American History Unbound: Asians and Pacific Islanders by Gary Y. Okihiro, and: Domination and Resistance: The United States and the Marshall Islands during the Cold War by Martha Smith-Norris

Two books challenge conventional narratives of U.S. history and foreign relations, offering counter-histories that destabilize hegemonic discourses. Gary Y. Okihiro's 'American History Unbound: Asians and Pacific Islanders' redefines American identity by centering the diverse experiences of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders since the 18th century, while Martha Smith-Norris's 'Domination and Resistance: The United States and the Marshall Islands during the Cold War' exposes the devastating impacts of U.S. militarism on Marshallese communities, including nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll and Kwajalein. Okihiro disrupts traditional chronologies by highlighting migrant laborers' roles and racial biases in citizenship laws, while Smith-Norris focuses on radiation experiments, displacement, and environmental degradation, revealing systemic injustices through archival research and oral histories.

Labriola, M. C. (2017). American History Unbound: Asians and Pacific Islanders by Gary Y. Okihiro, and: Domination and Resistance: The United States and the Marshall Islands during the Cold War by Martha Smith-Norris. Journal of World History, 28(3-4), 649–654. https://doi.org/10.1353/jwh.2017.0045