political action. Also, the discrimination experienced by Indians in South Africa led to the termination of diplomatic relations between India and South Africa. It is within this context that Bhanaand Brain have set forth their examination of the early parameters of settlement of South Africas Indians ... and how this process occurred at the turn of the century. It also deals with the social and economic forces which led to groups being formed. . . .The introductory chapter sets forth the process of the arrival of indentured and passenger Indians. The former were Indians who arrived under contract (being a euphemism for what Tinker has termed a New System of Slavery) and the latter were free of contractual obligations. After the second chapter, which describes Indians in South Africa who terminated their indentures and moved into the labor market, the third, fourth and fifth chapters detail the movement of Indians into the Transvaal, Witwatersrand and Pretoria, and the Cape respectively. Laws and procedures to restrict Indian mobility are the subject of the sixth chapter, while the seventh sets forth case histories of early Indian immigrants. The conclusion summarizes the economic contributions and factors influencing Indian mobility. This book is a meticulously researched account of the development and settlement of Asian Indians in South Africa at the turn ofthe century. The authors have relied primarily on written records with the insertion of some narrative histories toward the end ofthe study. For those interested in a detailed historical treatment of Indian settlementofSouthAfrica during this period, this book is a good contribution. However, the focus is on population movements and correlating economic forces, with little attention given to the wider social, political and cultural factors influencing Indian adaptation to their abode in SouthAfrica. The case studies given are brief and sketchy; they do not include sufficient detail to really help the reader understand the situation of the times. This study is good in detail and meticulous description concerning the movement of Indians to the three regions focused upon, but weak on analysis and case material.

Book Review: Setting down Roots; Indian Migrants in South Africa, 1860–1911Setting Down Roots; Indian Migrants in South Africa, 1860–1911. By BhanaSurendra and BrainJoy. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 1990. Pp. 241.

growth of an urban underclass among Mexican Americans during the last decade. In spite of these criticisms, Montejands work must be considered a benchmark publication in that it is a meticulously documented work that provides an alternative interpretation and revistionist view of Mexican-Anglo relations. More importantly, his research is a significant addition to the social sciences in that it provides crucial insights into the complex problem of race and class in the United States.

Book Review: Accommodation without Assimilation: Sikh Immigrants in an American High SchoolAccommodation without Assimilation: Sikh Immigrants in an American High School. By GibsonMargaret A.Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1988. Pp. 244.

The South Asian nation of Sri Lanka has experienced a tremendous amount of internal migration in recent decades; more than 2 million persons nearly 1 out of 7 were born in districts other than their place of enumeration for the 1981 census. 3 major aspects of societal upheavals related to internal migration are examined in this book: 1) unbalanced sex ratios 2) rising rates of suicide and 3) increased ethnic conflict. Compared to many other developing nations whose internal migration is dominated by flows to primate urban centers the predominant pattern in Sri Lanka is rural-to-rural movement. A possible risk factor for migrants adjustment processes and overall social harmony in destination zones is posited in Chapter 2 to be extremely male-preponderant sex ratios. The relationship between internal migration patterns and suicide is strong in many districts. The exposure of the unintended consequences of internal migration--unbalanced sex ratios rising rates of suicide and ethnic conflict--carries with it some implications for public policy. Policy options could take 2 major directions: 1) one that seeks to alter the social dynamics leading to suicide and 2) the other that simply provides psychological and counselling services for individuals without attempting to change social background. A resolution of migration-related issues in the current conflict of ethnic communities must come as a part of a much broader resolution of many complex and difficult problems.

Internal Migration in Sri Lanka and Its Social Consequences.

In conclusion, this study makes a very significant contribution to our understanding of how various immigrant groups adapt to the existing conditions that they find in the host society, and turn these conditions to their advantage. This book should be considered required reading for those who seek to obtain a better understanding of the cooperation and cohesiveness that is possible among diverse immigrant populations.

