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The Sociopolitical History of Arabs in the United States: Assimilation, Ethnicity, and Global Citizenship

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Biopsychosocial Perspectives on Arab Americans

Abstract

In an attempt to depict the sociopolitical worldview of Arab Americans, this chapter traces the development of an ethnic political community among the different waves of immigrants by illustrating the global, transnational and national social and political conditions shaping the context for the development of the community. The first part of the chapter summarizes the migratory patterns of the members of the community and highlights the dynamics that shaped their emigration, reception and formation of identity and community. The second part explores the theoretical constructs that shape our understanding of the Arab American experience. Traditionally, analyses of Arab American communities in the US have either stressed the various processes through which the group has assimilated into the American mainstream or traced the development of an ethnic identity and awareness of difference within the structure of American racial ethnic hierarchies. This chapter extends such analyses by highlighting the growing global awareness that shapes contradictory forms of identification and are best understood through notions of hybridity and diaspora. The chapter concludes by underlining the contested nature of Arab American identity and the challenges faced by members of the community at present.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The religious origin of those emigrating from the Ottoman Empire is not a straightforward matter. According to Middle East Historian Karpart (1985) Muslim subjects were forbidden to emigrate, which may have led some to state that they were of Christian origin on official records. Fear of deportation if their true faith was discovered may have led them to conceal their Muslim origins after arrival.

  2. 2.

    Bawardi (2009) maintains that Arab immigrants’ transnational activities can be traced back to independence movements which started at the turn of the nineteenth century but was accelerated following the second world war.

  3. 3.

    A more substantial attitude variation was found by Sandoval and Jendrysik (1993) who surveyed Arab Americans about the Gulf War. The study found no difference between Arab Americans and other Americans about Iraq’s guilt, the necessity of Iraq’s withdrawal from Kuwait, and the desirability of disarming Saddam Hussein. However, the authors observe that younger, foreign-born, and Muslim Arab Americans have greater opposition to the U.S. policies relating to the Middle East. More recently, Salaita (2005) remarked that not all Arab Americans oppose the war in Iraq.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Middle East Studies, Lund University, 201, SE 221 00, Lund, Sweden

    Dalia Abdelhady

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  1. Dalia Abdelhady
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Correspondence to Dalia Abdelhady .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA

    Sylvia C. Nassar-McMillan

  2. Department of Sociology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA

    Kristine J. Ajrouch

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

    Julie Hakim-Larson

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Abdelhady, D. (2014). The Sociopolitical History of Arabs in the United States: Assimilation, Ethnicity, and Global Citizenship. In: Nassar-McMillan, S., Ajrouch, K., Hakim-Larson, J. (eds) Biopsychosocial Perspectives on Arab Americans. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8238-3_2

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