Eastwind Books of Berkeley
  • Home
  • Donate!
  • Events
    • Past Eastwind Events
    • Eastwind Book Club
  • Libraries For Liberation
  • Global Histories Graphic Novels
  • Textbooks
  • Celebrate Lunar New Year!
  • Distributed by Eastwind
  • Asian American Studies
    • Stop Asian Hate!
    • Chinese American Studies
    • Filipino American Studies
    • Japanese American Studies
    • Korean American Studies
    • South Asian American Studies
    • Southeast Asian American Studies
  • Asian American Literature
    • Chinese American Literature
    • Japanese American Literature
    • Korean American Literature
    • Filipinx American Literature
    • Southeast Asian American Literature
    • South Asian American Literature
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Ethnic Studies
    • African American Studies
    • Chicanx/Latinx Studies
    • Native American Studies
    • Pacific Islander Am. Studies
  • Ethnic Literature
    • African American Literature
    • Chicanx/Latinx Literature
    • Native American Literature
    • Pacific Islander Am. Listerature
  • Children & Young Readers
    • African American Children's Books
    • Chinese Children's Books
    • Filipino Children's Books
    • Japanese Children's Books
    • Korean Children's Books
    • South Asian Children's Books
    • Southeast Asian Children's Books
  • Poetry
    • African American Poetry
    • Chinese American Poetry
    • Japanese American Poetry
    • Korean American Poetry
    • Filipino American Poetry
    • Southeast Asian American Poetry
  • Graphic Novels
  • Food & Cook Books
  • Asia
    • Asian Fantasy & Sci Fi
  • Merchandise & Gifts
    • Eastwind Merchandise
    • Greeting Cards
    • Haruyo Knechtli Ceramics
      • Ceramics
    • Southeast Asian Art Prints
    • Journals & Notebooks
  • More Categories
    • Language Learning
      • Chinese
        • New Practical Chinese Reader Series
        • Integrated Chinese Series
      • Filipino
      • Thai
      • Vietnamese
    • Arts & Crafts/Art Supplies
    • Music
    • Film & Media
    • Martial Arts & Qigong
    • Medicine
    • Religion and Spirituality
    • Philosophy
    • Culture
    • History
      • Bay Area History
  • Used Books
    • USED non-fiction
  • About Us
    • Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    • Directions
  • Contact Us
    • FAQ
  • Recurring Monthly Donation
  • Category
  • Home
  • Donate!
  • Events
    • Past Eastwind Events
    • Eastwind Book Club
  • Libraries For Liberation
  • Global Histories Graphic Novels
  • Textbooks
  • Celebrate Lunar New Year!
  • Distributed by Eastwind
  • Asian American Studies
    • Stop Asian Hate!
    • Chinese American Studies
    • Filipino American Studies
    • Japanese American Studies
    • Korean American Studies
    • South Asian American Studies
    • Southeast Asian American Studies
  • Asian American Literature
    • Chinese American Literature
    • Japanese American Literature
    • Korean American Literature
    • Filipinx American Literature
    • Southeast Asian American Literature
    • South Asian American Literature
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Ethnic Studies
    • African American Studies
    • Chicanx/Latinx Studies
    • Native American Studies
    • Pacific Islander Am. Studies
  • Ethnic Literature
    • African American Literature
    • Chicanx/Latinx Literature
    • Native American Literature
    • Pacific Islander Am. Listerature
  • Children & Young Readers
    • African American Children's Books
    • Chinese Children's Books
    • Filipino Children's Books
    • Japanese Children's Books
    • Korean Children's Books
    • South Asian Children's Books
    • Southeast Asian Children's Books
  • Poetry
    • African American Poetry
    • Chinese American Poetry
    • Japanese American Poetry
    • Korean American Poetry
    • Filipino American Poetry
    • Southeast Asian American Poetry
  • Graphic Novels
  • Food & Cook Books
  • Asia
    • Asian Fantasy & Sci Fi
  • Merchandise & Gifts
    • Eastwind Merchandise
    • Greeting Cards
    • Haruyo Knechtli Ceramics
      • Ceramics
    • Southeast Asian Art Prints
    • Journals & Notebooks
  • More Categories
    • Language Learning
      • Chinese
        • New Practical Chinese Reader Series
        • Integrated Chinese Series
      • Filipino
      • Thai
      • Vietnamese
    • Arts & Crafts/Art Supplies
    • Music
    • Film & Media
    • Martial Arts & Qigong
    • Medicine
    • Religion and Spirituality
    • Philosophy
    • Culture
    • History
      • Bay Area History
  • Used Books
    • USED non-fiction
  • About Us
    • Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    • Directions
  • Contact Us
    • FAQ
  • Recurring Monthly Donation
  • Category
2066 University Ave. Berkeley, CA 94704

