Patterns of migration and the forces of globalization have brought the issues of mixed race to the public sphere in far more visible and far more dramatic ways than ever before. This book examines the contemporary experiences of people of mixed descent in nations around the world, moving beyond U.S. borders to explore the dynamics of racial mixing and multiple descent in Zambia, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Okinawa, Australia, and New Zealand. In particular, the book asks: how have new global flows of ideas, goods, and people affected th ... More

Patterns of migration and the forces of globalization have brought the issues of mixed race to the public sphere in far more visible and far more dramatic ways than ever before. This book examines the contemporary experiences of people of mixed descent in nations around the world, moving beyond U.S. borders to explore the dynamics of racial mixing and multiple descent in Zambia, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Okinawa, Australia, and New Zealand. In particular, the book asks: how have new global flows of ideas, goods, and people affected the lives and social placements of people of mixed descent? The book addresses the ways mixed-race individuals defy, bolster, speak, and live racial categorization, paying attention to the ways that these experiences help us think through how we see and engage with social differences. The chapters highlight how mixed-race people can sometimes be used as emblems of multiculturalism, and how these identities are commodified within global capitalism while still considered by some as not pure or inauthentic. The book considers the many different meanings of racial mixedness.