Conclusion
29
over a century, and studies are beginning to bring needed attention to the ways
in which Arabic-speaking immigrants have worked together to contest hostcountry discrimination, racism, and violence (Gualtieri 2009, 2020; Pennock
2017; Yadav 2016). At the same time, lumping these minority groups together
as Arabs and Muslims (Brubaker 2004, 2013) glosses over the differences in
voice within and between community members. For example, Libyan
Americans gained a much broader and more influential voice in foreign policymaking during the Arab Spring than did Yemenis, even though both Muammar
al-Gaddafi and Ali Abdullah Saleh were treated as allies in the war on terror in
the years immediately preceding the revolutions. By examining these variations,
we gain needed insights into how diaspora and emigrant groups are treated
differently by their host-country governments according to their national
identities. This book therefore provides new insights for understanding how
diasporas’ “contexts of reception” respond unevenly to their calls for liberal
change, human rights, and democracy at home depending on their varied
identities (Bloemraad 2006, 2013).
The chapters that follow also suggest the importance of moving beyond
characterizations of MENA communities as “Arab” or “Muslim” by addressing the experiences of minority groups during episodes of contention. As
demonstrated in the pages that follow, repressed minorities such as the
Libyan Amazigh, Syrian Kurds, and South Yemenis sometimes merge their
claims with the majority. However, the conditions under which they join with
long-distance nationalists should not be taken for granted. As sociologist
Rogers Brubaker (2015) argues, individuals with shared characteristics do not
necessarily experience solidarity, trust, or a sense of “groupness.” Rather, such
groupness may be the invention of the outside observer. It is for this reason that
treating diaspora solidarity as a dependent variable is warranted.
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009272148 Published online by Cambridge University Press
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