Commentary: Widening the Lens and Rethinking Asian American History

The new research here reported is extending Asian American and American history into the Pacific, complementing recent Atlantic world studies. Such extension fundamentally challenges the dominant east-west movement of American history. These essays offer (or reveal the need for) greater conceptual clarity in defining terms in the field and the scope of the field's international dimensions. This new work highlights the importance of including a comparative aspect of transnational and global approaches to American history. While Pacific-wide or global developments may share a common history, there are also very specific local histories that demand distinction and invite comparison. Collectively, the essays gathered together suggest a more capacious definition of the field.