Lebanese Diaspora Research Articles

“We are the Revolution, Abroad”: Diaspora Protests, Identity Construction, and the Remaking of Citizenship in the 2019 Lebanese Thawra

Abstract Diasporas are often viewed as mirrors for their homeland’s politics. The Lebanese diaspora’s involvement in the 2019 Thawra, however, established the diaspora as a locus for autonomous and disruptive political action. Through an analysis of the spatialities of protest, this paper analyses the diaspora’s involvement in the Thawra, its implications for the protest movement, and for the diaspora itself. It argues that diaspora protests gave rise to new tactics and protest repertoires. These mirrored protest activity on the ground, supported protestors in Lebanon, and constituted the diaspora as a locus for contestation and claims-making. Moreover, the diaspora’s mobilization in the Thawra contributed to the consolidation of diasporic identity and the construction of alternative societal imaginaries and conceptions of citizenship that challenge Lebanon’s state-centric and sectarian citizenship regime. This paper thus makes the case for reassessing the autonomous political role of diasporas to gain a fuller understanding of transnational protest dynamics, solidarities, and citizenship beyond the boundaries of the nation-state.

Contrapuntal Citizenship: Solidarity Protests and Multi-layered Belonging in the Lebanese Diaspora in France

ABSTRACT Normative models of citizenship delimit rights and obligations within the territorial boundaries of the modern state. These models fail to capture how political belonging can be stretched and reconfigured across polities. The 2019 ‘17 October Revolution’ in Lebanon galvanised widespread solidarity protests and initiatives in the Lebanese diaspora in France. As sites of cultural encounter, solidarity protest movements in the diaspora created opportunities for different cultural and political identities to collide, producing ‘contrapuntal’ forms of citizenship. Drawing insights from Edward Said’s examination of the ‘contrapuntal,’ this paper argues that as sites of encounter, diasporic solidarity initiatives pluralised definitions of political belonging producing contrapuntal forms of citizenship. By thinking through music, this paper will examine the overlapping layers, or melodies, of political belonging that constitute diasporic citizens. It will contend that diaspora solidarity initiatives allowed activists to enact multiple, sometimes contradicting, claims to belonging. In doing so, it will shift from hybrid to contrapuntal models of diasporic citizenship.

Lebanese diaspora and the October 17 Uprising

AbstractThis article examines the Lebanese home‐diaspora relationship and its contribution to the dynamics of the political system in Lebanon. This relationship is explored in the context of the October 17 Uprising which was a transnational event whereby Lebanese at home and abroad were actively engaged in its awakening and repercussions. The authors argue that this relationship is a two‐way relationship in which both home and diasporic actors mutually contribute to the potential transformative process which was ignited by the Uprising. They also argue that both political actors are faced with limitations that hinder them from maximizing their efforts to challenge and transform the political rhetoric in Lebanon. These limitations are imposed by both local and diasporic actors in favour of traditional political parties, and they restrict the potential of diasporic actors to be proactive in their opposition, as well as the efforts of home actors to enhance the nature of the political engagement with the diaspora. However, the research suggests that recent political activities in Lebanon and abroad have demonstrated the ability of both actors to gradually break the sovereignty of the ruling parties in Lebanon if efforts are channelled properly in the political field generated by those actors.

"The Eager Arab Astronaut": Fantasies of (Superheroic) Flight in the Lebanese Diasporic Imagination

Abstract: This essay puts into conversation two texts that negotiate the fantasy of space, flight, and Arab identity, specifically focused on the Lebanese diaspora: A. Naji Bakhti's debut novel Between Beirut and the Moon (2020) and superhero comics about the Lebanese American Green Lantern Simon Baz (2012–2021). Drawing on a history of how aerial surveys and perspectives inflicted the modernizing logic of empires in Lebanon, this essay argues that the visual modalities of empire are reinscribed in these texts' fantasies of flight. In Between Beirut and the Moon , Adam dreams of becoming an astronaut and flying to the moon, a fantasy itself deeply entrenched and complicated by the logics of empire. In Green Lantern (2011–2016) and Green Lanterns (2016–2018), Simon Baz offers a complicated fulfillment of Adam's childhood fantasy as the "first Arab astronaut." Ultimately, while Simon's superpowers suggest the limitless, liberatory possibility of flight in the Lebanese imagination, in practice they reinforce many of the same restrictions that limit Adam's dream and necessitate his departure to England.

