This book analyzes the role of social work in the Americanization movement. It asserts that the emerging field of social work played a significant role in both the execution of the movement and the development and promulgation of theories and processes that rationalized its determination of the borders of inclusion and exclusion from the American nation and its polity.
While the Americanization movement as a national endeavor abated by the mid-20th century, its underlying assumptions still shape contemporary social work and the national discourses of belonging. As the first comprehensive historical study of social work’s role in the discourses of immigration, the book fills a significant gap in social welfare history.
This volume introduces an important new field of study for scholars of social work, as well as students and academics of social history, ethnic studies, and political science. It is suitable for courses on social welfare policy, social welfare history, and social work ethics, as well as those studying immigration and the history of ethnic minorities in the U.S.
Table of Contents:
Introduction.Whose America? Who is American? 1.“The Toxin called ‘Americanization’” 2.Racial Nationalism 3.Founding Crimes 4.Constructing the Modern Worker 5.Fitness for America: The Production of Citizens 6.History Wars
About the Author :
Yoosun Park is an Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Ph.D. program in the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. Her award-winning scholarship aims to extend the borders of social work knowledge and inform the education of the next generation of social work practitioners and researchers. She is the author of Facilitating Injustice: The Complicity of Social Workers in the Forced Removal and Incarceration of Japanese Americans, 1941–1946.
Michael Reisch is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland. He is the author or editor of 40 books and monographs and hundreds of journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers on the history and philosophy of social welfare and social work. He is the recipient of the Significant Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council on Social Work Education and was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.
Review :
“After reading Social Work, the Americanization Movement and the Construction of Americans 1874-1930, one will never again look at social welfare history the same. Park and Reisch explore the Americanization movement’s deep connection to the construction of race and social class. They elucidate an historical period and show what it can teach us about America’s and the world’s challenges in the face of unprecedented global migration. Most importantly, the authors show the social work profession’s entanglement with racial assumptions, which have colored its policy and practice choices throughout its history.”
Mark J. Stern, Professor of Social Policy and History, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US
“This book provides important insights regarding how social work and social workers participated in the Americanization movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This movement emerged in response to widespread concerns about whether the United States could remain socially and politically cohesive amid a rapidly diversifying population. Social work and social workers played a significant role in these efforts, operating settlement houses, schools, and community programs designed to promote assimilation and social stability. This volume reveals the tensions between democratic ideals and exclusionary practices that shaped views of "American Identity" during this period and in the present.”
Lorraine M. Gutiérrez, Edith A. Lewis Collegiate Professor Emerita, University of Michigan, US
“This timely book sheds light on the Americanization Movement, probing the complexities of what it means to be American and the power dynamics that shape this identity. Through meticulous use of primary sources, the scholars critically examine social work's role in this project, tracing the historical implications to illuminate the profession's ongoing positionality and struggles amidst today's ideological cultural wars and on the eve of the U.S. Semi-quincentennial.”
Karen M. Staller, Professor of Social Work, University of Michigan, US
