Primordialism and mobilization among Syrian-Lebanese in Sydney : a three generational analysis

Abstract

Sociologists are currently polarized over how to account for the alleged ethnic revival around the world, "Primordialists" argue that ethnic resurgence can best be explained by reference to cultural factors and the socialization process. "Mobilizationists" counter with the claim that ethnic traits are manipulated by people in order to gain access to scarce resources. These diametrically opposed theses have been used to explain the phenomenon of "third generation return" among descendants of European immigrants in North America. In the present study, I use data from a case study of Syrian-Lebanese in Sydney to explore the third generation hypothesise In the first chapter I examine the strengths and deficiencies of the primordial and mobilizationist viewpoints and present the rationale for the study. In chapters two and three I discuss the conceptual and methodological approaches to be used. In chapter four I give a synopsis of contemporary Lebanese society, including the major historical forces which have affected its development. In chapter five I examine Syrian- Lebanese migration to Australia in the context of the larger diaspora which occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The changes in ethnic organization and ethnic identity among Syrian-Lebanese are analyzed in chapters six and seven. In chapter eight I specifically explore primordial and mobilizationist tendencies among Syrian-Lebanese, Overall, the data does not confirm the mobilizationist thesis and gives only weak support to the primordial argument«, In terms of involvement in and identification with Lebanese institutions, the third generation evidence a pattern of decline rather than return. By using the data and empirical illustrations from other studies, I illustrate the insufficiency of dichotomizing primordial and mobilizationist tendencies. A matrix model is provided in order to demonstrate that mobilization and primordialism are complementary rather than competing ethnic manifestations. Implications of the study at the applied and substantive levels are discussed in the concluding chapter.