Power and Place in the North American West

by Richard White (Editor), John M. Findlay (Editor)

Overview

Western historians continue to seek new ways of understanding the particular mixture of physical territory, human actions, outside influences, and unique expectations that has made the North American West what it is today. This collection of twelve essays tackles the subject of power and place from several angles—Indians and non-Indians, race and gender, environment and economy—to gain insight into major forces at work during two centuries of western history.

The essays, related to one another by their concern with how power is exercised in, over, and by western places, cover a wide range of times and topics, from 18th-century Spanish New Mexico to 19th-century British Columbia to 20th-century Sun Valley and Los Angeles. They encompass analyses of the concept and rhetoric of race, theoretical speculations on gender and powerlessness, and insights on the causes of current environmental crises.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295802206
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	09/01/2012
Series:	Emil and Kathleen Sick Book Series in Western History and Biography
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	38 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John M. Findlay is Professor Emeritus of History at University of Washington. He is the author of People of Chance: Gambling in American Society from Jamestown to Las Vegas (Oxford University Press, 1986); Magic Lands: Western Cityscapes and American Culture after 1940 (University of California Press, 1992); and Atomic Frontier Days: Hanford and the American West, with Bruce Hevly (University of Washington Press, 2011). He has also co-edited three multi-author volumes that had their origins as symposia at the University of Washington's Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest: The Atomic West, eds. Bruce Hevly and John M. Findlay (1998); Power and Place in the North American West, eds. Richard White and John M. Findlay (1999); and Parallel Destinies: Canadians, Americans, and the Western Border, eds. John M. Findlay and Ken Coates (2002).

Table of Contents

Introduction

PART 1: INDIANS AND NON-INDIANS

Coboway's Tale: A Story of Power and Place Along the Columbia

Violence, Justice, and State Power in the New Mexican Borderlands, 1780-1880

Making "Indians" in British Columbia: Power, Race, and the Importance of Place

PART 2: RACE IN THE URBAN WEST

Federal Power and Racial Politics in Los Angeles During World War II

Race, Rhetoric, and Regional Identity: Boosting Los Angeles, 1880-1930

Recasting Identities: American-born Chinese and Nisei in the Era of the Pacific War

PART 3: ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMY

Tourism as Colonial Economy: Power and Place in Western Tourism

Creating Wealth by Consuming Place: Timber Management on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest

"Politics Is at the Bottom of the Whole Thing": Spatial Relations of Power in Oregon Salmon Management

Natures Industries: The Rhetoric of Industrialism in the Oregon Country

PART 4: GENDER IN THE URBAN WEST

Lighting Out for the Territory: Women, Mobility and Western Place

Contributors

Index

What People are Saying About This

Elliott West

"A fine collection of provocative essays. The apparently straightforward term ‘power,’ like ‘place,’ offers multiple angles of understanding and opens our appreciation of the splendid complexity of these topics."

Richard M. Brown

"Perhaps the most important thing about this book of essays is the intellectual daring of the editors and the contributors in tackling the extremely important but extremely difficult linkage of power and place in the West. This is an admirable example of innovative, pioneering scholarship."

Editorial Reviews

Western historians offer a dozen essays grouped by the themes of Indians and non-Indians, race in the urban West, environment and economy, and gender on the unique geography, actions, and expectations that have shaped today's US West. Originated from a Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest symposium (U. of Washington, 1994). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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