HOURS -
Mon: 11-6pm
Tues: 11-6pm
Wed: 11-6pm
Thurs: 11-6pm
Fri: 11-6pm
Sat: 11-6pm
Sun: 12-4pm
  • Asian American Literature
  • >
  • Chinese American Literature
  • >
  • The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics

The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics

SKU: 9780393634167
$30.00
$30.00
Unavailable
per item

Author: Mae Ngai

Publisher: W.W. Norton: 2021

Format: Hardcover; 464 Pages

Condition: New

ISBN: 9780393634167

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google+
2 available
Add to Cart
Description
In roughly five decades, between 1848 and 1899, more gold was removed from the earth than had been mined in the 3,000 preceding years, bringing untold wealth to individuals and nations. But friction between Chinese and white settlers on the goldfields of California, Australia, and South Africa catalyzed a global battle over "the Chinese Question" would the United States and the British Empire outlaw Chinese immigration?

This distinguished history of the Chinese diaspora and global capitalism chronicles how a feverish alchemy of race and money brought Chinese people to the West and reshaped the nineteenth-century world. Drawing on ten years of research across five continents, prize-winning historian Mae Ngai narrates the story of the thousands of Chinese who left their homeland in pursuit of gold, and how they formed communities and organizations to help navigate their perilous new world. Out of their encounters with whites, and the emigrants' assertion of autonomy and humanity, arose the pernicious western myth of the "coolie" laborer, a racist stereotype used to drive anti-Chinese sentiment.

By the turn of the twentieth century, the United States and the British Empire had answered "the Chinese Question" with laws that excluded Chinese people from immigration and citizenship. Ngai explains how this happened and argues that Chinese exclusion was not extraneous to the emergent global economy but an integral part of it. The Chinese Question masterfully links important themes in world history and economics, from Europe's subjugation of China to the rise of the international gold standard and the invention of racist, anti-Chinese stereotypes that persist to this day.

Author
Mae Ngai
 is Lung Family Professor Asian American Studies and a professor of history at Columbia University. She is the author of the award-winning book Impossible Subjects and The Lucky Ones, and lives in New York City and Accokeek, Maryland.

Review Quotes:

Ngai brilliantly reconstructs how race became woven into the fabric of international capitalism and wired into the politics of nations. A stunning, vivid, and indispensable history.--Gary Gerstle, University of Cambridge

Nowadays, anglophone nations ask anxious questions about Chinese ascendance. Based on prodigious research, Ngai's remarkable book reveals how these queries branch from an older Chinese Question.--Susan Lee Johnson, author of Roaring Camp

Mae Ngai shows how the racist coolie stereotype was effectively exploited decade after decade to advance global capitalism and imperialism. The sense of urgency shines through this poignant and provocative work. Powerful and empowering.--Elizabeth Sinn, author of Pacific Crossing: California Gold, Chinese Migration, and the Making of Hong Kong

Mae Ngai slays the coolie myth and resurrects the history of Chinese in early globalization with all its promise of improvement and constant struggle against racist oppression. Never has the spectacular story of the establishment and persistence of Chinese communities across three continents been better told.--Odd Arne Westad, Yale University

