Although immigration has always been a major dimension of Argentine history, it was only during the 1970s and 1980s that the subject received the intensive and sustained scholarly treatment that it deserved. The historian Jose Luis Romero and the sociologist Gino Germani were the pioneers in the field and, although all of us who have followed in their footsteps are indebted to them for opening up the subject in a serious way, their work was of necessity limited both in scope and methodology. With the founding of the Centro de Estudios Migratorios Latinoamericanos in Buenos Aires under the leadership of Gianfausto Rosoli and Luigi Favero, and especially with the establishment of Estudios Migratorios Latinoamericanos (1985), a scholarly journal devoted to migration edited by Luigi Favero and Fernando Devoto, Argentine migration studies blossomed.

The scholarly production of the past three or four decades has for the most part rejected the previous assimilationist models in favour of a more nuanced form of Argentine pluralism. In the process, the focus has for the most part shifted from elites and more global trends to micro studies of social networks, marriage patterns, mutual aid societies and other ethnic institutions, participation in labour markets, the impact of gender, family roles, etc. With the large number of studies we have greatly enhanced our knowledge of the immigration process and the adjustment of immigrants to the host society. We are also now better able to make generalisations, test theories and models, and make meaningful comparisons. It is important to note that Argentine migration studies have developed to the point that they have much to offer students of migration in the United States, Europe and other places.

This book under review illustrates well many of the best aspects of recent Argentine migration history. Edited by two established Argentine scholars and with a prologue by Fernando Devoto, one of the leaders in the development of Argentine migration studies, this anthology focuses overwhelmingly on the nature of ethnic leadership in Argentine during the period of mass migration from 1870 to 1930. The authors of the articles are also predominantly Argentine. As Devoto points out in his historiographical overview in the prologue, the focus on elites and how they have related to ethnic groups and the society at large is less of an innovation than a return to a previous interest of a half century earlier. But the current focus on leadership differs in that it is more conceptually oriented and its practitioners are more aware of the necessity to place the subject in the broader context of the entire ethnic and host society communities.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part is devoted to general perspectives, including an essay by Nunez Seixas on new paradigms and theories of ethnic leadership as well as to some of the problems with them. He concludes that the impact of the new social history of the 1970s was to make the issues relating to ethnic leadership more complex and that as a result there is no consensus on the nature of such leadership. Perhaps most usefully, he highlights some of the problems in using these theories, including the sources of power and/or social prestige, the specific conditions in which one model of leadership prevails over another, the representativeness and legitimacy of leadership, styles and strategies, the relationship of political participation of the immigrant elites in the receiving society and their social and economic influence, and how to calibrate the impact of the ethnic group and the host society on the ethnic leaders' strategies of organisation and politics. These latter problems are most frequently taken up in the subsequent essays.

Two other essays complete the first part. Bjerg and Otero provide case studies of a Danish and a Spanish ethnic political leader in local politics in rural Argentina, and set up a typology based on the strength or weakness and the ethnic or pluralistic character of the social ties between the respective leaders, the ethnic community, and the host society. Gjerde provides a basis for a comparison of the situation in Argentina with European immigrants in the United States during the nineteenth century. He argues that society in the United States put considerable pressure on the immigrant to conform (‘Anglo Conformity’), but that the complementarity of multiple identities allowed the immigrants to integrate and develop ethnic leadership.

Part two presents examples of intellectual, political and religious leaders, primarily Italians, in Argentina in the twentieth century. Bernasconi discusses the role of Italian language newspapers and political leaders in the internal struggles of Italian mutual aid societies in 1919–1920. Scarzanella argues that because Argentina had a more developed economic structure by the 1930, this produced significant changes in the social structure both of the country and of the immigrant population. The Italian population, and that of Italian heritage, therefore no longer considered themselves as part of an Italian colony in Argentina, but of being Argentine. Durarte examines the role of the men of letters, journalism, and of the liberal professions in the Spanish Republican League in Argentina, especially during the 1903–1907 period. I found the remaining essay of part two, that of Cera about the influence of the church on Friuli migrants to Argentina in the post World War II period, of special interest because it dealt with a neglected subject in Argentine immigrant history. His essay is a case study of Father Gaston Romanelli, among Friulian immigrants. Building on the work of Gianfausto Rosoli and Luigi Favero, he enriches his essay by using the work of Sylvano Tomasi and makes comparisons with the United States.

The third part discusses economic leaders. Frid examines the influence of rural Italian small businessmen, especially owners of country stores, within the Italian community of Southern Santa Fe at the end of the nineteenth century, and stresses the importance of the ties between economic and ethnic leaders. Lanciotti provides two case studies to illustrate the Spanish immigrants' gravitation to real estate as opposed to consumer goods in the ethnic markets of Rosario at the turn of the previous century. Finally, Fernandez provides insights into the ties of Spanish and Argentine-Spanish businessmen in late nineteenth century Argentina, and especially the work of the Camara de Comercio.

There are a few issues I might raise regarding this collection of essays. Perhaps the most important is the difficulty of applying the theories and models set forth in Nunez Seixas' lead essay to the specific cases discussed in the rest of the book. Furthermore, there is no conclusion that could have served to pull things together and enabled us to digest more easily what the book has contributed to our understanding of ethnic leadership. Perhaps, as Nunez Seixas suggests, the emergence of the pluralist paradigm over the past half century has made the issues regarding the nature of ethnic leadership so complex that meaningful generalisations and consensus remain elusive.

This collection of essays is important because it provides us with case studies of ethnic leadership of various kinds in difference contexts. As such it contributes to the on-going debate about the nature of this leadership.