Race for Empire offers a profound and challenging reinterpretation of nationalism, racism, and wartime mobilization during the Asia-Pacific war. In parallel case studies—of Japanese Americans mobilized to serve in the United States Army and of Koreans recruited or drafted into the Japanese military—T. Fujitani examines the U.S. and Japanese empires as they struggled to manage racialized populations while waging total war. Fujitani probes governmental policies and analyzes representations of these soldiers—on film, in literature, and in archival documents—to reveal how characteristics of racism, nationalism, capitalism, gender politics, and the family changed on both sides. He demonstrates that the United States and Japan became increasingly alike over the course of the war, perhaps most tellingly in their common attempts to disavow racism even as they reproduced it in new ways and forms.
T. Fujitani is the Dr. David Chu Professor in Asia-Pacific Studies and Professor of History at the University of Toronto. He is the editor of Perilous Memories: The Asia Pacific War(s) and is the author of Splendid Monarchy: Power and Pageantry in Modern Japan (UC Press).
“This is one of the finest studies to appear in the field of East Asian studies in recent years. In this highly readable book, Fujitani offers superior thinking and analysis on race relations, empire, and wartime collaboration with the enemy.” —Bruce Cumings, University of Chicago
“Pushing against national archives and historiographies and linguistic and disciplinary formations, Race for Empire is a singular, remarkable achievement.” —Gary Y. Okihiro, author of Pineapple Culture: A History of the Tropical and Temperate Zones
“Race for Empire offers a profound and thought-provoking re-interpretation. Through excellent use of a wide range of material, Fujitani presents a meticulously researched analysis. This is a milestone in the study of wartime Japan and the U.S.” —Teresa Morris-Suzuki, author of Borderline Japan: Foreigners and Frontier Controls in the Postwar Era
520 pp.6 x 9Illus: 23 b/w photographs, 2 maps, 6 tables
9780520262232$85.00|£71.00Hardcover
Nov 2011