Diasporic Social Mobilization and Political Participation during the Arab Uprisings

The Arab protest movements of 2010-2011 gave momentum and inspiration to unprecedented political mobilisations of migrants of Arab origin, whether first generation, second generation, or more, in Europe, North and South-America. This book analyses the essential yet understudied role of Arab diasporas during the Arab revolutions, dissecting the new forms of diasporic mobilisations that emerged during the ?Arab Spring? and that were borrowed as much from the home countries? repertoire of innovations as from global movements? tactics from Wall Street to Sao Paulo.

This collection is a very timely and much-welcome contribution to our understanding of the nexus between immigration and integration. At a time when the engagement of European youth in faraway violent conflicts is hitting the headlines all over Europe, this book offers balanced and renewed academic perspectives on migrants belonging, analysing how migrants use political engagement to assert their belonging in newly-imagined home countries and, conversely, how they get involved in the politics of their origin countries to bolster their identity in host nations. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies.

Introduction: Social Mobilization and Political Participation in the Diaspora During the "Arab Spring"1. Moroccan Diaspora in France and the February 20 Movement in Morocco2. The U.S. Coptic Diaspora and the Limit of Polarization3. Diaspora Mobilization for Western Military Intervention During the Arab Spring4. To What Extent Can the January 25 Revolution Be Seen as a "Bifurcation" in the Life Stories of Egyptian Migrants in France?5. Algiers–Paris Round Trips: Diasporic Pathways of a Public Civil Dissidence6. Building Support for the Asad Regime: The Syrian Diaspora in Argentina and Brazil and the Syrian Uprising7. Diaspora Mobilizations in the Egyptian (Post)Revolutionary Process: Comparing Transnational Political Participation in Paris and Vienna

Claire Beaugrand is a researcher at the Institut Français du Proche Orient, Jerusalem, Israel. She is one of the core team members of the European research Council-funded ‘When Authoritarianism Fails in the Arab World’ (WAFAW) project. Her research focuses on issues of nationality, transnational networks, political exiles and social margins as entry points to understand the evolution of internal and external.

Vincent Geisser is a research fellow at the CNRS, based at the Institut Français du Proche Orient, Jerusalem, Israel. He is a core team member of the European research Council-funded ‘When Authoritarianism Fails in the Arab World’ (WAFAW) project, in charge of its programme on "Diasporas and Arab revolutions and transitions".