American Workers, Colonial Power: Philippine Seattle and the Transpacific West, 1919-1941

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Historically, Filipina/o Americans have been one of the oldest and largest Asian American groups in the United States. In this pathbreaking work of historical scholarship, Dorothy B. Fujita-Rony traces the evolution of Seattle as a major site for Philippine immigration between World Wars I and II and examines the dynamics of the community through the framework of race, place, gender, and class. By positing Seattle as a colonial metropolis for Filipina/os in the United States, Fujita-Rony reveals how networks of transpacific trade and militarism encouraged migration to the city, leading to the early establishment of a Filipina/o American community in the area. By the 1920s and 1930s, a vibrant Filipina/o American society had developed in Seattle, creating a culture in which members, including some who were not of Filipina/o descent, chose to pursue options in the U.S. or in the Philippines. Those interested in immigration, labor, and Asian American history, as well as the history of the U.S. West, will appreciate the author's extensive research, first-rate analysis, and extraordinary insight, deftly conveyed in concise and elegant prose.

Author Biography: Dorothy B. Fujita-Rony is Assistant Professor of the Asian American Studies Department and Affiliate to the History Department at the University of California, Irvine. She coedited Privileging Positions: The Sites of Asian American Studies (1995).