Inmigración y racismo: contribuciones a la historia de los extranjeros en México ed. by Pablo Yankelevich (review)
Coordinated by Pablo Yankelevich, this collection constitutes a significant step in the scholarship of immigrant communities in Mexico and Latin America. The volume presents a myriad of contributions with wide variations in focus, disciplinary field, and scope. The first two essays analyze immigration laws, institutional racism, eugenics and Pan-American ideologies in Latin America. David Scott-Fitzgerald and David CookMartin provide a detailed view of the legal context for the arrival of immigrant waves into the region, while Andrés Reggiani focuses on the ideological debates and policies shaping the intersections of eugenics, immigration, and population growth. Both essays contribute to the general understanding of immigration policies that implementing racial and ethnic hierarchies among European and non-European immigrants, as well as between Christians and non-Christians. By “choosing” to interpret policies to privilege one group above another, countries in the region ultimately shaped their immigration laws on universal principles, at the same time implementing their policies with selective enforcement according to racial hierarchies and ideals of the nation-state.