So Far from Allah, So Close to Mexico

So Far from Allah, So Close to Mexico

Author: Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2009-06-03

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 0292784317

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Middle Eastern immigration to Mexico is one of the intriguing, untold stories in the history of both regions. In So Far from Allah, So Close to Mexico, Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp presents the fascinating findings of her extensive fieldwork in Mexico as well as in Lebanon and Syria, which included comprehensive data collection from more than 8,000 original immigration cards as well as studies of decades of legal publications and the collection of historiographies from descendents of Middle Eastern immigrants living in Mexico today. Adding an important chapter to studies of the Arab diaspora, Alfaro-Velcamp's study shows that political instability in both Mexico and the Middle East kept many from fulfilling their dreams of returning to their countries of origin after realizing wealth in Mexico, in a few cases drawing on an imagined Phoenician past to create a class of economically powerful Lebanese Mexicans. She also explores the repercussions of xenophobia in Mexico, the effect of religious differences, and the impact of key events such as the Mexican Revolution. Challenging the post-revolutionary definitions of mexicanidad and exposing new aspects of the often contradictory attitudes of Mexicans toward foreigners, So Far from Allah, So Close to Mexico should spark timely dialogues regarding race and ethnicity, and the essence of Mexican citizenship.


Book Synopsis So Far from Allah, So Close to Mexico by : Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp

Download or read book So Far from Allah, So Close to Mexico written by Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2009-06-03 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Middle Eastern immigration to Mexico is one of the intriguing, untold stories in the history of both regions. In So Far from Allah, So Close to Mexico, Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp presents the fascinating findings of her extensive fieldwork in Mexico as well as in Lebanon and Syria, which included comprehensive data collection from more than 8,000 original immigration cards as well as studies of decades of legal publications and the collection of historiographies from descendents of Middle Eastern immigrants living in Mexico today. Adding an important chapter to studies of the Arab diaspora, Alfaro-Velcamp's study shows that political instability in both Mexico and the Middle East kept many from fulfilling their dreams of returning to their countries of origin after realizing wealth in Mexico, in a few cases drawing on an imagined Phoenician past to create a class of economically powerful Lebanese Mexicans. She also explores the repercussions of xenophobia in Mexico, the effect of religious differences, and the impact of key events such as the Mexican Revolution. Challenging the post-revolutionary definitions of mexicanidad and exposing new aspects of the often contradictory attitudes of Mexicans toward foreigners, So Far from Allah, So Close to Mexico should spark timely dialogues regarding race and ethnicity, and the essence of Mexican citizenship.


Forging Ties, Forging Passports

Forging Ties, Forging Passports

Author: Devi Mays

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2020-08-25

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 1503613224

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Forging Ties, Forging Passports is a history of migration and nation-building from the vantage point of those who lived between states. Devi Mays traces the histories of Ottoman Sephardi Jews who emigrated to the Americas—and especially to Mexico—in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the complex relationships they maintained to legal documentation as they migrated and settled into new homes. Mays considers the shifting notions of belonging, nationality, and citizenship through the stories of individual women, men, and families who navigated these transitions in their everyday lives, as well as through the paperwork they carried. In the aftermath of World War I and the Mexican Revolution, migrants traversed new layers of bureaucracy and authority amid shifting political regimes as they crossed and were crossed by borders. Ottoman Sephardi migrants in Mexico resisted unequivocal classification as either Ottoman expatriates or Mexicans through their links to the Sephardi diaspora in formerly Ottoman lands, France, Cuba, and the United States. By making use of commercial and familial networks, these Sephardi migrants maintained a geographic and social mobility that challenged the physical borders of the state and the conceptual boundaries of the nation.


Book Synopsis Forging Ties, Forging Passports by : Devi Mays

Download or read book Forging Ties, Forging Passports written by Devi Mays and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forging Ties, Forging Passports is a history of migration and nation-building from the vantage point of those who lived between states. Devi Mays traces the histories of Ottoman Sephardi Jews who emigrated to the Americas—and especially to Mexico—in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the complex relationships they maintained to legal documentation as they migrated and settled into new homes. Mays considers the shifting notions of belonging, nationality, and citizenship through the stories of individual women, men, and families who navigated these transitions in their everyday lives, as well as through the paperwork they carried. In the aftermath of World War I and the Mexican Revolution, migrants traversed new layers of bureaucracy and authority amid shifting political regimes as they crossed and were crossed by borders. Ottoman Sephardi migrants in Mexico resisted unequivocal classification as either Ottoman expatriates or Mexicans through their links to the Sephardi diaspora in formerly Ottoman lands, France, Cuba, and the United States. By making use of commercial and familial networks, these Sephardi migrants maintained a geographic and social mobility that challenged the physical borders of the state and the conceptual boundaries of the nation.


