Overview
The issues of race, immigration, refugee policies and inter-ethnic conflict are daily copy in the world's media; so, too, is the growing resistance to the presence of newcomers. In this timely and engrossing collection of his recent writings, internationally recognized sociologist Peter Rose addresses each of these subjects. Concerned mainly with U.S. policies and practices, his assessments range from an examination of the post-1965 immigration of Asians and Latinos to the rhetoric of resentment and the shifting meanings of "multiculturalism" for white and non-white Americans today.
The title essay, Tempest-Tost, is about the general plight of refugees. It sets the stage for the second, more narrowly focused section of the book: the making and implementing of U.S. refugee policy and the experiences of those who escaped from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos and who managed to resettle in the United States following the fall of Saigon. Here are informative meetings with United Nations officials and governmental representatives responsible for processing refugees; moving encounters with volunteers working for religious and secular relief agencies; and commentaries on many of those Rose met and observed in offices in Geneva, New York, Washington, and various west coast cities as well as in refugee centers and camps throughout southeast Asia. Included are interviews with caretakers, gatekeepers, guides and go-betweens, middle managers and directors of major refugee agencies, and some of those most affected by their forced migration, from a Lao family of simple tailors to Prince (now King) Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. Tempest-Tost ends with commentaries and critiques of a number of important books on minorities in America.
Combining forty years as a social scientist, field researcher, and leading thinker on the problems of immigration, race, and ethnicity, with nearly as many years as an author, editor, and book reviewer, Peter Rose brings a unique set of prisms through which to assess the sociology of intergroup relations, the politics of rescue, and the writings of others on these subjects. His newest book illuminates the underlying issues that so stir the political waters.