| Summary: | Recognizing the centrality of race in US immigration and ethnic history--what is known as the field's "racial turn"--has been advocated, applauded, and globalized; but it has yet to be examined from a theoretical perspective. To better understand the appeal and limitations of the field's race-centered analysis, historians can profit from studying the contemporary development of race theory, as well as the revisionism against it. There is a vigorous debate among social scientists about the significance of race. This article addresses this debate, especially from the revisionist side. In so doing, it highlights revisionist Andreas Wimmer's model of ethnic boundary making, and explores its insights for the study of Japanese American internment during World War II.
|
|---|