Exploratory Workshop: Diaspora as a (Re)Source
Interactions and Interdependencies: Arab Diaspora in Latin America and their Countries of Origin
The workshop will take place from October 31 to November 2, 2024, in a hybrid format at the Research Centre Global Dynamics, Leipzig University, and via Zoom. It will explore the deep-rooted connections between Arab diaspora communities in Latin America and their countries of origin in the Middle East. Recent expressions of solidarity with Gaza, as well as support for Syrian refugees and economically struggling Lebanese communities, highlight the long-standing political, socioeconomic, and cultural ties between these regions. Join us to delve deeper into the dynamics of these interactions.
Convenors: Katrin Köster (Research Center Global Dynamics, University of Leipzig), Roberto Cruz Romero (German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies, Berlin)
Keynote Speaker: Prof. Dr. Lily Pearl Balloffet (UC Santa Cruz)
Diaspora as a (Re)Source: Interactions and Interdependencies between Arab Diaspora Communities in Latin America and their Communities/Countries of Origin
Latin American countries and especially the Arab diaspora communities in these countries are an important political, socioeconomic, and cultural resource for Arab communities in the Levant and the wider Middle East. In recent months, the world has been reminded of this by the numerous Latin American expressions of solidarity with Gaza. Similarly, during the past few years, Arab diaspora communities have rallied to support Syrian refugees and economically drained Lebanese communities. These acts of solidarity are not singular in nature, but are part and parcel of long-lasting and deep-rooted ties between Middle Eastern and Latin American communities.
The ties between these two world regions go back to the late nineteenth century, the era of worldwide labor migration to the Americas. Impoverished Arabs, predominantly Christians but also Druze, Alawis, and Sunni Muslims from the Levant, migrated to the Americas, especially drawn to Latin America. During the 1920s and 1930s, they were joined by a second wave of migrants dominated by intellectuals fleeing from oppression and censorship. Today, particularly Argentina and Brazil, as well as some smaller Latin American countries, are home to huge Levantine Arab communities who have great influence on political, socioeconomic, and cultural developments in both their “new” and “old” home countries.
This workshop sets out to explore the interactions and interdependencies between Arab diaspora communities in Latin America and their communities/countries of origin on the personal, political, social, economic, and cultural level, with a focus on the time period from the 1940s to the 2020s. In nine panels the participants will discuss topics as diverse as military cooperation, transcontinental artistic networks, trade connections, intellectual exchanges, Palestinian activism in the diaspora, modes of identity formation and the preservation of Arab heritage in Latin American countries. All these diverse research papers will shed light on the intricate and complex interactions and interdependencies between Arab diaspora communities and will generate new insights into diverse aspects of South-to-South solidarities between Latin American and Middle Eastern states and communities.
The keynote lecture for this workshop will be held by Prof. Dr. Lily Balloffet, Associate Professor at the Social Sciences Division (Department for Latin American & Latino Studies) at UC Santa Cruz and author of Argentina in the Global Middle East (Stanford University Press, June 2020). In her keynote lecture she will analyze and present 'Middle East Mobilities in the Caribbean Basin'.
This workshop is not public, if you however have a strong academic or personal interest in the workshop or individual panels, please contact Katrin.koester@uni-leipzig.de.
