Before his assassination in 2005, Samir Kassir was one of Lebanon’s foremost public intellectuals. In Being Arab, a thought-provoking assessment of Arab identity, he calls on the people of the Middle East to reject both Western double standards and Islamism in order to take the future into their own hands. Passionately written and brilliantly argued, this rallying cry for change has now been heard by millions.

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.

This book is the first ethnographic exploration of gender, race and class practices amongst British born or raised Arabs in London. Ramy M.K. Aly looks critically at the idea of 'Arab-ness' and the ways in which ethnic subjects are produced, signified and recited in the city. Looking at everyday spaces, encounters and discourses, the book explores the lives of young people and some of the ways in which they 'do' or achieve 'Arab-ness'. Aly's ethnography uncovers narratives of growing up in London, the codes of sociability at Shisha cafes and the sexual politics and ethnic self-portraits which make British-Arab men and women. Drawing on the work of Judith Butler, Aly emphasises the need to move away from the notion of identity and towards a performative reading of race, gender and class. What emerges is a highly innovative contribution to the study of diaspora and difference in contemporary Britain.

Before his assassination in 2005, Samir Kassir was one of Lebanon's foremost public intellectuals. In Being Arab, a thought-provoking assessment of Arab identity, he calls on the people of the Middle East to reject both Western double standards and Islamism in order to take the future into their own hands. Passionately written and brilliantly argued, this rallying cry for change has now been heard by millions.

“Bayoumi offers a revealing portrait of life for people who are often scrutinized but seldom heard from.” —Booklist (starred review) “Wholly intelligent and sensitively-drawn, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? is an important investigation into the hearts and minds of young Arab-Americans. This significant and eminently readable work breaks through preconceptions and delivers a fresh take on a unique and vital community. Moustafa Bayoumi's voice is refreshingly frank, personable, and true.” —Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Origin, Crescent, and The Language of Baklava An eye-opening look at how young Arab- and Muslim-Americans are forging lives for themselves in a country that often mistakes them for the enemy Just over a century ago , W.E.B. Du Bois posed a probing question in his classic The Souls of Black Folk: How does it feel to be a problem? Now, Moustafa Bayoumi asks the same about America's new "problem"-Arab- and Muslim-Americans. Bayoumi takes readers into the lives of seven twenty-somethings living in Brooklyn, home to the largest Arab-American population in the United States. He moves beyond stereotypes and clichés to reveal their often unseen struggles, from being subjected to government surveillance to the indignities of workplace discrimination. Through it all, these young men and women persevere through triumphs and setbacks as they help weave the tapestry of a new society that is, at its heart, purely American.

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.

Alixa Naff explores the experiences of Arabic-speaking immigrants to the United States before World War II, focusing on the pre-World War I pioneering generation that set the pattern for settlement and assimilation. Unlike many immigrants who were driven to the United States by dreams of industrial jobs or to escape religious or economic persecution, these artisans and owners of small, disconnected plots of land came to America to engage in the enterprise of peddling. Most of these immigrants planned to stay two or three years and return to their homelands wealthier and prouder than when they left.