Truly a tour de force of scholarship [ The Chinese Question is] a detailed, vivid, close-up depiction of the historic encounters that followed the momentous Chinese migrations of the nineteenth century.--Marilyn Lake, author of Drawing the Global Color Line

Ambitiously conceived, prodigiously researched, and engagingly presented, The Chinese Question weaves distant places, circumstances, and experiences into a compelling narrative that speaks to us today. The Chinese Question has deep historical significance but also pressing contemporary relevance.--Gordon H. Chang, author of Ghosts of Gold Mountain

A remarkable combination of historical research, analysis, and empathy stretching over four continents and three gold rushes. In Mae Ngai's skilled hands, The Chinese Question is more than just a study of racism; it reveals the contours of capitalism and colonialism since the nineteenth century.--Richard White, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist Railroaded

Mae Ngai's beautifully crafted global narrative dismantles widely accepted, and deeply racist, tropes about Chinese migration. This is one of the few books that will make you genuinely rethink an important episode.--Sven Beckert, Laird Bell Professor of History, Harvard University, and author of Empire of Cotton

Want to stay updated on Eastwind events and special deals? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter so you never have to miss a thing!  Gift Cards are also available on our site. 

OUR SERVICES

Retail Bookseller
Book Promotions & Events
Institutional Sales
Special Orders
COMPANY

About Us
Contact Us
Directions
SUPPORT

International Orders
FAQ
Terms of Use
Copyright © 2014 ; 2066 University Avenue, Berkeley ; (510) 548-2350; eastwindbooks@gmail.com

We are closed for the following holidays: 

New Year's Day 
Independence Day
Labor Day 
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day, Dec.25 and 26 
  • Home
  • Donate!
  • Events
    • Past Eastwind Events
    • Eastwind Book Club
  • Libraries For Liberation
  • Global Histories Graphic Novels
  • Textbooks
  • Celebrate Lunar New Year!
  • Distributed by Eastwind
  • Asian American Studies
    • Stop Asian Hate!
    • Chinese American Studies
    • Filipino American Studies
    • Japanese American Studies
    • Korean American Studies
    • South Asian American Studies
    • Southeast Asian American Studies
  • Asian American Literature
    • Chinese American Literature
    • Japanese American Literature
    • Korean American Literature
    • Filipinx American Literature
    • Southeast Asian American Literature
    • South Asian American Literature
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Ethnic Studies
    • African American Studies
    • Chicanx/Latinx Studies
    • Native American Studies
    • Pacific Islander Am. Studies
  • Ethnic Literature
    • African American Literature
    • Chicanx/Latinx Literature
    • Native American Literature
    • Pacific Islander Am. Listerature
  • Children & Young Readers
    • African American Children's Books
    • Chinese Children's Books
    • Filipino Children's Books
    • Japanese Children's Books
    • Korean Children's Books
    • South Asian Children's Books
    • Southeast Asian Children's Books
  • Poetry
    • African American Poetry
    • Chinese American Poetry
    • Japanese American Poetry
    • Korean American Poetry
    • Filipino American Poetry
    • Southeast Asian American Poetry
  • Graphic Novels
  • Food & Cook Books
  • Asia
    • Asian Fantasy & Sci Fi
  • Merchandise & Gifts
    • Eastwind Merchandise
    • Greeting Cards
    • Haruyo Knechtli Ceramics
      • Ceramics
    • Southeast Asian Art Prints
    • Journals & Notebooks
  • More Categories
    • Language Learning
      • Chinese
        • New Practical Chinese Reader Series
        • Integrated Chinese Series
      • Filipino
      • Thai
      • Vietnamese
    • Arts & Crafts/Art Supplies
    • Music
    • Film & Media
    • Martial Arts & Qigong
    • Medicine
    • Religion and Spirituality
    • Philosophy
    • Culture
    • History
      • Bay Area History
  • Used Books
    • USED non-fiction
  • About Us
    • Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    • Directions
  • Contact Us
    • FAQ
  • Recurring Monthly Donation
  • Category