Synopses & Reviews
In the spring of 2006, millions of immigrants and supporters organized in cities and small towns across the United States to defend their rights following the passage of HR4437, a bill designed to punish unauthorized immigrants. In an unprecedented show of force, tens of thousands of workers marched out of meatpacking plants, factories, restaurants, landscape businesses and stores, while students—many of them the US-born children of immigrants—staged school walkouts. Thousands also observed a one-day national consumer boycott to demonstrate the economic power of immigrant communities.
The spring 2006 mobilizations—and the ensuing backlash from anti-immigrant sectors—pushed the topic of immigration to the front and center of U.S. politics. Polls show the public increasingly divided, with the debate framed as a choice between “deport them all” and “give everyone amnesty.” But dialogue is possible when we dig deeper. Why are people leaving their homes? Why are they coming here? What is the impact of our current enforcement policies? What kinds of alternatives exist?
Backed with a wide range of cited sources, The Politics of Immigration tackles questions and concerns about immigration with compelling arguments and hard facts, laid out in straightforward language and an accessible question-and-answer format.
For immigrants and supporters, the book is an effective tool to confront common myths and misinformation. For teachers, it provides a useful framework on the current debate, and ample opportunities for students to reach out and explore the intersecting issues.
Those who believe immigrants steal jobs from citizens, drive down wages, strain public services, and threaten our culture will find such assumptions challenged here, while people who are undecided about immigration will find the solid data and clear reasoning they need to develop an informed opinion.
Review
"Eisenstein's lucid analysis is formed around the factual datum of the global cybereconomy, which even a cursory glance reveals as appallingly inequitable: 'Eighty-four percent of computer users are found in north america and northern europe.'" -Signs,
Review
“We desperately need to put aside false information about immigrants, to see them as we see ourselves with honesty and compassion. This book gives powerful meaning to the slogan 'No Human Being is Illegal.' I hope it will be widely read.”
-Howard Zinn,
Review
“In 2006, foreign nationals led the largest protests in the nation's history. As the immigrant rights movement grows in size and energy, we need quick facts and deep history. This encyclopedic book gives us both. Readers move in rapid fire from sanctuary and legalization to guestworker programs, raids and deportations. The argument is easy to follow, for families struggling to stay together and activists of all walks who are struggling to expose the issues.”
-Aarti Shahani,co-founder, Families for Freedom
Review
“Guskin and Wilson have written an excellent book about immigration politics, a very complex subject, in an accessible and provocative way. They use a question and answer format, which allows them to directly address some of the most heated issues in this national debate. They've done a great job of identifying these hot-button points, and go about undoing the stereotypes, misinformation and prejudice that paralyze rational thought about immigration policy. In the process, they break down complex sets of ideas into their component pieces, giving each one its own question. This book is a great reality check, a good teaching tool, and a powerful weapon against racism.”
-David Bacon,Photojournalist and trade unionist, author of Communities Without Borders: Images and Voices from the World of Migration
Synopsis
The New York Times devotes the cover of its magazine to America's declining interest in politics and its obsession with money, finance, and the markets. Bill Gates builds a $50 million mansion while food pantries and homeless shelters overflow with the desperate. The explosive expansion of media and cyber conglomerates creates dreamworlds while the ecology of our actual world is jeopardized. Public space and public democracy withers, as is evidenced by the fact that the closest facsimile of a town square is the local Barnes and Noble.
New geographies of power are defined by sex scandals, plant closings, cyberporn, sweatshop labor, information webs, and stock market schizophrenia. Global capitalism and its cyberrelations use this chaos to construct modern forms of sexual and racial exploitation.
Into this world steps Zillah Eisenstein, with a book of profound despair and yet also great hope, informed by her trademark sharp analysis and her unrelenting passion for a more humane world. Exposing the purported democratic effect of new media for the global mirage it is, Eisenstein shows how transnational capital and its patriarchal obsessions threaten us all, while at the same time creating possibilities for a new democratic society.
About the Author
Jane Guskin is the co-editors of
Weekly News Update on the Americas. Guskin also edits
Immigration New Briefs. Guskin produced a widely circulated immigrant rights flier entitled “What's So Wrong About Immigration?” Her essay “The Case for Open Borders” was published in
Melting Point or Boiling Point? The Issues of Immigration.
David L. Wilsonis the co-editors of Weekly News Update on the Americas. Wilsons articles on Latin American issues have appeared in many publications including Monthly Review Press