In this thesis, I examine and compare the Socioeconomic Status and the Subjective Social Status of the naturalized at the time of naturalization and 15 years after in order to explore how, notwithstanding other factors, the naturalized perceive their situation pre and post-naturalization. I analyze the strength of the association between citizenship acquisition/naturalization and socioeconomic mobility and political participation through Socioeconomic Status (SES) and Subjective Social Status (SSS) among 164 Kurds who were naturalized Lebanese by the Presidential Decree 5247/1994 of June 20, 1994. I also examine their political participation through voting and political partisanship in order to test the theory whether their political engagement at the beginning of the process shifted downward to a state of political apathy in the years since their naturalization, and whether there is a significant gap between them and the native-born in voting turnout.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER II – CHARTING THE TERRITORY
1. Theoretical Framework
1.1 Acquisition of Citizenship/Naturalization
1.2 Socioeconomic Status (SES) and Subjective Social Status
1.3 Political Participation
1.4 Research Questions
CHAPTER III – CONTEXTUALIZING THE KURDS’ CITIZENSHIP IN LEBANON
1. Naturalizing Foreigners into Nationals
1.1 The Basis of the Lebanese Nationality Law
1.2 The First Lebanese Nationality Law
1.3 Statelessness in Lebanon
1.4 The Naturalization Decree # 5247
2. The Kurds’ Migration to Lebanon
2.1 Lebanon’s Historical Context
2.2 Who are the Kurds?
2.3 The Kurds’ Population and Settlement in Lebanon
2.4 Composition of the Kurds of Lebanon
CHAPTER IV – RESEARCH DESIGN
1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1 Sampling through Snowball Technique
2.2 Questionnaire
2.3 Interviews
3. Data Management
3.1 Quantitative
3.2 Qualitative
3.3 Limitations
4. Data Processing, Analysis and Researching
5. Operational Field Measures
CHAPTER V – FIELD SURVEY EMPIRICAL RESULTS: SOCIOECONOMIC MOBILITY
1. Introduction
2. Immigration History
2.1 Reasons for Acquiring Lebanese Nationality
2.2 Year of Immigration
2.3 Reasons for Immigrating
3. Legal Status at Naturalization
3.1 Dual Citizenship
3.2 Qayd al-Dars Identification Card
4. Socio-Demographic Data
4.1 Country of Birth
4.2 Age in 1994
4.3 Gender
4.4 Marital Status
4.5 Religious Affiliation
4.6 Spoken Language
4.7 Identity
5. Socioeconomic Situation of the Respondents at the Time of Naturalization and 15 Years After
5.1 Educational Profile
5.2 Economic Profile at the Time of Naturalization and After
5.2.1 Occupation
5.2.2 Source of Income
5.2.3 Aid from Family, Friends, and Organizations
5.2.4 Level of Income in US Dollars
5.2.5 Residence Ownership Rate
5.2.6 Having a Bank Account
5.2.7 Subjective Social Status
5.2.8 Subjective Perception of Economic Improvement
5.2.9 Factors Affecting Individuals
5.2.10 Children’s Future Economic Status
5.3 Discrimination Post-Naturalization: How Lebanese Treat Kurds Post Naturalization
CHAPTER VI – EMPIRICAL RESULTS: VOTING PATTERN AND POLITICAL AFILIATION
1. Introduction
2. The Lebanese Electoral System
3. Voting in the Elections (1996-2010)
4. Reasons for Voting and Voting Influence
5. Kurds Represented in the Parliament
6. Political Party and Labor Union Association
CHAPTER VII – FROM NON-CITIZENS/DENIZENS TO CITIZENS
CHAPTER VIII – CONCLUSION
1. The Argument
2. Rationale for the Case
3. Major Findings
Research Objectives & Themes
This study examines the intragenerational socioeconomic mobility and political participation of Kurds in Lebanon who were naturalized by the 1994 Decree. It investigates whether acquiring citizenship significantly improved their quality of life, economic standing, and political agency, while analyzing how they navigate the Lebanese sectarian clientelist system.
- Impact of citizenship on socioeconomic mobility and intragenerational life trajectories.
- Role of the patron-client system and 'wasta' in the political participation of naturalized groups.
- The relationship between nativity status, voter turnout, and political mobilization.
- Identity shifts and self-identification patterns among naturalized Kurds post-citizenship.
- The influence of Lebanese sectarianism on the integration and political representation of ethnic minorities.
Book Excerpt
1.1 Acquisition Of Citizenship/Naturalization
Naturalization is a legal process through which a foreign-born individual may be granted citizenship. From the beginning of the early modern era in which the nation-state took form, the knotty problem of deciding who was and who was not a citizen has been resolved by policymakers in various ways. The most common method has been to transpose the principle of lineage, which determined status – royal, aristocratic, bourgeois - to the new system of the state by making citizenship a right by descent: all who are born to citizens become citizens. Descent is not an unambiguous category: Lebanon, for instance, defines citizenship descent by the gender of the progenitor, so that being born to a male Lebanese father is its defining characteristic. However, descent does not dispose of the citizenship problem, since there remains a considerable population which, for one reason or another, may be residing in a country in which they were not born.
