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BOOK REVIEWS 258 such as Miami provide ethnic minorities a space to attain cultural citizenship, thereby reducing the stigma associated with being both Latino and Puerto Rican. These essays, although they focus on the idiosyncratic cultural experiences of different immigrant groups, call attention to general processes nonetheless. The last section of the book is the least theoretically or empirically cohesive. In order to assess whether or not there is a common Latino experience, John R. Logan and Wequen Zhang document the social and economic characteristic of Hispanic groups in the United States as well as the demographic and socioeconomic make-up of immigrant neighborhoods in Miami and New York. They find more differences than similarities across populations and conclude that there is no “average Hispanic.” Laura Oso Casas investigates the social-mobility strategies of female Dominican heads of household in Spain. Although her rich interview data reveals much about this particular group’s experiences, unlike in the previous two sections of the book, there is no other chapter that offers evidence of similar phenomena in other destination countries. This does not mean that the occupational, martial, or educational strategies of Caribbean migrants in other countries differ, but the reader cannot generalize on the basis of Oso Casas’ findings. Finally, Mary Chamberlain explores the personal narratives of migrant families in order to provide into insight into the Caribbean transnational family culture and complex network of familial relationships. According to Chamberlain, migration does not break familial ties; in fact, Caribbean migrants show greater reliance on extended kin networks, which include “those distanced genealogically, generationally, or geographically” (Chamberlain, pg. 236). Interview data indicates that this is not only an important strategy but also a point of pride for Caribbean migrants dispersed around the world. Caribbean Migration to Western Europe and the United States offers a compelling look at the transnational experiences of migrants from former colonies and non-independent territories. For the most part the enterprise is quite successful. There are two weaknesses to the project, however. First, the tension between the book’s paradigmatic approach and its case-study methodology is not fully resolved. When taken together, these essays do a good job demonstrating that, due to the historical legacy of colonialism, migrants from the Caribbean have comparable experiences regardless of country of origin or destination; yet some sections and particular essays, which compare multiple migrant populations, do a better job than others. Second, the volume’s theoretical paradigm actually includes two theoretical perspectives: transnationalism and the coloniality of power argument. These approaches are related but also advance different agendas. Further, the coloniality of power argument is theoretically parsimonious, while a focus on transnational processes uncovers idiosyncrasies of particular migrant groups in particular countries. Nevertheless, the book contributes much to the literature, and its essays should be of interest to scholars of immigration across the social sciences. Maureen A. Eger Department of Sociology, University of Washington meger@uw.edu http://www.soc.washington.edu/people/grads_detail.asp?UID=meger
259 JOURNAL OF WORLD-SYSTEMS RESEARCH Yang, Bin. 2009. Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE. New York: Columbia University Press. 338 Pages, ISBN 9780231142540 Cloth ($60.00), ISBN 9780231512305 Gutenberg-e, http://www.gutenberge.org/yang/index.html, copyright 2008 on this version. The fundamental argument of Between Winds and Clouds is that two over millennia of the history of Yunnan and most of Southwest China cannot be understood solely from a Chinese perspective. Nor is it solely a matter of a history of how China incorporated and changed Yunnan. Rather, this history must be understood in a global perspective. Furthermore Yunnan had significant impacts of the development of China, especially its multicultural qualities. Yang further argues that world-system analyses of incorporation are very useful in understanding this history, and notes in several places where the history of the incorporation of Yunnan can add to continuing development of world-systems analysis. This is a complex, yet subtle and nuanced argument, developed over seven substantive chapters. For readers coming from comparative political economy it is useful to note that the style of discourse is that of world history which draws on a large number of primary sources. For those who can read Chinese there is a glossary of romanized terms. The introductory chapter summarizes the key arguments and gives a general background on the region. Yunnan is an ethnocentric Chinese construct which means approximately the land south of the clouds. The region had at least 25 different ethnic groups which outnumbered Han Chinese immigrants until just a few centuries ago. Yunnan’s external connections to Southeast Asia – often known as the lands below the winds – were often as strong as or stronger than its connection to China. Hence, the book’s title and a major reason why the region must be studied comparatively as part of a larger world-system. Yang argues, “Studying how frontiers became peripheral areas in the first place will shed light on the theoretical development of world-system perspectives” (Ch. 1, para 54; p. 15 cloth). Indeed, one can read the entire book as an elaborate exploration of this argument. For traditional scholars of Chinese history an equally important thesis is that no part of China can be studied in isolation – either from the rest of China, or the rest of the world. Because Yunnan had such connections for over two millennia many nuances of creation and modification of a frontier can be examined. An important point is that Yunnan connected to what we now know as Tibet, India, and Southeast Asia via a Southern Silk Road which complemented and supplemented the northern overland Silk Road and the more southerly maritime Silk Road. The second chapter focuses on the history of the Southern Silk Road. Ironically, silk was not a major trade item along the Southern Silk Road. Goods moved from Yunnan in all directions, thus Yunnan was a major source of information to China about Southeast Asia, especially what we know today as Burma (aka Myanmar). Two products in particular proved very valuable to China: horses and copper. Yunnan is mountainous and highly varied region, one source of its ethnic diversity. It has extensive mineral resources. Because of the altitude of much of the region it was relatively easy to breed horses. Thus, it became an alternative to the northern steppe pastoralists as a source of horses. This capacity was very valuable to China proper which could not breed horses in large numbers due to climatic conditions. The region was finally brought into the Chinese fold via the Mongol conquests in the thirteenth century. The following chapter examines the many military encounters between Yunnan, or its sub-regions and outsiders, primarily China. Until its conquest, ironically by the Mongols, various
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FIVE CENTURIES OF REGIONAL DEVELOPM
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