085 - Regular Session. Arab American Identity

Session Submission Type: Paper Session

Abstract

This session will address the fact that Arab Americans are increasingly recognized in public discourse as an emerging racial/ethnic group in U.S. society, and represent an area of study that is receiving increasing and systematic attention from sociologists and others. The rising importance of racial and ethnic identity among Arab Americans is evident in that the US Census is piloting a MENA (Middle East and North African) category for inclusion on the 2020 form. Yet, space for scholarly discussions and debates about this group remain scarce. The conditions under which their visibility has emerged are distinguished from other ethnic minorities by global matters such as U.S. foreign policy and political instabilities in the Arab region, and the way these inform public and official reprisals against them as a group after the 9/11 attacks. As such, this group represents a unique case where minority racial formation processes did not unfold from domestic political and economic policies, as was the case for other racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. —African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans. This session will consider the dynamics of racial and ethnic identities by focusing on diverse sub-groups and contexts in which identities arise.

Sub Unit

• Arabs and Arab Americans

Session Organizer

• Kristine J. Ajrouch, Eastern Michigan University

Presider

• Kristine J. Ajrouch, Eastern Michigan University

Individual Presentations

• Diaspora Youth Imagine Home - Louise Cainkar, Marquette University

• Reconsidering Arab and Middle Eastern Racial Formation: Egyptians (re)Articulate Racial Identity and Positionality - Bradley J Zopf, University of Illinois-Chicago

• Strategic Ethnicity: Racial Negotiation within Arab American Advocacy Organizations - Erik Love, Dickinson College