Grounds for Exclusion: Race, Health, and Disability in Argentine Immigration Policy, 1876–1932

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Benjamin Bryce

Grounds for Exclusion

Name: Grounds for Exclusion
Price: 229 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9781469695341

Race, Health, and Disability in Argentine Immigration Policy, 1876–1932

Benjamin Bryce

$229

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

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English

The University of North Carolina Press
19 May 2026

Disability: social aspects; Illness & addiction: social aspects; Migration, immigration & emigration; Ethnic studies

Series: InterConnections: the Global Twentieth Century

Argentina has been one the most important destinations for international labor migrants in the modern world. But while it was long imagined as a nation of immigrants, a closer look at its history and policies reveals that the country’s doors were only open to certain people. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, officials developed a long list of grounds for exclusion that deterred many people from ever boarding a ship to the country. Travelers who did come to Argentina were frequently barred at ports of entry on account of race, health, or disability.

Tracing the attempts of European, Asian, and Middle Eastern migrants to enter Argentina, Benjamin Bryce shows how the modern state worked to privilege white supremacy and expansion over diversity and magnanimity. As Argentine officials, politicians, and influential thinkers envisioned their country’s future, they tried to define the ideal citizens who would live, work, vote, and reproduce in Argentina—and the characteristics of those who would not. Anyone deemed unhealthy or disabled was labeled unproductive or a potential burden on the state. Race often shaped notions of health and productivity and therefore determined who was welcome. Bryce’s thorough analysis of immigration exclusions reconceptualizes Argentina’s long-accepted reputation as a haven for newcomers.

By: Benjamin Bryce
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 25mm, Spine: 155mm
ISBN: 9781469695341
ISBN 10: 1469695340
Series: InterConnections: the Global Twentieth Century
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 19 May 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Benjamin Bryce is associate professor of history at the University of British Columbia.

Reviews for Grounds for Exclusion: Race, Health, and Disability in Argentine Immigration Policy, 1876–1932

""Benjamin Bryce's careful attention to how state officials and their allies used race, national origin, and health to build a 'system of exclusion' provides fresh challenges to popular histories of Argentina that overlook the restriction of immigration to the country.""--Eduardo Elena, author of Dignifying Argentina: Peronism, Citizenship, and Mass Consumption ""Truly remarkable multilanguage research that illuminates the international system of immigration restriction at work during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Readers will be intrigued by the parallels between the United States and Argentina's systems of exclusion in immigration policy.""--Benjamin Montoya, author of A Diplomatic History of US Immigration During the 20th Century: Policy, Law, and National Identity 