Talk and discussion, October 4, 2013 For timecode, click on "Show More" 00:00:00 Thomas Sugrue: Introduction of Mae Ngai Talk 00:04:30 Introduction 00:06:17 Overview of 19th century gold rushes 00:09:05 Critique of historiography of Chinese diaspora, beginning with the influential but misleading 1964 work of Gunther Barth, who portrayed Chinese laborers as indentured and practically enslaved. 00:12:40 Ngai's two interventions on the "Chinese question": (1) a transnational approach to the Chinese diaspora in Anglo settler nations; and (2) an empirical examination of Chinese mining organizations. 00:15:21 Chinese mining organizations and labor systems in California. 00:22:23 Mining and labor in Australia. 00:26:09 Wage work for white employers. 00:30:45 The politics and policy of Chinese labor in California. 00:39:15 Politics and policy in Australia. 00:46:30 Conclusion: Ambiguities of "free" labor. Comments/Questions 00:49:51 #1: How have immigration policies in Australia and Canada changed recently? Has there been a tightening of restrictions? 00:50:14 Response #1 00:52:09 #2: Comment about parallels to myths about Italian padrone system. Question: How was the labor system different in the case of capital intensive enterprises such as railroad construction? 00:54:20 Response #2 00:59:05 #3: What transformations of labor systems in China itself were occurring at this time, and did they parallel or influence those in the U.S. and Australia? 00:59:50 Response #3 01:00:33 #4: What instigated the diaspora? What were the pull and push factors? 01:00:50 Response #4 01:03:04 #5: In the historiography, was it simply a lack of critical review the perpetuated the myth of indenture in the 1960s, or was it a latent racial prejudice? 01:04:07 Response #6 01:05:57 #6: What were the factors driving prejudice against the Chinese in Australia and South Africa? How did that differ from the need of the Irish in the U.S. to "prove" their whiteness through such attacks? 01:06:28 Response #6 01:08:33 #7: How did marital status affect the status of Chinese migrants, and how did this change over time? 01:09:18 Response #7 01:12:42 #8: What was the typical life trajectory of these migrants? And what was the subsequent history of gold mining in these places? 01:13:15 Response #8 01:15:30 #9: Does the variety of labor arrangements persist as laborers shift to agriculture or to urban areas? Also, could you flesh out why certain arrangements between Australians and Chinese were possible there, but impossible in the U.S.? 01:16:52 Response #9

• published: 14 Nov 2013
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