The Japanese Journal of American Studies, No. 34 (2023)

Division, Diversity, and Unity

The United States has always been a diverse country. Over the centuries,
minority groups have sought to claim their rights under the central concept
articulated in the Declaration of Independence that “all men are createdequal.” However, the United States has faced internal divisions since its
formation. Many factors, such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender, and classhave divided the United States throughout its history. With many dividing
forces, finding consensus and agreement has often proved challenging,and unity has been difficult to achieve. Indeed, American history cannot be
understood fully without careful and comprehensive exploration of three
key concepts: division, diversity, and unity. They comprise the special topic
of this year’s Japanese Journal of American Studies.
This topic is nothing new in American studies. However, we decided tofocus on the topic this year because in recent years multiple highly publicizednews events, as well as social and political movements, and resistance tothem, appear to suggest that the nation and its people are becoming greatly
divided and polarized. As scholars, we must be careful to understandthe nature of these forces of division, to examine them in historical andinstitutional context, and to consider the long-term impact they may have.
The first two essays are written by Seong-Ho Lim, former president of
the American Studies Association of Korea, and Yoshiko Uzawa, formerpresident of the Japanese Association for American Studies (JAAS). The
essays are based on their keynote speeches at JAAS’s 56th Annual Meeting
held at Chuo University. Although their essays are less directly related
to the special topic of this volume, both essays offer new ways in whichinternational scholarly networks can contribute to the field of Americanstudies. We sincerely hope that the friendship between the two associations
will continue and deepen in the future.
The other essays are arranged roughly in chronological order by theirtopics. They all show the complexities of dividing lines, of social and political
1

2

YAMAGISHI

movements for diversity and their results, and of processes to achieve unity.
Hiro Matsubara writes about the New York Religious Tract Society(1812–1826), which functioned to make lower-class people of New York
conform to the norms and power structures of existing American Society.
Matsubara demonstrates that the Society’s policy produced an unintentional
result: women were empowered as a sub-group. Junko Isono Kato addresses
divisions created by the three-fifths clause of the U.S. Constitution. The
clause was a compromise between two divided camps, slave states and freestates. While the Civil War resulted in the elimination of the clause, Katoargues that the division continued for another hundred years in a different
form. Yuki Oda studies the International Institutes which advocated forfamily reunification of European immigrant families in the late 1920s. Oda
describes how trans-Atlantic cooperation greatly contributed to making
Progressive reformers address the conditions of separated families.
Shunta Matsumoto argues that reforms in Congress have caused asignificant shift in the main function of Congress from a unifying institution
to a partisan political arena. Matsumoto also articulates how existing
theoretical frameworks based on economic-oriented studies are outdated andasserts the need for a better analytical framework to understand how Congressworks. Finally, Yutaka Nakamura reports on his ethnographic research
examining conflicts between African American Muslims and African Muslims
in New York City. Through his interviews, Nakamura also sees ways in whichpeople from the two groups can mediate tensions between them.
These essays provide an invaluable opportunity for us to consider how
movements for division, diversity, and unity have produced not only conflictin the United States but also the impetus and energy for change. As the 2024
presidential election approaches, political rhetoric and wrangling will beintense and heated, but as scholars we must be circumspect to examine andunderstand more deeply what is changing and what is not changing.
Lastly, I would like to thank John Lewis for paying very carefulattention to the articles as a copyeditor. I also thank Maki Tsunoda for her
administrative support. We also thank the American Studies Foundation
for its generous financial support which has made possible the publicationof this volume. The articles published in the Japanese Journal of American
Studies, including those from back issues, are freely available online (https://www.jaas.gr.jp/). We appreciate responses and criticism from our readers.
TAKAKAZU YAMAGISHI
Editor