Overview

Scandinavian immigrants encountered a strange paradox in 1890s Chicago. Though undoubtedly foreign, these newcomers were seen as Nordics--the ""race"" proclaimed by the scientific racism of the era as the very embodiment of white superiority. As such, Scandinavians from the beginning enjoyed racial privilege and the success it brought without the prejudice, nativism, and stereotyping endured by other immigrant groups. Erika K. Jackson examines how native-born Chicagoans used ideological and gendered concepts of Nordic whiteness and Scandinavian ethnicity to construct social hegemony. Placing the Scandinavian-American experience within the context of historical whiteness, Jackson delves into the processes that created the Nordic ideal. She also details how the city's Scandinavian immigrants repeated and mirrored the racial and ethnic perceptions disseminated by American media. An insightful look at the immigrant experience in reverse, Scandinavians in Chicago bridges a gap in our understanding of how whites constructed racial identity in America.

Full Product Details

9780252042119

Table of Contents

Reviews

Jackson's book makes a very welcome and thought-provoking contribution to the study of both Scandinavian America and the social construction of whiteness. --H-Net Reviews Makes a significant and long overdue contribution to Swedish- and Scandinavian-American history by explicitly framing the Chicago experiences in a larger ethno-racial American context. By doing so, Jackson places herself in the forefront of Scandinavian-American historiography. --Dag A. Blanck, coeditor of Norwegians and Swedes in the United States: Friends and Neighbors Recommended. --Choice

Makes a significant and long overdue contribution to Swedish- and Scandinavian-American history by explicitly framing the Chicago experiences in a larger ethno-racial American context. By doing so, Jackson places herself in the forefront of Scandinavian-American historiography. --Dag A. Blanck, coeditor of Norwegians and Swedes in the United States: Friends and Neighbors

Makes a significant and long overdue contribution to Swedish- and Scandinavian-American history by explicitly framing the Chicago experiences in a larger ethno-racial American context. By doing so, Jackson places herself in the forefront of Scandinavian-American historiography. --Dag A. Blanck, coeditor of Norwegians and Swedes in the United States: Friends and Neighbors Recommended. --Choice

Author Information

Erika K. Jackson is a professor of history at Colorado Mesa University.

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