A Nation by Design

Zolberg explores American immigration policy as a tool of nation building from the colonial period to the present. His book shows how America has struggled to shape the immigration process to construct the kind of population it desires.

A Nation by Design is the first comprehensive account of American immigration policy from the colonial period to the present. One of its great strengths is that it places American developments in a cross-national and comparative perspective. Professor Zolberg's breadth of knowledge and the range of his reading are remarkable. The book abounds in fresh insights and interpretations, comprehensiveness and richness of detail. This is a magnum opus. -- George Fredrickson, Stanford University A Nation by Design is certain to become a standard reference for immigration scholars and a must-read for graduate students in the disciplines-history, political science, and sociology-that produce the bulk of these scholars. It provides a genuinely new perspective on the creation and centrality of immigration policy, and as befits a new point of view, it sketches a landscape with features that have not been visible before. -- Richard Alba, State University of New York at Albany A Nation by Design is a monumental work by one of America's most distinguished and most historically minded social scientists. No other book on immigration possesses its sweep, nor does any other analyze the history of American immigration policy as comprehensively and insightfully as this one does. For at least a generation, A Nation by Design will become the starting point for anyone seeking to delve into this complex and important subject. -- Gary Gerstle, University of Maryland This beautifully realized and intellectually capacious analytical history moves the story of immigration policy from the side to the center of American political development. Deep, learned, and inventive, A Nation by Design profoundly alters what we know and how we think about demography and identity, membership and law, citizenship and belonging as it crosses the boundaries of disciplines, periods, and ideas. -- Ira Katznelson, Columbia University

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