Book Review: Internal Migration in Sri Lanka and Its Social ConsequencesInternal Migration in Sri Lanka and Its Social Consequences. By KearneyRobert N. and MillerBarbara DianeBoulder and London:Westview Press, 1987. Pp. 143.

will assert that the rules of evidence, even for the softer empirical sciences, have not merely been stretched, but too often disregarded. Despite these defects, Orsis study certainly belongs with earlier efforts by Nelli, YansMcLaughlin, Cinel, Briggs, Tricarico, and LaSorte as a formidable contribution to the study of Italian Americans. This analysis is not only marked by originality and imagination that in themselves would render distinction to the study, but perhaps even more importantly by a sensitivity to and an appreciation of the system of cultural meanings among the people of Italian Harlem. In our age, in which the separation of religious faith from everyday experience becomes so common, Orsis depiction of Italian life in East Harlem appears almost as a lesson and as a celebration in itself. His analysis reveals the comprehensive, profound and intimate integration of the sacred and the secular in the lives of these Italians. Their religious beliefs and practices thoroughly reflect the temporal realities of their new country. Orsis work probes far deeper than any previous study into what he so aptly identifies as the hidden history of immigration that unfolds as an inner, spiritual journey as much as an external, material transformation.

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attitudes which attitudes among a sizeable proportion of the population condoned the legitimacy of labeling foreigners as permanently inferior and denying them civil and political rights. Though it is the specific focus of Chapter 7, the development and spread of racism in most labor-importing West European democracies in general, but in West Germany in particular, is a major theme running throughout much of the book. In the broadest perspective, the author appears far more preoccupied with the political ramifications of this phenomenon than with the purely sociological ones. He contends that during periods of economic boom, foreign workers in Western Europe were valued for their economic role; now, in a period of relative economic stagnation brought on to a high degree by a restructuring of the world economy, they are commonly set in the racist ideological role of scapegoats for the crisis. As the more labor-intensive aspects of industrial production are increasingly shifting to Third World nations, the capitalist ruling classes of Western Europe, synonymous with the political right, are seen as being more and more inclined to use the new ethnic minorities as scapegoats to explain the structural unemployment which ensues from this shift. Castles argues that just as capitalist ruling classes supported the rise of fascism during the economic ills of the 1920sand 30s, so also might this same tendency occur once again in history under a quite different set of circumstances. The author concludes that the citizens of Western Europe no longer have a choice of whether to live in multi-ethnic and multi-cultural societies, for such is already a fait accompli. He maintains that the only viable choice before these citizens at this point in time is whether the new ethnic minorities resident among them shall enjoy equality and self-determination or whether these minorities shall be marginalized which, historically speaking, has paved the way for the destruction of democracy and the labor movement. In spite of the problems which inhere in the work primarily as a result of its theoretical framework and underpinnings, Here For Good is, overall, unquestionably a responsible book deserving of a high priority position on the reading lists of serious students of labor migration studies. Castles is to be especially commended for his excellent treatment in Chapter 6 of the topic of ethnic minority youth the so-called second generation problem-a topic which inevitably will have critical and far-reaching implications for the future and one which hopefully will command increasing attention in the annals of contemporary research. The AsWn Indian Experience in the United States. By Parmatma Saran. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Publishing Company, Inc., 1985. Pp. 129.

Book Review: Twice Migrants: East African Sikh Settlers in BritainTwice Migrants: East African Sikh Settlers in Britain. By BhachuParminder. London and New York: Tavistock Publications, 1985. Pp. 205.

of thought and action. It is a process by which one moves ever closer to the ideals of fair play, human equality, dignity and prosperity. (p. 12). Later we are told that ethnic living is more like living in jail. Ethnicity programs one for less than all society has to offer. It is like a millstone about ones social neck. (pp. 50-51). Such discourse is amusing, but a waste of readers time and of librarians increasingly scarce resources. Luckily, other recent works such as Stephen Steinbergs The Ethnic Myth: Race, Ethnicity, and Class in Amenca (New York: Atheneum, 1981), present a coherent case for the melting pot model.