The Lebanese Diaspora or “To Die, to Leave, to Come Back… The Game of Swallows”

The Lebanese Diaspora or “To Die, to Leave, to Come Back… The Game of Swallows”

Revolting from Abroad: The Formation of a Lebanese Transnational Public

Nowadays social movements are driven by networks of people who resort to social media platforms to rally, self-organise and coordinate action around a shared cause, which can be referred to as the formation of publics. Due to years of political instability, conflicts, corruption, sectarianism, economic collapse and declining living conditions, in October 2019 Lebanon witnessed uprisings which transcended into a wider social movement. As the movement unfolded, Lebanese diaspora members living across the world formed their own publics in support of the Lebanese revolution that interfaced with the local Lebanon-based publics. As such, a broader transnational public emerged as a result of the coordinated online and offline efforts between diaspora actors and local actors, which had a crucial role in mitigating the aftermath of the compounded crises that hit Lebanon. In this paper, through observation and interviews with Lebanese diaspora members, we contribute a socio-technical understanding of the formation of a transnational public, with a particular focus on the underlying infrastructures that enabled its creation. Furthermore, we surface the challenges in relation to sustaining such a diaspora public and its interfacing with local publics in Lebanon. We contribute empirical insights that highlight how different technological tools and platforms, coupled with social processes built within diaspora groups and with local actors, led to the formation of such a multilayered transnational public.

Urban Transformations and Complex Values: Insights From Beirut

Through an urban renewal process driven by a well-resourced Lebanese diaspora and foreign investment, Beirut has undergone conspicuous morphological densification, characterised by parcel aggregation and exploitation of building height. Planning agencies have contributed to these transformations, deliberately involved in the production of illegality, and contributing to unplanned urban development. Although recent literature has substantially furthered our understanding of deregulated planning in Beirut, little is known of the preferences of residents with regards to the urban development process. This article sheds light on how morphological densification affects the complex values attached by residents to their urban environments using a novel data set and mixed-methods approach. It explores how dramatic urban restructuring affects resident values of architectural amenities and neighbourhood belonging. Findings show that although living in areas with different rates of building change does not affect preferences for architectural amenities, it affects resident socio-political activism towards the preservation of their built environment. Residents living in areas with high building-change rates had almost 50% lower odds of being willing to stop new construction near their location of residence because of their lack of confidence in the planning system. Neighbourhood belonging is not significantly affected by construction rates, but substantially increases both with the number of years lived in a neighbourhood and in locations with better building conditions, confirming a role for the built environment.

Neglected Tropical Diseases in Lebanon.

IntroductionNeglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are highly endemic and distributed within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, affecting an estimated 65 million people. Lebanon suffers from several NTDs as they are either endemic in the country or imported via expats residing in endemic regions, refugees, and foreign labor force. The Syrian crisis and the displacement of refugees to Lebanon have made the country the largest host of refugees per capita right after the Syrian crisis in 2011, peaking in the year of 2013. Additionally, foreign labor in Lebanon come from different countries in Africa and Asia that are endemic with certain NTDs. The Lebanese diaspora is approximately twice the number of those residing in the country and is distributed throughout the continents carrying the risk of importing new NTDs.Materials and MethodsA descriptive study about the prevalence of NTDs in Lebanon, their distribution, and factors contributing to spread was performed. The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health (LMPH) database regarding reportable transmissible diseases was reviewed for reportable NTDs between 2002 and 2020 in relation to age, gender, prevalence, and geographical distribution. The medical literature was searched using several engines looking for all reports about NTDs in Lebanon, those relevant to regions hosting Lebanese diaspora, and countries where the refugees and migrant workers came from.ResultsOnly leishmaniasis, leprosy, echinococcosis, schistosomiasis, and rabies are mandatorily reportable NTDs by the LMPH. Additionally, case reports about fasciolosis, ascaridiosis, and Dengue were reported from Lebanon. The presence of the Syrian refugees in the country affected the prevalence of leishmaniasis and rabies. The most prevalent NTD in Lebanon is cutaneous leishmaniasis. The Lebanese diaspora reside mainly in South America, Africa, and in some Arab states known to be endemic with certain NTDs.ConclusionLittle information is known about NTDs in Lebanon. The country is at an increased risk of experiencing several new NTDs due to refugee influx, foreign labor, economic crisis, and ever-growing number of Lebanese seeking work opportunities abroad. More information is needed to assess the true burden of NTDs in Lebanon and the future steps to contain and mitigate their effects.