Los Arabes of New Mexico

Los Arabes of New Mexico

Author: Monika Ghattas

Publisher: Sunstone Press

Published: 2016-09-05

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 1611394783

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At the outset, Los Arabes (Arabic-speaking individuals) were peddlers, carrying a variety of wares that often included exotic items from the Holy Land. These skilled cross-cultural traders expected to strike it rich in the United States and then return to


Book Synopsis Los Arabes of New Mexico by : Monika Ghattas

Download or read book Los Arabes of New Mexico written by Monika Ghattas and published by Sunstone Press. This book was released on 2016-09-05 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the outset, Los Arabes (Arabic-speaking individuals) were peddlers, carrying a variety of wares that often included exotic items from the Holy Land. These skilled cross-cultural traders expected to strike it rich in the United States and then return to


Between the Middle East and the Americas

Between the Middle East and the Americas

Author: Evelyn Alsultany

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 2013-02-12

Total Pages: 347

ISBN-13: 0472069446

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Perceptions of the Middle East in conflicting discourses from North America, South America, and Europe


Book Synopsis Between the Middle East and the Americas by : Evelyn Alsultany

Download or read book Between the Middle East and the Americas written by Evelyn Alsultany and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2013-02-12 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perceptions of the Middle East in conflicting discourses from North America, South America, and Europe


Paisanos Chinos

Paisanos Chinos

Author: Fredy González

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2017-05-16

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 0520290194

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Cover -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Language and Usage -- Introduction -- 1. Mexico for the Mexicans, China for the Chinese: Political Upheaval and the Anti-Chinese Campaigns in Postrevolutionary Sonora and Sinaloa -- 2. Those Who Remained and Those Who Returned: Resistance, Migration, and Diplomacy during the Anti-Chinese Campaigns -- 3. We Won't Be Bullied Anymore: The Chinese Community in Mexico during the Second World War -- 4. The Golden Age of Chinese Mexicans: Anti-Communist Activism under Ambassador Feng-Shan Ho, 1958-1964 -- 5. The Cold War Comes to Chinatown: Chinese Mexicans Caught between Beijing and Taipei, 1955-1971 -- 6. A New China, a New Community -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z


Book Synopsis Paisanos Chinos by : Fredy González

Download or read book Paisanos Chinos written by Fredy González and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2017-05-16 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cover -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Language and Usage -- Introduction -- 1. Mexico for the Mexicans, China for the Chinese: Political Upheaval and the Anti-Chinese Campaigns in Postrevolutionary Sonora and Sinaloa -- 2. Those Who Remained and Those Who Returned: Resistance, Migration, and Diplomacy during the Anti-Chinese Campaigns -- 3. We Won't Be Bullied Anymore: The Chinese Community in Mexico during the Second World War -- 4. The Golden Age of Chinese Mexicans: Anti-Communist Activism under Ambassador Feng-Shan Ho, 1958-1964 -- 5. The Cold War Comes to Chinatown: Chinese Mexicans Caught between Beijing and Taipei, 1955-1971 -- 6. A New China, a New Community -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z


Routledge Handbook of Islam in the West

Routledge Handbook of Islam in the West

Author: Roberto Tottoli

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-02-22

Total Pages: 556

ISBN-13: 0429556381

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With new topics and contributions, this updated second edition discusses the history and contemporary presence of Islam in Europe and America. The book debates the relevance and multi-faceted participation of Muslims in the dynamics of Western societies, challenging the changing perception on both sides. Collating over 30 chapters, written by experts from around the world, the volume presents a wide range of perspectives. Case studies from the Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula between the Middle Ages and the modern age set off the Handbook, along with an outline of Muslims in America up to the twentieth century. The second part covers concepts around new conditions in terms of consolidating identities, the emergence of new Muslim actors, the appearance of institutions and institutional attitudes, the effects of Islamic presence on the arts and landscapes of the West, and the relational dynamics like ethics and gender. Exploring the influence of Islam, particularly its impact on society, culture and politics, this interdisciplinary volume is a key resource for policymakers, academics and students interested in the history of Islam, religion and the contemporary relationship between Islam and the West.


