| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.2

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 219 words from this article are provided below; about 366 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 89.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

From Paesani to White Ethnics: The Italian Experience in Philadephia. By Stefano Luconi. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001. x, 264 pp. Cloth, $59.50, ISBN 0-7914-4857-6. Paper, $19.95, ISBN 0-7914-4858-4.)

The community study has been a mainstay of immigration history. In recent years, however, immigration historians have been moving away from this model, particularly as the emphasis in the field has shifted from understanding community organization and work life, for example, to the construction of ethnic identity and whiteness studies. The innovation of Stefano Luconi's treatment of Philadelphia's Italians is in how it uses the familiar community study model to address these newer themes. 1

From Paesani to White Ethnics traces the evolution of ethnic identity among Philadelphia's Italians, from the initial regional identities that the largely southern Italian population brought with them in the latter half of the nineteenth century to the development of a national Italian identity and a later identification with other European ethnics based on a shared sense of whiteness. Luconi cites "ethnic defensiveness" as the major determinant in the formation of ethnic identity, first in response to anti-Italian sentiment in the 1920s and 1940s and eventually against the perceived challenges posed by African Americans in the 1960s and 1970s in the areas of housing, schooling, and labor relations. . . .

There are about 366 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.