imprisoned nature: toward an ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE WORLD WAR II JAPANESE AMERICAN INCARCERATION

Despite a recent surge in scholarship on the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, few historians have adopted an environmental perspective. This article brings the natural world to the center of the story and demonstrates how the environment shaped this notorious episode in American history. The War Relocation Authority, the federal agency that oversaw the camps, tried to control Japanese Americans by isolating them in remote areas and enlisting their labor to improve the land and maintain facilities. To resist and endure their incarceration, Japanese Americans both established intimate connections to nature and sometimes refused to work when demanded. Ultimately, the natural world served to complicate power relations at the Japanese American incarceration camps, ensuring that WRA control over the detainees was not absolute.