Tag: Immigration

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#BookReview: The Next Great Migration by Sonia Shah

Interesting and Applicable. This is a truly remarkable work that traces the sociological and biological impetuses for and restrictions on migration at levels from the individual through the species. Shah does a superb job of combining history and science to make her case, and even impeaches at least a few organizations currently in the headlines along the way – even while clearly having no way of knowing that she was doing so, as the book was written before they became so prominent more recently. Spanning from the guy that developed the modern taxonomic system through late breaking issues with the Trump Presidency, Shah shows a true depth to her research and builds a largely compelling case. Very much recommended.

This review of The Next Great Migration by Sonia Shah was originally written on April 10, 2020.

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#BookReview: No Justice In The Shadows by Alina Das

Very Similar to Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow But Focusing On Immigration. This book directly references Alexander’s work at a couple of points and is told in a similar style and with similar strengths and weaknesses. Namely, it builds a well documented case, but uses more anecdotal “evidence” as its primary narrative structure. I rate it slightly above Alexander’s work because it doesn’t have quite as glaring a blindspot as that other work. Specifically, while Alexander’s work regarded race above all other factors, Das’ work here shows the truly wide scope of immigration control in the US, from its earliest days working as much against Europeans as anyone to its more modern incarnations targeting first Chinese and other Asians to the fairly ubiquitous in current regimes of pretty well everyone. By and large, how you feel about Alexander’s work will mirror how you feel about Das’, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing for Das’ pocketbook since Alexander’s work is so often discussed and cited even so many years after publication. Recommended.

This review of No Justice In The Shadows by Alina Das was originally written on February 13, 2020.