Book Synopsis Routledge Handbook of Islam in the West by : Roberto Tottoli

Download or read book Routledge Handbook of Islam in the West written by Roberto Tottoli and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-02-22 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With new topics and contributions, this updated second edition discusses the history and contemporary presence of Islam in Europe and America. The book debates the relevance and multi-faceted participation of Muslims in the dynamics of Western societies, challenging the changing perception on both sides. Collating over 30 chapters, written by experts from around the world, the volume presents a wide range of perspectives. Case studies from the Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula between the Middle Ages and the modern age set off the Handbook, along with an outline of Muslims in America up to the twentieth century. The second part covers concepts around new conditions in terms of consolidating identities, the emergence of new Muslim actors, the appearance of institutions and institutional attitudes, the effects of Islamic presence on the arts and landscapes of the West, and the relational dynamics like ethics and gender. Exploring the influence of Islam, particularly its impact on society, culture and politics, this interdisciplinary volume is a key resource for policymakers, academics and students interested in the history of Islam, religion and the contemporary relationship between Islam and the West.


Turkish Jews and their Diasporas

Turkish Jews and their Diasporas

Author: Kerem Öktem

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-04-12

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 3030877981

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This book introduces the reader to the past and present of Jewish life in Turkey and to Turkish Jewish diaspora communities in Israel, Europe, Latin America and the United States. It surveys the history of Jews in the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic, examining the survival of Jewish communities during the dissolution of the empire and their emigration to America, Europe, and Israel. In the cases discussed, members of these communities often sought and seek close connections with Turkey, even if those ‘ties that bind’ are rarely reciprocated by Turkish governments. Contributors also explore Turkish Jewishness today, as it is lived in Israel and Turkey, and as found in ‘places of memory’ in many cities in Turkey, where Jews no longer exist today.


Book Synopsis Turkish Jews and their Diasporas by : Kerem Öktem

Download or read book Turkish Jews and their Diasporas written by Kerem Öktem and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-04-12 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book introduces the reader to the past and present of Jewish life in Turkey and to Turkish Jewish diaspora communities in Israel, Europe, Latin America and the United States. It surveys the history of Jews in the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic, examining the survival of Jewish communities during the dissolution of the empire and their emigration to America, Europe, and Israel. In the cases discussed, members of these communities often sought and seek close connections with Turkey, even if those ‘ties that bind’ are rarely reciprocated by Turkish governments. Contributors also explore Turkish Jewishness today, as it is lived in Israel and Turkey, and as found in ‘places of memory’ in many cities in Turkey, where Jews no longer exist today.


Journeys to the United Mexican States

Journeys to the United Mexican States

Author: Kalman Dubov

Publisher: Kalman Dubov

Published: 2022-06-22

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13:

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Mexico's history reaches back 4,000 years, beginning with the Olmecs who lived in the Yucatan Peninsula. That remarkable civilization created those huge stone heads with developments that spearheaded and vitalized every subsequent Mesoamerican civilization that followed. The Olmecs, and the Maya, who succeeded them, created the concept of zero, an incredible development in mathematical computation. This book begins with the Olmecs, tracing successor civilizations to the last Mesoamerican Empire, the Aztecs. I describe Aztec life, ritual, cuisine, and development until, in August 1521, this civilization was conquered by Spanish conquistadors. Much of the Aztecs, their people, and royalty are known today by way of Spanish ethnographers and historians who authored codices writing and describing what they saw even as that civilization was changed. That change was permanent. Aztec ritual and its polytheism were altered by Spanish missionaries and enforced by the Inquisition. From 1521 until 1821, Spanish Colonial authorities imposed forced labor in varying forms. Colonialism was overthrown in 1821, and Mexico now entered a new era. This book describes those changes as well as the challenges the government today faces in addressing many disparities in its policies. Healthcare challenges, with systemic poverty as well as the drug war preoccupies much energy in the government's efforts to address them. Mexico also has a large Jewish population whose history was marked by secrecy and Spanish efforts to eradicate this ancient religion. Today's Zocalo, in the heart of Centro Historico, was the place where Jews were burned to death in public admonition against Jewish practice. Another site for such death was the nearby ex-Convento of San Diego, opposite the Grand Palace de Belles Artes. Today's Jews are thriving, and Mexico-Israel relations are strong. This book would not be complete without describing my visits to the country. In My Visit, I describe the different ports I visited while aboard cruise ships. But many more months in the country were spent in San Miguel de Allende and in Mexico City. I describe these visits, their people, and the many nuances of Mexican life. The Mexican constitution recognizes 69 ethnic languages and speakers who are scattered but who primarily live in its southern states. Many ethnic languages are so diverse, that their dialects are unintelligible to the same language group. Language creates the core bonds of society and such multiplicity provides insight into the huge diversity of identity and of life in Mexico. This book is the 14th in the Journey series and is my first book on the American continent. I hope I have done justice to the vast complexity of this society.


