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‘Not like those Lebs’: intra-ethnic distinction and conditional citizenship in regional Australia

Fadi Baghdadi

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Pages: 1 - 23

Swansea University Author: Fadi Baghdadi

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/1369183x.2025.2576612

Abstract

This article explores how Lebanese Muslims in the regional Australian city of Wollongong navigate conditional citizenship through intra-ethnic distinction. Drawing on 38 semi-structured interviews with participants spanning four generations of migrants from the southern Lebanese village of Marj el-Z...

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Published in: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
ISSN: 1369-183X 1469-9451
Published: Informa UK Limited 2025
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70694
Abstract: This article explores how Lebanese Muslims in the regional Australian city of Wollongong navigate conditional citizenship through intra-ethnic distinction. Drawing on 38 semi-structured interviews with participants spanning four generations of migrants from the southern Lebanese village of Marj el-Zhour, this study illustrates how they distinguish themselves from the stigma attached to Lebanese Muslims in Western Sydney. Building on the work of Bourdieu, Rosaldo, Derrida, and Fanon, the analysis develops a framework conceptualising four interrelated dimensions of conditional citizenship – social, cultural, discursive, and psychological – to examine how everyday practices of intra-ethnic distinction are mobilised across generations. Although regional settlement is promoted as a pathway to inclusion, participants described heightened cultural visibility, self-regulation, and feelings of exclusion. This study contributes to debates on cultural citizenship and everyday multiculturalism, highlighting how conditionality is negotiated not only between ethnic groups but also within them.
Keywords: Lebanese diaspora; Multiculturalism; Intra-ethnic distinction; Conditional Citizenship; Regional Australia
College: Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
Funders: This research was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) scholarship provided by the Australian Government.
Start Page: 1
End Page: 23

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