Unequal Freedom : How Race and Gender Shaped American Citizenship and Labor

The inequalities that persist in America have deep historical roots. Evelyn Nakano Glenn untangles this complex history in a unique comparative regional study from the end of Reconstruction to the eve of World War II. During this era the country experienced enormous social and economic changes with the abolition of slavery, rapid territorial expansion, and massive immigration, and struggled over the meaning of free labor and the essence of citizenship as people who previously had been excluded sought the promise of economic freedom and full political rights. After a lucid overview of the concepts of the free worker and the independent citizen at the national level, Glenn vividly details how race and gender issues framed the struggle over labor and citizenship rights at the local level between blacks and whites in the South, Mexicans and Anglos in the Southwest, and Asians and haoles (the white planter class) in Hawaii. She illuminates the complex interplay of local and national forces in American society and provides a dynamic view of how labor and citizenship were defined, enforced, and contested in a formative era for white-nonwhite relations in America.

Glenn (ethnic and women's studies, U. of California at Berkeley) studies the complex history of the inequalities that exist in America with a comparative regional study from the end of Reconstruction to the eve of World War II. Following an overview of the concepts of the free worker and the independent citizen at the national level, she reveals the interplay between local and national forces and discusses how race and gender issues influenced the struggle over labor and citizenship rights at the local level between blacks and whites in the South, Mexicans and Anglos in the Southwest, and Asians and white planters in Hawaii. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

K. Fones-Wolf - Choice

Although the US has long professed its commitment to universal equality, it remains a society in which gender and race limit opportunities. By exploring the operation of citizenship and labor, Glenn...seeks to explain the persistence of inequality in US society. She provides a comparative analysis of the interaction of racial and gender relations in three settings: the South, the Southwest, and Hawaii. Each of these regions used race and gender hierarchies to structure labor markets and define citizenship to exclude segments of the labor force from the benefits of educational opportunities and political rights...This important, multifaceted analysis interweaves gender, race, and class in an innovative approach that is sensitive to various facets of citizenship as well as to formal and informal methods of exclusion. Glenn moves easily between national structures and local dynamics, drawing attention to the "multiple levels at which efforts for change are needed" if the US is to live up to its promise of universal equality. Highly recommended.

"The inequalities that persist in America have deep historical roots. Evelyn Nakano Glenn untangles this complex history in a unique comparative regional study from the end of Reconstruction to the eve of World War II. During this era the country experienced enormous social and economic changes with the abolition of slavery, rapid territorial expansion, and massive immigration, and struggled over the meaning of free labor and the essence of citizenship as people who previously had been excluded sought the promise of economic freedom and full political rights. After an overview of the concepts of the free worker and the independent citizen at the national level, Glenn vividly details how race and gender issues framed the struggle over labor and citizenship rights at the local level between blacks and whites in the South, Mexicans and Anglos in the Southwest, and Asians and haoles (white planters) in Hawaii. She illuminates the complex interplay of local and national forces in American society and provides a dynamic view of how labor and citizenship were defined, enforced, and contested in a formative era for white-nonwhite relations in America"--Book jacket (hardcover edition)