Furthermore, this population may also reproduce within that country, thus producing a generation of non-citizens. Some framework is called for to organize “the principles and practices for incorporating aliens and strangers, immigrants and newcomers, refugees and asylum seekers, into the existing polities” (Benhabib 2004: I). Each nation-state has created a naturalization protocol, which spells out the qualifying conditions for applying for citizenship and the procedures that the applicant must follow in order to be granted citizenship. Once citizenship is granted the alien is invested with rights and privileges as well as obligations of a native or citizen. Each state of the world has established rules and regulations to administer the attribution of citizenship. Some countries are more rigid in the barrier to naturalization than others.
Summary of Chapters
CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION: This chapter contextualizes the modern concept of citizenship and outlines the research focus on the naturalized Kurds in Lebanon, introducing the study's core themes of mobility and political participation.
CHAPTER II – CHARTING THE TERRITORY: This section establishes the theoretical framework, defining citizenship acquisition, socioeconomic status (SES), subjective social status (SSS), and the key research questions guiding the study.
CHAPTER III – CONTEXTUALIZING THE KURDS’ CITIZENSHIP IN LEBANON: This chapter provides a historical overview of Lebanese nationality laws and the trajectory of Kurdish migration, settlement, and composition within the country.
CHAPTER IV – RESEARCH DESIGN: This section details the methodology, including the use of a survey with 164 respondents, the application of snowball sampling, and the challenges encountered during fieldwork in a volatile political environment.
CHAPTER V – FIELD SURVEY EMPIRICAL RESULTS: SOCIOECONOMIC MOBILITY: This chapter presents findings on the immigrants' history, legal status, and significant improvements in their socioeconomic situation, including educational profiles, income, and residence ownership, 15 years after naturalization.
CHAPTER VI – EMPIRICAL RESULTS: VOTING PATTERN AND POLITICAL AFILIATION: This chapter documents the high political participation of naturalized Kurds, analyzing their voting turnout in the context of Lebanon's sectarian, clientelist system.
CHAPTER VII – FROM NON-CITIZENS/DENIZENS TO CITIZENS: This chapter compares the rights of non-citizens, denizens, and native citizens, highlighting the critical importance of citizenship for access to public sector employment, loans, and political rights.
CHAPTER VIII – CONCLUSION: The concluding chapter synthesizes the research findings, confirming that while naturalization significantly improves socioeconomic mobility, the political empowerment of the Kurds remains constrained by the patron-client system.
Keywords
Naturalization, Citizenship, Lebanon, Kurds, Socioeconomic Mobility, Political Participation, Statelessness, Patron-Client System, Qayd al-Dars, Voting Behavior, Integration, Intragenerational Mobility, Sectarianism, Subjective Social Status, Identity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this research primarily about?
This research analyzes the impact of the 1994 naturalization decree in Lebanon on the socioeconomic mobility and political participation of the Kurdish population residing in Beirut.
What are the central thematic areas of the study?
The core themes include the transition from statelessness to citizenship, the role of patron-client relationships in voting behavior, the socioeconomic improvement of the cohort 15 years post-naturalization, and shifts in ethnic and national identity.
What is the primary research question?
The primary question explores whether acquiring Lebanese citizenship had a causal, statistically significant impact on the socioeconomic status and political engagement of the formerly stateless naturalized Kurds.
Which scientific methodology is employed?
The study utilizes a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative survey data from 164 respondents with qualitative insights from biographical and expert interviews to triangulate findings.
What topics does the main part of the book address?
The main sections cover the historical context of Lebanese citizenship, the specific immigration patterns of Kurds, empirical survey findings on their socioeconomic advancement, and detailed analysis of their electoral participation.
Which key terms describe this work?
Key terms include Naturalization, Citizenship, Lebanon, Kurds, Socioeconomic Mobility, Patron-Client System, and Political Participation.
How does the clientelist system affect the naturalized Kurds?
The system creates a paradox where naturalized citizens participate in elections at high rates to maintain access to resources and protection from political patrons, yet they lack autonomous political representation and feel misrepresented as an ethnic group.
What is the "inverse nativity gap" described in the book?
Contrary to standard "nativity gap" theories where naturalized citizens are less politically active, the study finds that naturalized Kurds in Lebanon vote at significantly higher rates than the native-born, driven largely by their reliance on political machines.
What is the significance of the "Qayd al-Dars" status?
This status represented a form of "denizenship" for stateless residents, which severely restricted access to public sector jobs, education, and property ownership before the 1994 naturalization decree.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Guita Hourani (Autor:in), 2012, Understanding Socio-Economic and Political Mobility of Naturalized Kurds in Lebanon, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/389063
