Being Arab

by Eid, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780773532229
• ISBN10: 0773532226
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-04-01
• Publisher: McGill Queens Univ

Summary

Arabs in North America are often perceived to be a monolithic group. Being Arab explores how Muslim and Christian Arab-Canadian youth actually negotiate their ethnic and religious identities. Focusing on the experiences of students from five colleges in Montreal, Paul Eid considers the influence of parental socialization, gender-related traditionalism, and perceived discrimination and stereotyping. Eid looks at the significance of religion to ethnic identity building, a largely understudied issue in ethnic studies, and the extent to which social and cultural practices are structured along ethnic and religious lines. Being Arab also analyzes whether gendered traditions act as identity markers for young Canadians of Arab descent and whether men and women hold different views on traditional gender roles, especially regarding power within romantic relationships and sexuality.Being Arab pays close attention to the views of second-generation Arab-Canadians about prejudice and discrimination in Canadian society, particularly in the media. Eid finds that the Arab youth in this study generally feel accepted by Canadians but often downplay their Arab background as a way to ward off anticipated prejudice. He also offers an insightful account of why children of Arab immigrants seem to experience and react differently to intolerance in Canada and in France.

Table of Contents

The Arab presence and identity in Canada	p. 3
Historical background of Arab immigration to Canada	p. 3
National identity in the postcolonial Arab world : the role of religion	p. 13
A sociodemographic profile of Arab Canadians today	p. 16
Building ethnic and religious identity	p. 20
Deconstructing ethnic identity	p. 20
When religion and ethnicity meet	p. 32
Methodological concerns	p. 41
Ingroup and outgroup boundaries : structural factors	p. 47
The role of prejudice and discrimination	p. 47
Gender traditions as ethnoreligious identity markers	p. 57
The place of ethnicity in their lives	p. 62
The global index of ethnic identity : a quantitative outlook	p. 63
Self-labelling patterns	p. 65
Attitudes towards ethnic endogamy	p. 74
Cultural exposure and practice	p. 81
Ingroup friendship	p. 86
Parental commitment to ethnic identity transmission	p. 93
The place of religion in their lives	p. 103
The global index of religious identity : quantitative outlook	p. 103
The importance of religion in their lives	p. 106
Attitudes towards religious endogamy	p. 109
Ritual observance	p. 112
Participation in religious social affairs	p. 118
Concluding remarks	p. 119
Attitudes toward gender traditions	p. 122
Gender tradition scale : a quantitative look	p. 124
Marital power relations	p. 125
Premarital virginity	p. 134
Premarital dating	p. 142
Female virginity and family reputation	p. 146
Perceived prejudice and discrimination	p. 151
Perceived negative stereotyping	p. 154
Sef-experienced anti-Arab discrmination	p. 166
A comparison with France	p. 174
Variable and index measurement
Coding of variables
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