The toll of cascading crises on Lebanon's health workforce

The toll of cascading crises on Lebanon's health workforce

Professeur Jacques Fouad Acar, l’Afrique et l’« auberge espagnole »

RésuméLa biographie du professeur Jacques Fouad Acar (1931-2020) montre la trajectoire exceptionnelle d’un médecin atypique, infectiologue-clinicien et microbiologiste, propulsé par la dynamique internationale d’intégration et de dépassement social issue de la diaspora libanaise avec ses premières expériences fondatrices à Dakar au Sénégal, en Afrique Occidentale Française, à l’âge d’or de la médecine coloniale française. L’empreinte de Jacques Acar comprendra trois dimensions remarquables: d’une part, la promotion du raisonnement clinico-biologique multidisciplinaire intégré en pathologie infectieuse; d’autre part, l’indépendance de pensée dans le champ de l’action, qui deviendra son leitmotiv durant sa carrière hospitalo-universitaire, lui permettant d’intégrer « l’esprit de corps pastorien » dans ses recherches fondamentales à l’Institut Pasteur de Paris sur les mécanismes moléculaires de la résistance aux antibiotiques et de participer à l’explosion de la médecine mondiale; enfin, son intelligence affective incomparable potentialisée par son sens instinctif au réseautage, avec des élèves de toutes origines et disciplines.

ПРАКТИКИ СОЛИДАРНОСТИ ЛИВАНСКОЙ ДИАСПОРЫ В МИРЕ В ПЕРИОД ПАНДЕМИИ КОВИД-19

The article examines the Lebanese diaspora, its relations with the Lebanese society and the situation in the world. The data is analyzed and the location of Lebanese diasporas in different parts of the world is considered. Lebanese immigrant communities around the world make up the largest groups of Arab immigrants. As a diaspora, Lebanese communities have historical roots in almost every corner of the world. A more significant fact of the migration of Lebanese society is considered to be the beginning of the second half of the 19th century, the Lebanese immigrated to America, Africa and Northern Europe. Many factors have contributed to the spread of Lebanese society around the world. Lebanon has a free market economy and a strong commercial tradition of non-interference. The government does not restrict foreign investment, but the investment climate suffers from bureaucracy, corruption, arbitrary licensing decisions, complex customs procedures, high taxes, tariffs and fees, archaic legislation, and inadequate protection of intellectual property rights [4. Р. 143]. The idea of a diaspora-a dispersed ethnic group spanning national borders-has been revived by the intensity of global processes over the past few decades towards understanding the immigrant experience. In its Greek origin, the term diaspora means the scattering of seeds and thus means an association with migration and colonization, implying acculturation and assimilation while preserving an ingrained tradition. Also, the diaspora captures much of our analytical and popular imagination and requires explanatory power in describing the presence and conditions of the immigrant population. Understanding their position as a product of global economic, political and cultural dynamics, Lebanese immigrants demonstrate forms of identification, social ties and ways of cultural expression that take into account the global diaspora consciousness [2. Р. 82]. The diaspora, on the other hand, provides an entry into the study of the global situation and the dynamics of the economy. It should be noted that the Lebanese diaspora is an important group for studying the dynamics of immigration and how immigrants are affected by global economic, political and cultural processes.

Remembering the Lebanese Wars in Abbas El Zein’s Leave to Remain (2009)

Soon after the Civil War’s end in 1990, the state in Lebanon has engaged in a discourse of amnesia, in a bid to proscribe any heed to the question of the war. The purpose is to conceal this dark chapter of the Lebanese history through the repression of memory. Through different practices of remembering, diaspora writers have tried, however, to offer alternative narratives of the Lebanese history. In so doing, they engage in resisting the official dominant ideologies through producing what Micheal Foucault would label as “insurrection of subjugated knowledges” (Foucault, 81). In studying Abbas El Zein’s memoir Leave to Remain, the article sets out to explore how and in what ways post-war Lebanese Diaspora literature can be categorized as a form of history writing about war. This article focuses the Civil War (1975-1990) and the July War in 2006.

Stacy D. Fahrenthold. Between the Ottomans and the Entente: The First World War in the Syrian and Lebanese Diaspora, 1908–1925.

S<scp>tacy</scp> D. F<scp>ahrenthold</scp>. <i>Between the Ottomans and the Entente: The First World War in the Syrian and Lebanese Diaspora, 1908–1925</i>.