Book Synopsis Journeys to the United Mexican States by : Kalman Dubov

Download or read book Journeys to the United Mexican States written by Kalman Dubov and published by Kalman Dubov. This book was released on 2022-06-22 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mexico's history reaches back 4,000 years, beginning with the Olmecs who lived in the Yucatan Peninsula. That remarkable civilization created those huge stone heads with developments that spearheaded and vitalized every subsequent Mesoamerican civilization that followed. The Olmecs, and the Maya, who succeeded them, created the concept of zero, an incredible development in mathematical computation. This book begins with the Olmecs, tracing successor civilizations to the last Mesoamerican Empire, the Aztecs. I describe Aztec life, ritual, cuisine, and development until, in August 1521, this civilization was conquered by Spanish conquistadors. Much of the Aztecs, their people, and royalty are known today by way of Spanish ethnographers and historians who authored codices writing and describing what they saw even as that civilization was changed. That change was permanent. Aztec ritual and its polytheism were altered by Spanish missionaries and enforced by the Inquisition. From 1521 until 1821, Spanish Colonial authorities imposed forced labor in varying forms. Colonialism was overthrown in 1821, and Mexico now entered a new era. This book describes those changes as well as the challenges the government today faces in addressing many disparities in its policies. Healthcare challenges, with systemic poverty as well as the drug war preoccupies much energy in the government's efforts to address them. Mexico also has a large Jewish population whose history was marked by secrecy and Spanish efforts to eradicate this ancient religion. Today's Zocalo, in the heart of Centro Historico, was the place where Jews were burned to death in public admonition against Jewish practice. Another site for such death was the nearby ex-Convento of San Diego, opposite the Grand Palace de Belles Artes. Today's Jews are thriving, and Mexico-Israel relations are strong. This book would not be complete without describing my visits to the country. In My Visit, I describe the different ports I visited while aboard cruise ships. But many more months in the country were spent in San Miguel de Allende and in Mexico City. I describe these visits, their people, and the many nuances of Mexican life. The Mexican constitution recognizes 69 ethnic languages and speakers who are scattered but who primarily live in its southern states. Many ethnic languages are so diverse, that their dialects are unintelligible to the same language group. Language creates the core bonds of society and such multiplicity provides insight into the huge diversity of identity and of life in Mexico. This book is the 14th in the Journey series and is my first book on the American continent. I hope I have done justice to the vast complexity of this society.


A Camera in the Garden of Eden

A Camera in the Garden of Eden

Author: Kevin Coleman

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2016-02-23

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 1477308555

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In the early twentieth century, the Boston-based United Fruit Company controlled the production, distribution, and marketing of bananas, the most widely consumed fresh fruit in North America. So great was the company’s power that it challenged the sovereignty of the Latin American and Caribbean countries in which it operated, giving rise to the notion of company-dominated “banana republics.” In A Camera in the Garden of Eden, Kevin Coleman argues that the “banana republic” was an imperial constellation of images and practices that was checked and contested by ordinary Central Americans. Drawing on a trove of images from four enormous visual archives and a wealth of internal company memos, literary works, immigration records, and declassified US government telegrams, Coleman explores how banana plantation workers, women, and peasants used photography to forge new ways of being while also visually asserting their rights as citizens. He tells a dramatic story of the founding of the Honduran town of El Progreso, where the United Fruit Company had one of its main divisional offices, the rise of the company now known as Chiquita, and a sixty-nine day strike in which banana workers declared their independence from neocolonial domination. In telling this story, Coleman develops a new set of conceptual tools and methods for using images to open up fresh understandings of the past, offering a model that is applicable far beyond this pathfinding study.


