Book Review: CAMILA PASTOR, The Mexican Mahjar: Transnational Maronites, Jews, and Arabs under the French Mandate

Pastor’s work of historical anthropology is a critical contribution to the study of race, citizenship, and nationalism in the Americas, as well as that of Arab or Mashriqi global diasporas. Her rigorous examination of cross-continental archival sources is enriched by ethnographic segments and expositions of fiction, travel writing, communally published histories and cookbooks, and popular culture. Although this broad sampling of texts reaches into the twenty-first century, those from the earlier twentieth receive the full force of the author’s analytical skill. The book is rare in its inclusion of Muslim and Jewish subjects for consideration, in addition to the most visible Maronite Christian population. However, not all receive equal treatment, as the subtitle would imply. Nonetheless, Pastor’s elucidation of migrant experiences, and their representation by various social actors, is essential reading for understanding the often-hidden diversity of modern Mexico.