New destinations of empire : mobilities, racial geographies, and citizenship in the transpacific United States / Emily Mitchell-Eaton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mitchell-Eaton, Emily, 1983- author.

Series:

Geographies of justice and social transformation ; 64.

Geographies of justice and social transformation ; 64

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Marshall Islands. Treaties, etc--United States, 1983 June 25--Protocols, etc., 2003 April 30.

Marshall Islands.

Imperialism--Government policy--United States--History.

Imperialism.

Refugees--Arkansas--Springdale.

Refugees.

Emigration and immigration--Social aspects.

Emigration and immigration.

Emigration and immigration--Political aspects.

Marshallese--Arkansas--Springdale.

Marshallese.

Springdale (Ark.)--Social conditions.

Springdale (Ark.).

Arkansas--Emigration and immigration.

Arkansas.

Physical Description:

xvi, 239 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Athens : The University of Georgia Press, [2024]

Summary:

"In 1986, the Compact of Free Association marked the formal end of U.S. colonialism in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, while simultaneously re-entrenching imperial power dynamics between the two countries. The U.S.-RMI Compact at once enshrined exclusive U.S. military access to the islands and established the right of 'visa-free' migration to the U.S. for Marshallese citizens, creating a Marshallese diaspora whose largest population resettled in the seemingly unlikely destination of Springdale, Arkansas. An 'all-white town' by design for much of the 20th century, Springdale has been remade by Marshallese as well as Latinx immigration, having nearly quadrupled in size since 1980. Through ethnographic, policy-based, and archival research in Guåhan, Saipan, Hawai'i, Arkansas, and Washington, D.C., New Destinations of Empire tells the story of these place-based transformations, revealing how U.S. empire both enables and constrains mobility for its subjects, shaping migrants' experiences of racialization, citizenship, and belonging in new destinations of empire. In examining two spatial processes-imperialism and migration-together, Mitchell-Eaton reveals connections and flows between presumably distant, 'remote' sites like Arkansas and the Marshall Islands, showing them to be central to the U.S.'s most urgent political issues: immigration, racial justice, militarization, and decolonization"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Mapping imperial migrations from the Pacific to the United States

How "free" is freely associated statehood? The compact of free association and its colonial past

"We are here because you were there": War, labor, migration, and empire in the natural state

"Of all places!": Springdale, Arkansas, as a new destination of empire

"No such thing as an illegal Marshallese": COFA status as imperial citizenship

New transpacific destinations and the future of imperial mobilities.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780820366340

082036634X

9780820366913

0820366919

OCLC:

1430986454