Rachel Buff's innovative study of festivals in two American communities launches a substantive inquiry into the nature of citizenship; race; and social power. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork as well as archival research; Buff compares American Indian powwows in Minneapolis with the West Indian American Day Carnival in New York. She demonstrates the historical; theoretical; and cultural links between two groups who are rarely thought of together and in so doing illuminates our understanding of the meaning of home and citizenship in the post-World War II period. The book also follows the history of federal Indian and immigration policy in this period; tracing the ways that migrant and immigrant identities are created by both national boundaries and transnational cultural memory.In addition to offering fascinating discussions of these lively and colorful festivals; Buff shows that their importance is not just as a form of performance or entertainment; but also as crucial sites for making and remaking meanings about group history and survival. Cultural performances for both groups contain a history of resistance to colonial oppression; but they also change and creatively respond to the experiences of migration and the forces of the global mass-culture industry.Accessible and engaging; Immigration and the Political Economy of Home addresses crucial contemporary issues. Powwow culture and carnival culture emerge as vital; dynamic sites that are central not only to the formation of American Indian and West Indian identities; but also to the understanding modern America itself: the history of its institution of citizenship; its postwar cities; and the nature of metropolitan culture.
#1252558 in Books Thomas A Tweed 1997-01-05 1997-01-05Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x .75 x 6.00l; 1.12 #File Name: 0520205707321 pagesRetelling U S Religious History
Review
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful. rasier to read than AlbaneseBy Christinathis is a collection of stories of religion in America; easier to read than Albanese; just hold patience as most of the chapters can be long to get through9 of 10 people found the following review helpful. Facinating articles rethinking American religious history.By ebalch1@san.rr.comEnjoyable to read and up-to-date in scholarship; this is a collection of essays by leading American and Canadian authorities in the field of Religious Studies. Eight fascinating articles make the case for looking with fresh eyes at the classic anglocentric and Protestant orientation to studying religion in America. Of special interest are the essays by Roger Finke; Ann Braude; and Catherine Albanese. Sociologist Finke; also well known for his revealing book The Churching of America; 1776-1990; offers a supply-side market interpretation of the rise and decline of membership in American denominations; an approach which is much more fascinating; and persuasive; than it may sound. Ann Braude of Macalester College provides a much needed antidote to the practice of scholars who focus on the historical role of male religious leaders while ignoring the contributions of the female majority who constitute the backbone of religious institutions. She describes the different vision of religion which comes into focus when seen from the perspective of increasing participation by; and influence of; women rather than the declining involvement of men. Catherine Albanese; whose America: Religion and Religions; has been a staple of Religion in America courses for nearly two decades; is at her cogent best demonstrating that religion in America is not simply the result of the paternalistic influence of Protestantism on other faiths; but a reciprocal process of contact and change crossing many boundaries. This book is for the informed layperson as well as academics seeking to look with new eyes at an important subject.