Draft Program
THURSDAY, 31.10.2024
10:45 – 11:00 - Welcome
11:00 – 12:00 - Panel 1: Socio-Economic Networks
Medeiros Coelho, José Rafael (University of Groningen, Netherlands, online)
From Antioch to São Paulo: Entangled Histories and the Formation of Arab Christian Diaspora Networks (1889-1939)
Vogt, Rea (University of Bern, Switzerland, in person)
A Diasporic Drink: Importing Argentinian Yerba Mate to Lebanon (1930s-1990s)
12:00 – 12:15 - Coffee Break
12:15 – 13:15 - Panel 2: Identity Formation in the Diaspora
Álvarez Cabello, Pablo (Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile, online,)
Arab Muslims in Chile. Everyday life of a religious community
Atri Mizrahi, Clairette (Graduate Center (CUNY) in New York City, online)
Arab-Jews in Latin America
13:15 – 14:15 - Panel 3: Heritage and Identity
Jiménez, Scarlette (New Yourk University Abu Dhabi, in person)
Preservation of Arab heritage among diaspora communities in Peru and Brazil
Wintzell, Gus (University of Alabama in Huntsville, USA, in person)
Interaction between first, second, and third generation Arab immigrants in Buenos Aires and Rosario, Argentina
14:15 – 15:15 – Lunch Break
15:15 – 16:45 – Panel 4: Palestinian Identity and Activism in the Diaspora
El Kurd, Dana (University of Richmond, USA, online)
Activism in the Palestinian Chilean Community
Fallas, Amy (Fordham University, USA / Orient-Institute Beirut, Lebanon, in person)
“Extranjeros Indeseables: ”Migration, Religion, and Racialization of Palestinians in 20th Century El Salvador"
Hodali, Suleiman Ramzi (UC Los Angeles, online)
The historical formation of Palestinian national consciousness through the lens of the diasporic communities of Chile (1930s-present)
16:45 – 17:15 – Small Break
17:15 – 19:15 – Film Screening (Optional)
Memory Box by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
https://www.berlinale.de/en/2021/programme/202102306.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liolNU92Uqw
FRIDAY, 01.11.2024
11:00 – 12:00 - Keynote Lecture
Lily Ballofet (UC Santa Cruz, in person)
'Middle East Mobilities in the Caribbean Basin'
12:00 – 12:45 – Research Ressources (tbc)
Roberto Khatlab (Beirut, Lebanon online)
Presentation of the Latin American Collection at USEK Library, Beirut, Lebanon
12:45 – 13:00 - Coffee Break
13:00 - 14:30 Panel 5: Art and Culture Across Continents
Wolf, Olivia (Loyola University Chicago, online)
Art and architecture of the Syrian and Lebanese diaspora in Argentina & Brazil
Bennett, Kirsty (Lancaster University, UK, in person, only 01.+02.11. in the afternoon)
Arabic/Latin American music behind the ‘Iron Curtain’ in the late 50s/early 60s culture
Guirguis, Laure (Freie Universität Berlin / Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, in person)
Latin-Arab artistic hubs, in the interplay between competing imperial projects and anti-imperialist movements, 1920s-2020s
14:30 - 15:30 - Lunch Break
15:30 – 16:30 - Panel 6: International Politics I
Camacho Padilla, Fernando (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, in person)
Relations between Mexico and Iran in the 1970s
Jacob-Lakrimid, Meret (Free University Berlin, Germany, in person)
The Mad Dog’s chase for his Strays: How transnational repression shaped the Libyan diaspora under Muammar al-Qadhafi (1969-2011)
16: 30 – 17: 30 – Panel 7: International Politics II
Lob, Eric (Florida University, USA -6h)
Military Cooperation
Zwick, Maja (Free University Berlin, Germany)
Cuba’s South-South solidarity and the emergence of new diasporas. The case of the Saharawi refugee camps in Algeria
19:30 Workshop Dinner (optional, self-funded)
At Moritz-Bastei Leipzig
SATURDAY, 02.11.2024
11:00 – 12:00 Panel 8: Intellectual Networks I
Cruz Romero, Roberto (German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies, Berlin, in person)
"Knowledge production and shared epistemic networks"
De Moya-Guerra, Laura C. (Rutgers University, USA, online)
Arab Immigrants in Colombia and their Homeland: Local Sources for Transnational Stories
12:00 – 13:00 Panel 9: Intellectual Networks II
Köster, Katrin (Leipzig University, Germany, in person)
ʿAlawī Intellectuals between the Syrian homeland and the Latin American diaspora. A case study on the journalist, author and politician ʿAbdallaṭīf al-Yūnis (1914-2013)
Stephano de Queiroz, Christina (Federal University of São Paulo, Brasil, online)
Mussa Kuraiem, Jamil Almansur Haddad and Assis Feres: messengers between worlds
13:00 – 14:00 – Lunch and Final Discussion