Institute for Migration Studies

Research Funding

The Institute for Migration Studies was awarded CAD 331,000 November 2008 by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) , to embark on a three-year research project that aims to describe and analyze the role of Lebanese politics in the Diaspora and its impact on the political process in Lebanon.

The research project entitled “Home Politics Abroad: The Role of the Lebanese Diaspora in Conflict, Peace Building and Democratic Development.”, will be lead by Dr. Paul Tabar, Director of the Institute for Migration Studies, with Dr. Jennifer Skulte-Ouaiss as a lead researcher.

“We are very grateful for this opportunity and very excited about the project,” said Dr. Tabar. He went on to note that “This research is much needed as the inter-political relationship between Lebanon and its Diaspora communities has been under examined and hardly researched.”, he explained.

The general problem the research seeks to examine is what role does the Lebanese Diaspora play in the politics of their ‘homeland’ and in turn what is the role of ‘homeland’ politics in the Lebanese Diaspora?

In addition, the project hopes to identify problems and obstacles facing the Diaspora in exerting its influence over politics in Lebanon, both in countries of settlement and in the homeland. It will also map the transnational community networks of the Lebanese Diaspora involved in politics and their inter-relations outside as well as inside Lebanon, paying special attention to the role of gender. Moreover, it will explore the size and impact of “remittances” supporting public engagement, and political parties at ‘home’ based on a sample of publicly engaged Diasporans in a select number of countries. Finally, it will explore the role of religious organizations, especially the Maronite Church as a leading Diasporan institution, and their mobilization of the Diaspora for the sake of influencing home politics.

Looking at these crucial issues will help the project achieve the goals of exploring the role of the Diaspora in Lebanese political conflicts and/or peace building and democratization, and making an informed contribution to the current debate about future policy regarding the political role of the Diaspora in Lebanese politics, and finally to promote Lebanese Diaspora engagement in peace building and decrease its (assumed) engagement in conflict continuation.

IMS applied for research funding from these three different sources during 2007-2008 and is awaiting their decisions:

Qatar Foundation (US$25,000)
Post Capacity Building in Resource Mobilization (CBRM) Training – Mini Grants, IDRC (US$5,000)
Two research grant applications (US$12,000 each) submitted to The Middle East Council of Churches, one on Iraqi refugees in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, and the other on Ethiopian domestic workers in Lebanon.

Research Related Activities and Publications

Dr. Tabar was an invited speaker at a Public Hearing on “The Changing Ecclesial Context: Impact of Migration on Living Together in Diversity” organized by the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches on April 14, 2008. Dr. Tabar presented a paper on “Multiculturalism: the Australian experience and its relevance to Arab societies”.
Dr. Tabar was invited by the Arab Journal of Sociology to act as a guest editor of a special issue on Migration in Arab countries. The issue was published in May 2008.
Dr. Tabar has a forthcoming chapter called ‘Cronulla riots: community leadership, generational and class conflicts’, in Greg Noble (ed) Lines in the Sand: The Cronulla Riots and the Limits of Australian Multiculturalism. (Sydney Institute of Criminology Press.)
IMS is publishing a book called (forthcoming) On Being Lebanese in Australia: Identity, Racism and the Ethnic Field. The book, currently peer reviewed, is co-authored by Dr. Tabar, P., Noble, G. and Poynting, P.
The European University Institute via CARIM, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, has commissioned Dr. Tabar to write a paper (40 pages) on the political role of the Arab Diaspora in Australia.
Dr. Skulte-Ouaiss was invited to participate in a three-week workshop, “Florence School on Euro-Mediterranean Migration and Development” held at the Robert Schumann Center at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, in June 2007.
Dr. Skulte-Ouaiss was invited to contribute a chapter on female migration from the Baltic states in “Gender Matters in the Baltics” to be published in Spring 2008 by the University of Latvia Press.
Faculty working at IMS are increasingly peer reviewing articles related to Arab migration. The request for this service is coming from a number of internationally refereed journals, such as Anthropological Forum, National Identities, Journal of Australian Studies and Journal for Intercultural Studies.