In today's society it is almost impossible to ignore the issue of, and the problems caused by, immigration. However, its prominence in press, media and political debate is not matched in the academic literature, especially on Latin America and the Caribbean. The publication of a new book covering the period 1850 to 1950, an edited volume with chapters by an array of respected scholars, is therefore to be welcomed. It is pleasing that the title overtly associates immigration with national identity and nationalism. This is rare in the literature but it always seemed perfectly natural to me as the grandson of Irish immigrants to the North of England.
The volume has been written with the focus very much on the immigrants themselves. There are the usual accusations of ‘xenophobia’ and ‘populism’ towards the native inhabitants, usually targeting the ‘working class’ who cannot resist incitement by political elites during economic crises. This instinctive support for immigrants, yet denigration of native working classes whose livelihoods are most undermined, is uncomfortable. Similarly, the easy accusations of ‘xenophobia’ as most people are not frightened of immigrants and do not hate them; they do, however, realise the negative economic effect immigration will have on their life.
Chapter 1 is a complicated chapter given the vague geographical limits of ‘the Caribbean’. Several layers of nationalism are described but the ambiguous and shifting position of the East Indian immigrants shows the self-interested, mercenary and political nature of much of the debate. Expulsions of West Indians from the circum-Caribbean in the 1930s are blamed on a mixture of eugenics, populism and racism (pp. 57–8). However, in Venezuela, West Indian oil workers were unwelcome not because of their blackness but because they spoke English (they were known as maifrenes) and were favoured by United States supervisors on the oil sites over the native black Venezuelans. Similarly, efforts to racialise the expulsion of Chinese and Middle Eastern retailers in Jamaica and Haiti downplay the negative effects they had on local shopkeepers’ livelihoods. Small retail businesses do not welcome competition. Why would we expect them to?
For people new to the subject, who rely on today's press and media coverage for their insight, there are interesting angles in several chapters. The degree of self-interest and manipulation involved at all levels of immigration is repeatedly exposed in Chapters 3, 4 and 5. Jürgen Buchenau explains anti-immigration in Mexico due to the amount of territory they lost to the United States as a result of their inability to control their borders. Interestingly, he refers to the 31.7 million Mexicans and their descendants in the United States. This would surely become a problem of political correctness if the native US population began to refer to this same group in that way rather than as US citizens.
Jeane DeLaney deals with the changing concepts of national identity in Argentina and the problems caused when immigration becomes too massive. Even with over 30 per cent of the population foreign born, the elites were calling for more to implant a white, Europeanised population more amenable to compliance and subjugation than the violent, primitive rural creoles (pp. 93–5). DeLaney's work has always been thought provoking and this chapter took an age to digest for the parallels with Britain under Tony Blair. Jeffrey Lesser and Raanan Rein offer a realistic appraisal of the research on Jews in Latin America where most authors on Jews are Jews (p. 142) and the work is often elitist, simplistic, exclusionary and self-serving. They show considerable insight: ‘(the immigrant) has multiple motherlands, each of which he chooses to bring to the fore at different moments’ (p. 158).
Kathleen López disparages working-class anti-Chinese protests due to wage competition and morality; her criticism of anti-Chinese sentiment targets elite and political campaigns which use outlandish accusations and generalisations. It would be more useful but more challenging to focus on working-class complaints. Nicola Foote uses press reports and diplomatic archives to claim black Caribbean migrants were excluded from nation-building projects due to their race. She alleges racism where it might not exist; for example, when blacks from Trinidad and Curaçao were considered ‘prejudicial to the tranquillity of the territory’ due to their service in landowners’ private armies. Venezuelan history and the violent role of private expeditions launched from Trinidad and Curaçao suggest this is probably true.
Michael Goebel recreates the environment in Argentina in 1927: a ‘materialistic melting pot in which social ascent meant everything’ (p. 239). Any analysis of immigration and assimilation needs to understand this, especially in today's climate.
Steven Hyland's chapter needs a significant grasp of Middle Eastern history to enjoy.
The volume is a selection of individual cases not a comprehensive study but it significantly adds to the scant literature on the interplay of immigration, nation building and nationalism. It confirms that neither immigrant nor native ‘communities’ really exist; on both sides elites and workers are polarised. Contributors largely research the elite and institutionalised sectors of the ‘community’ which is easier due to records and archives and elite accessibility. Conversations with actual working-class immigrants are sadly lacking.
Working-class native populations are generally dismissed as uncultured xenophobes with no economic awareness, worthless jobs and unimportant businesses who are easily manipulated by eugenicist elites and populist politicians. They and their interests are excluded from this volume apart when being criticised as xenophobes.
The topic is fascinating; several contributions are thought-provoking and stimulating while others are frustrating. I read every word and was frequently struck by the similarities with today's situation and debates and how our analysis has not moved forward.
It is a middle-class book written for a middle-class audience offering a partial view of a complex and controversial topic. It is no less valuable for that but I am waiting for its companion working-class volume written for a working-class audience.