Between the Ottomans and the Entente: The First World War in the Syrian and Lebanese Diaspora, 1908–1925

Between the Ottomans and the Entente: The First World War in the Syrian and Lebanese Diaspora, 1908–1925

STACY D. FAHRENTHOLD, Between the Ottomans and the Entente: The First World War in the Syrian and Lebanese Diaspora, 1908–1925 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019)

STACY D. FAHRENTHOLD, Between the Ottomans and the Entente: The First World War in the Syrian and Lebanese Diaspora, 1908–1925 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019)

Transnational is not diasporic: A Bourdieusian approach to the study of modern diaspora

Given the apparent similarities to transnational activities, diasporic activities, processes and actors are often the first victims of the conceptual curse of transnationalism, resulting in the glossing over of particularities in the diaspora field which, if studied separately, would have important analytical consequences for migration studies. Failure to introduce viable options for differentiating between two (very) different sets of activities that comprise transnational and diaspora activities, means we are unable to identify specificities that have important consequences for the analysis of the diaspora field. By introducing the concept of ‘field’, and arguing that the diaspora field should be separate from the transnational field, we demonstrate that the actions of diaspora groups towards their homeland, with particular emphasis on the case of the Lebanese diaspora, are best studied independently. The ‘field’ framework highlights the power relations that determine the impact of diaspora remittances and brings forward the centrality of the state in diaspora–homeland relationships.

Lebanese food, ‘Lebaneseness’ and the Lebanese diaspora in London

Lebanese food, as a cultural tradition, and in the context of Lebanese migration, mobility and diasporic identity, is the focus of this article. We use ethnographic methods in the form of participant observation, focus groups and semi-structured interviews with restaurant owners, workers and members of the Lebanese diaspora to critically examine the connections between diasporic identity and Lebanese food in London. The analysis revealed that Lebanese migrants living in London are highly affected and influenced by their homeland and its traditions. Analysis also revealed how the Lebanese hospitality industry has grown and adapted, becoming embedded, hybridized and contested by members of the Lebanese diaspora. We argue that this contestation revolves around a mobile sense of place and belonging.

Political Influence of The Lebanese Diaspora in Côte D’ivoire Before the 2020 Elections

The recent political developments that took place in West Africa, encompassing several bloody civil wars and the following reconstruction, were marked by the involvement of a number of regional and completely external stakeholders. It has been, furthermore, broadly acknowledged by the recent scope of globalization, international, and transnational studies that diasporas constitute a significant portion of the internal groups of interest in local political processes. This tendency is true to West Africa and, most particularly, Côte d’Ivoire, the country that has experienced the latest large-scale civil conflict among the states in this part of Africa.

Al-Ahbash transnational Sufi network in the post-Soviet space: a Ukrainian case study

This article presents the results of a study of regional dimension of al-Ahbash transnational Sufi network on the post-Soviet territories. The paper proposes conceptualization of the al-Ahbash transnational community and provides an analysis of the Ukrainian dimension of the network. The following key actors of the network were found: 1) enclaves of the Lebanese diaspora, 2) the NGO «Association of Islamic Charitable Projects», 3) administrations of the host countries, and 4) regional NGOs of the al-Ahbash network.The study reveals that within the framework of the concept of transnational communicative networks of religious ideologies (by E. A. Ostrovskaya), Al-Ahbash is considered as a new type of politically conformal network. This is related to its anti-Islamic setting and loyalty toward the European democratic doctrine and explains the absence of the fifth actor in its structure — the authorities of the country of origin.

The Druzification of History: Queering Time, Place, and Faith in Diasporic Fiction by Rabih Alameddine

Cet article analyse les œuvres de Rabih Alameddine consacrées à la diaspora libanaise aux États Unis, en particulier The Hakawati (2008), I, the Divine (2001), et KOOLAIDS: The Art of War (1998). Il montre comment le roman The Hakawati , en replaçant la question taboue de l’homosexualité dans l’histoire de l’islam, va à l’encontre de sa répression dans les sociétés modernes de culture islamique. L’article amorce également une critique de l’homonationalité américaine dans I, the Divine , et examine les procédés de « queering » de l’histoire, des lieux et des textes sacrés dans KOOLAIDS , dont le récit entremêle la guerre civile au Liban et la crise du SIDA aux États-Unis. En « druzifiant », c’est-à-dire en suturant diverses traditions narratives et religieuses, Alameddine démontre la nature foncièrement hybride de la sensibilité diasporique.