The Making of Japanese Settler Colonialism: Malthusianism and Trans-Pacific Migration, 1868–1961 (Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University)

This innovative study demonstrates how Japanese empire-builders invented and appropriated the discourse of overpopulation to justify Japanese settler colonialism across the Pacific. Lu defines this overpopulation discourse as 'Malthusian expansionism'. This was a set of ideas that demanded additional land abroad to accommodate the supposed surplus people in domestic society on the one hand and emphasized the necessity of national population growth on the other. Lu delineates ideological ties, human connections and institutional continuities between Japanese colonial migration in Asia and Japanese migration to Hawaii and North and South America from 1868 to 1961. He further places Malthusian expansionism at the center of the logic of modern settler colonialism, challenging the conceptual division between migration and settler colonialism in global history. This title is also available as Open Access. Cover Half-title page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Note on Names, Terms, and Translations Introduction: Malthusian Expansion and Settler Colonialism Part I Emergence, 1868–1894 Chapter 1 From Hokkaido to California: The Birth of Malthusian Expansionism in Modern Japan Chapter 2 Population and Racial Struggle: The South Seas, Hawaiʻi, and Latin America Part II Transformation, 1894–1924 Chapter 3 Commoners of Empire: Labor Migration to the United States Chapter 4 Farming Rice in Texas: The Paradigm Shift Chapter 5 “Carrying the White Man’s Burden”: The Rise of Farmer Migration to Brazil Part III Culmination, 1924–1945 Chapter 6 Making the Migration State: Malthusian Expansionism and Agrarianism Chapter 7 The Illusion of Coexistence and Coprosperity: Settler Colonialism in Brazil and Manchuria Part IV Resurgence, 1945–1961 Chapter 8 The Birth of a “Small” Japan: Postwar Migration to South America Conclusion: Rethinking Migration and Settler Colonialism in the Modern World Bibliography Index "This innovative study demonstrates how Japanese empire-builders invented and appropriated the discourse of overpopulation to justify Japanese settler colonialism across the Pacific. Lu defines this overpopulation discourse as 'Malthusian expansionism'. This was a set of ideas that demanded additional land abroad to accommodate the supposed surplus people in domestic society on the one hand and emphasized the necessity of national population growth on the other. Lu delineates ideological ties, human connections and institutional continuities between Japanese colonial migration in Asia and Japanese migration to Hawaii and North and South America from 1868 to 1961. He further places Malthusian expansionism at the center of the logic of modern settler colonialism, challenging the conceptual division between migration and settler colonialism in global history"-- Provided by publisher