Book ID: CBB089374455

The racial railroad (2022)

unapi

Julia H. Lee (Author)


New York University Press


Publication Date: 2022
Physical Details: 291
Language: English

The Racial Railroad argues the train has been a persistent and crucial site for racial meaning-making in American culture for the past 150 years. This book examines the complex intertwining of race and railroad in literary works, films, visual media, and songs from a variety of cultural traditions in order to highlight the surprisingly central role that the railroad has played - and continues to play - in the formation and perception of racial identity and difference in the United States. Despite the fact that the train has often been an instrument of violence and exclusion, this book shows that it is also ingrained in the imaginings of racialized communities, often appearing as a sign of resistance. The significance of this book is threefold. First, it is the only book that I'm aware of that examines the train multivalently: as a technology, as a mode of transportation, as a space that blurs the line between public and private, as a form of labor, and as a sign. Second, it takes a multiracial approach to cultural narratives concerning the railroad and racial identity, which bolsters my claim about the pervasiveness of the railroad in narratives of race. It signifies across all racial groups. The meaning of that signification may be radically different depending upon the community's own history, but it nevertheless means something. Finally, The Racial Railroad reveals the importance of place in discussions of race and racism. Focusing on the experiences of racialized bodies in relation to the train - which both creates and destroys places - secures a presence for those marginalized subjects. These authors use the train to reveal how race defines the spatial logics of the nation even as their bodies are often deliberately hidden or obscured from public view. (Publisher)

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Reviewed By

Review Mike Matejka (Fall-Winter 2023) Review of "The racial railroad". Railroad History (pp. 95-96). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB089374455/

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Authors & Contributors
Wilson, Jeffrey K.
Aldrich, Mark
Binder, John J.
Chang, Gordon H.
Frost, Richard H.
Grant, H. Roger
Journals
Railroad History
Cold War History
Indian Journal of History of Science
Social Science History
The Journal of Transport History
Publishers
Indiana University Press
Johns Hopkins University Press
Kalmbach Books
Mariner Books
Northern Illinois University Press
University of New Mexico Press
Concepts
Railroads
Technology and society
Land transportation
Technology
Social change
Passenger trains
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
21st century
20th century, early
20th century, late
Places
United States
Great Britain
Chicago (Illinois, U.S.)
New Mexico (U.S.)
Thailand
Western states (U.S.)
Institutions
Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad (1908-1936)
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