Tuesday, February 27th, the History Department celebrated the launch of Dr. Yuko Miki‘s new book, Frontiers of Citizenship: A Black and Indigenous History of Postcolonial Brazil. Dr. Miki, an Assistant Professor in the History Department, is an expert on Brazil and teaches classes on Latin America at the Lincoln Center Campus. The event was sponsored by the O’Connell Initiative on the Global History of Capitalism. Dr. Miki’s book, published by Cambridge University Press, demonstrates that to understand modern Brazil one must understand the histories of the African Diaspora, as well as those of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
In his review of Frontiers of Citizenship, Professor João José Reis of the Universidade Federal da Bahia (Brazil) praised Dr. Miki’s book, writing that “in placing together Indians and black slaves within a complex framework of territorial claims, labor exploitation, nation-building, and the struggle for and denial of citizenship, Yuko Miki’s book opens a new frontier in the social history of nineteenth-century Brazil and Latin America in general.” Professor Amy Chazkel of Queens College, also paid tribute to Dr. Miki’s work, writing in her review that “this book is a major achievement not only because of the innovative research and groundbreaking analysis, but also because the author has uniquely found a way to communicate these in prose that is both concise and precise. … I can sincerely say that having read this book will forever change the way I think and teach about Atlantic slavery and Brazilian history.”
Congratulations to Dr. Miki!
An engaged audience at the book launch event