
Immigration
How the Past Shapes the Present
Nancy Foner(Author)
Polity Press
1st Edition
Published on 27. February 2026
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-5095-5791-2 (ISBN)
Description
American history is, in part, a history of immigration - of waves of people from other lands making their way to America's shores.
Immigration: How the Past Shapes the Present argues that the past is critical in understanding current immigration; that a new historical perspective offers important insights into what is happening today. Foner examines both the facts of immigration in the past and how they are perceived - the stories, myths, and memories that color how we think of immigration today and the politics that govern it. This new historical perspective helps us understand contemporary nativism, distinguishes what is new from long-established patterns, reveals how legacies of earlier immigration shape the lives of present-day arrivals, and offers a fresh look at what lies ahead.
The book is especially relevant at a time when immigration history is being made - on an almost daily basis - yet scholarship on today's immigration does not always consider the past. Drawing on a wealth of historical and contemporary research, the book makes a clear and powerful case for writing history into the study of contemporary immigration.
Immigration: How the Past Shapes the Present argues that the past is critical in understanding current immigration; that a new historical perspective offers important insights into what is happening today. Foner examines both the facts of immigration in the past and how they are perceived - the stories, myths, and memories that color how we think of immigration today and the politics that govern it. This new historical perspective helps us understand contemporary nativism, distinguishes what is new from long-established patterns, reveals how legacies of earlier immigration shape the lives of present-day arrivals, and offers a fresh look at what lies ahead.
The book is especially relevant at a time when immigration history is being made - on an almost daily basis - yet scholarship on today's immigration does not always consider the past. Drawing on a wealth of historical and contemporary research, the book makes a clear and powerful case for writing history into the study of contemporary immigration.
Reviews / Votes
"In this readable and wide-ranging book, Nancy Foner explores how our understandings of past immigration shape our interpretations of current immigration. She shows that myths about the past, and nostalgia for a past that never existed, contribute to current-day anti-immigrant attitudes. This hopeful and erudite book should be required reading for all Americans."Mary C. Waters, Harvard University
"This book is a myth-buster that clears the way for a better understanding of how the history of immigration shapes the present moment, told in a refreshing, thoughtful, and concise way by a preeminent scholar of immigration."
Mae Ngai, author of The Chinese Question
"A comprehensive look into why the past is critical to understanding modern immigration."
Vox
"Immigration: How the Past Shapes the Present is a compassionate look at how the idealization of early European immigrants upholds an impossible standard for immigrants today."
Ethnic and Racial Studies
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 217 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
376 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5095-5791-2 (9781509557912)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2026
1st Edition
Wiley
€16.99
Available for download

Book
02/2026
1st Edition
Polity Press
€20.00
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Nancy Foner is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Sociology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York.
Content
1. Introduction: A New Perspective on Immigration, Past and Present 2. What Do We Remember? Myths, Memories, and Misperceptions of America's Immigrant Past
3. Nativism, Hostility, and Nostalgia
4. How the Immigrant Past Shapes the Immigrant Present
5. Different Histories: U.S.-Europe Comparisons
6. Conclusion: Past, Present, and Future
3. Nativism, Hostility, and Nostalgia
4. How the Immigrant Past Shapes the Immigrant Present
5. Different Histories: U.S.-Europe Comparisons
6. Conclusion: Past, Present, and Future