American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 18 (1997) Winner
Noel Ignatiev
ノエル・イグナティエフ
Noel Ignatiev
Pen Names:
Noel Ignatin（Birth name; used during early activism.）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1940-12-27 （Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.）
- Died
- 2019-11-09 （Tucson, Arizona, U.S.） age 78
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Judaism
- Residence History
- Philadelphia (birth) → Gary, Indiana — worked in steel mill → Cambridge/Boston (Harvard University; Massachusetts College of Art) → Brooklyn (editorial activities) → Tucson, Arizona — later life
Career
- Occupations
- Author, Historian, Educator, Activist
- Active Years
- 1958-2019
- Affiliations
- Massachusetts College of Art, Harvard University (lecturer; graduate student)
- Memberships
- Communist Party USA (joined 1958; later left), Provisional Organizing Committee to Reconstitute the Marxist–Leninist Communist Party (POC), Sojourner Truth Organization (STO), New Abolitionist Society (co-founder)
- Influenced By
- C. L. R. James, Stephan Thernstrom (advisor), Alan Heimert (advisor)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Pennsylvania | — | — | — | 在学（途中中退） | United States |
| Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) | — | U.S. History (doctoral program) | Ph.D. | 1985–1995（大学院） | United States |
University of Pennsylvania
Period:
在学（途中中退）
Country:
United States
Attended three years; did not complete degree
Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE)
U.S. History (doctoral program)
Degree:
Ph.D.
Period:
1985–1995（大学院）
Year of Graduation:
1995
Country:
United States
Admitted to graduate school without undergraduate degree; earned master's, lectured, and completed Ph.D.
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
How the Irish Became White
1995 History / Social historyAn academic study examining how 19th-century Irish immigrants to the United States became accepted as 'white' and thereby integrated into the dominant racial order. It analyzes the social construction of race and the processes by which groups obtain racial privilege.
Social construction of raceImmigration and assimilationPower and privilege
Bibliography
- 'The American blindspot': Reconstruction according to Eric Foner and W.E.B. Du Bois (1993)
- The revolution as an African-American exuberance (1994)
- How the Irish Became White (1995)
- Race Traitor (editor; 1996)
- Zionism, Antisemitism, and the People of Palestine (2004; later republished)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Academic and polemicalArgumentative essays with political commitments
- Recurring Motifs
- Emphasis on race as a social constructCritique of whitenessClass struggle and labor activism
Legacy
Known for critical analysis of race and privilege. How the Irish Became White influenced understandings of racial formation, while some of his polemical language and positions provoked controversy and intense debate in academic and public spheres.
Quotes
-
“Treason to whiteness is loyalty to humanity.”
Source: Motto of the journal Race Traitor -
“The goal of abolishing the white race is on its face so desirable that some may find it hard to believe that it could incur any opposition other than from committed white supremacists.”
Source: Excerpt published in Harvard Magazine (2002)
Trivia
- Born Noel Saul Ignatin; family name was at one point changed to Ignatin and later reverted to Ignatiev.
- Worked for about 20 years in a steel mill in Gary, Indiana before entering academia.
- Lost renewal of a Harvard Dunster House tutor post after a dispute over purchase of a kosher-designated toaster (the 'Toaster controversy').
- Co-founder and co-editor of the journal Race Traitor and the New Abolitionist Society.