Description
Elsa De La Rosa's Paper examines the emergence and circulation of anti-Chinese sentiment in Mexico during the Porfiriato from a transnational perspective. It argues that anti-Chinese sentiment was shaped not only by local or national contexts but was by foreign examples, particularly that of the U.S. The paper analyzes how the Mexican political elite viewed China and Chinese immigration. It also explores U.S. efforts in shaping Mexican immigration policy through diplomatic pressure and its influence on the formulation of Mexico’s first immigration law in 1908. In addition, the chapter examines a study on Chinese immigration commissioned by the Mexican government, the role of the Sonoran press in disseminating an anti-Chinese discourse, and the influence of labor and political movements in the borderlands in disseminating anti-Chinese sentiment among Mexican workers. These dynamics reveal how ideas, fears, and exclusionary practices crossed borders and circulated throughout Porfirian society, underscoring the transnational roots of Mexican anti-Chinese sentiment.
About the Speakers
Elsa De La Rosa is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at Northwestern University. Her research focuses on anti-Chinese sentiment in northwestern Mexico, and her dissertation examines the anti-Chinese movements in Mexico, particularly Sonora, during the first three decades of the twentieth century, analyzing how U.S. anti-Chinese policies and measures were regarded as models to follow.
Respondent
Fredy González, University of Illinois, Chicago
About the Borderlands and Latino/a Studies Seminar Series
The Newberry Borderlands and Latino/a Studies Seminar provides a forum for works-in-progress from scholars and graduate students that explore a variety of topics in the field. Seminars are conversational and free and open to faculty, graduate students, and members of the public, who register in advance to request papers.
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