Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
| Online Publication Date: 24 Feb 2011
Representing Arabs in the West: A Comparison of the Arab European League (AEL) with the Arab American Institute (AAI)
Representing Arabs in the West: A Comparison of the Arab European League (AEL) with the Arab American Institute (AAI)
Page Range: 153 – 169
This paper discusses two attempts to mobilize “Arabs” in a Western context: the Arab European League (AEL) and the Arab American Institute (AAI). The first is a grassroots political movement mobilizing Arab migrants and their descendants in Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands; the second is a Washington-based non-profit organization promoting the electoral participation of Arab Americans. Both organizations aim at representing and mobilizing Arabs as a single community. The paper analyzes and contrasts their representations of the Arabs, the Arab world, and the West. The experience of Arabs in the West is a particularly interesting instance of migrant collective action, because it articulates an identity that it is not bound to the citizenship of one country of origin and therefore is likely to be disputed. In addition, the geopolitical context and the global significance of the conflicts in the Arab world interfere with the domestic dynamics of migration and integration. Cet article examine deux tentatives de mobilisation des «Arabes» dans un contexte occidental: la Ligue arabe européenne (AEL) et l'Institut arabe-américain (AAI). La première est un mouvement politique de base mobilisant des immigrés d'origine arabe ainsi que leurs descendants en Flandre (Belgique) et aux Pays-Bas; le second est une organisation à but non lucratif basée àWashington favorisant la participation électorale des Américains arabes. Ces deux organisations visent à représenter et à mobiliser les Arabes en tant qu'unique communauté. Cette étude analyse et compare leurs représentations respectives des Arabes, du monde arabe et de l'Occident. Les pratiques des Arabes en Occident présentent un cas particulièrement intéressant d'actions collectives par les immigrés, car elles énoncent une identité qui n'est pas délimitée par l'appartenance nationale à un seul pays d'origine et par conséquent vraisemblablement plus contestée. En outre, le contexte géopolitique et la pertinence mondiale des conflits dans le monde arabe perturbent les dynamiques locales de migration et d'intégration.
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