Book Synopsis A Camera in the Garden of Eden by : Kevin Coleman

Download or read book A Camera in the Garden of Eden written by Kevin Coleman and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2016-02-23 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early twentieth century, the Boston-based United Fruit Company controlled the production, distribution, and marketing of bananas, the most widely consumed fresh fruit in North America. So great was the company’s power that it challenged the sovereignty of the Latin American and Caribbean countries in which it operated, giving rise to the notion of company-dominated “banana republics.” In A Camera in the Garden of Eden, Kevin Coleman argues that the “banana republic” was an imperial constellation of images and practices that was checked and contested by ordinary Central Americans. Drawing on a trove of images from four enormous visual archives and a wealth of internal company memos, literary works, immigration records, and declassified US government telegrams, Coleman explores how banana plantation workers, women, and peasants used photography to forge new ways of being while also visually asserting their rights as citizens. He tells a dramatic story of the founding of the Honduran town of El Progreso, where the United Fruit Company had one of its main divisional offices, the rise of the company now known as Chiquita, and a sixty-nine day strike in which banana workers declared their independence from neocolonial domination. In telling this story, Coleman develops a new set of conceptual tools and methods for using images to open up fresh understandings of the past, offering a model that is applicable far beyond this pathfinding study.


Liminal Sovereignty

Liminal Sovereignty

Author: Rebecca Janzen

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 2018-08-27

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1438471033

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Uses cultural representations to investigate how two religious minority communities came to be incorporated into the Mexican nation. Liminal Sovereignty examines the lives of two religious minority communities in Mexico, Mennonites and Mormons, as seen through Mexican culture. Mennonites emigrated from Canada to Mexico from the 1920s to the 1940s, and Mormons emigrated from the United States in the 1880s, left in 1912, and returned in the 1920s. Rebecca Janzen focuses on representations of these groups in film, television, online comics, photography, and legal documents. Janzen argues that perceptions of Mennonites and Mormons—groups on the margins and borders of Mexican society—illustrate broader trends in Mexican history. The government granted both communities significant exceptions to national laws to encourage them to immigrate; she argues that these foreshadow what is today called the Mexican state of exception. The groups’ inclusion into the Mexican nation shows that post-Revolutionary Mexico was flexible with its central tenets of land reform and building a mestizo race. Janzen uses minority communities at the periphery to give us a new understanding of the Mexican nation. “This subject matter has never been studied in this fashion before, nor with such theoretical sophistication. Not only is the book compelling, but it’s also illuminating.” — Pedro A. Palou, Tufts University


Book Synopsis Liminal Sovereignty by : Rebecca Janzen

Download or read book Liminal Sovereignty written by Rebecca Janzen and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2018-08-27 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Uses cultural representations to investigate how two religious minority communities came to be incorporated into the Mexican nation. Liminal Sovereignty examines the lives of two religious minority communities in Mexico, Mennonites and Mormons, as seen through Mexican culture. Mennonites emigrated from Canada to Mexico from the 1920s to the 1940s, and Mormons emigrated from the United States in the 1880s, left in 1912, and returned in the 1920s. Rebecca Janzen focuses on representations of these groups in film, television, online comics, photography, and legal documents. Janzen argues that perceptions of Mennonites and Mormons—groups on the margins and borders of Mexican society—illustrate broader trends in Mexican history. The government granted both communities significant exceptions to national laws to encourage them to immigrate; she argues that these foreshadow what is today called the Mexican state of exception. The groups’ inclusion into the Mexican nation shows that post-Revolutionary Mexico was flexible with its central tenets of land reform and building a mestizo race. Janzen uses minority communities at the periphery to give us a new understanding of the Mexican nation. “This subject matter has never been studied in this fashion before, nor with such theoretical sophistication. Not only is the book compelling, but it’s also illuminating.” — Pedro A. Palou, Tufts University