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This interdisciplinary textbook introduces students to the historical and contemporary relationships, continuities and differences that characterize the Pacific Basin. The contributors identify key themes through which students can explore both the historical evolution of and contemporary issues affecting the Pacific Basin. Part I provides introductory chapters to the regions of the Pacific Basin then shifts to thematic chapters that explain phenomena that cut across and connect these regions, emphasizing their growing interconnectedness. Each chapter includes a list of further readings and discussion questions to help students understand the material presented.
List of contents
1 An Introduction to the Pacific Basin
Areas of the Pacific Basin
2 Oceania: An Overview
3 Southeast Asia: Unity in Diversity
4 East Asia: Convergence and Divergence
5 The North American Sphere of Influence: From Sea to Shining Sea
6 Latin America: A Living and Changing Artifact
Themes across the Pacific Basin
7 The Age of Colonialism(s)
8 The Pacific War: Remembering & Forgetting
9 Migration, Immigration, and Settlement within the Pacific Basin
10 Global Cities, Megacities, Ordinary Cities: Urbanization across the Pacific Basin
11 Economic Development in the Pacific Basin since World War II
12 Understanding TPP’s Significance for the Pacific Basin
13 Boundary Disputes in the Pacific Basin
14 Armed Conflict across the Pacific: Patterns and Possibilities
15 Environmental Protection in the Pacific Basin
16 State Building, Disease, and Public Health
17 Rapid Societal Change and Mental Health Vulnerabilities in the Pacific Basin
18 Trans-Identity: Theory, Politics, and Identity across the Pacific Basin
19 Gender Violence: Honor, Shame, and the Violation of Bodies in Guatemala and India
20 The Literature of Exile
21 Documentary Film and Trauma in the Pacific Basin
About the author
Shane J. Barter is Assistant Professor at Soka University of America. His books include
Civilian Strategy in Civil War (2014) and
Explaining the Genetic Footprints of Catholic and Protestant Colonizers (2015).
Michael Weiner is Professor of East Asian History and International Studies, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs at Soka University of America. His publications include
Race and Migration in Imperial Japan (1994),
Race, Ethnicity and Migration in Modern Japan (2004) and
Japan's Minorities: The Illusion of Homogeneity (1997, 2009).
Summary
The Pacific Basin: An Introduction is a new textbook which provides an interdisciplinary and comparative overview of the emerging Pacific world. Interest in the Pacific Basin has increased markedly in recent years, driven largely by the rise of China as a global rival to the United States and Asian development more generally. Growth in eastern Asia, as well as in the western Americas, has led the Pacific Basin to evolve as a dynamic economic zone. To make sense of this transformation, the book:
- Defines the Pacific Basin, locates it in academic research, and explains its importance.
- Addressees the historical origins and evolution of the Pacific Basin and its sub-regions.
- Introduces students to the historical and contemporary relationships, continuities and differences that characterize the region.
- Incorporates analyses of colonialism and imperialism, migration and settlement, economic development and trade, international relations, war and memory, environmental policy, urbanization, mental and public health, gender, film, and literature.
- Connects the diverse peoples of this vast area, explores their common challenges and the diverse responses to these challenges, and provides a window into the lived humanity of the Pacific Basin.
The Pacific Basin: An Introduction is a key textbook for undergraduate courses on the Pacific Basin, the Pacific Rim, International Studies, Geography, World History, and Globalization.
