ABSTRACT
Surprisingly little is known about the Lebanese communities in West Africa and their connection to Lebanon. This chapter investigates the role of migration and governmentality in transformations of Lebanese identities in Senegal. Ethno-national identity exhibited by those in the diaspora can sometimes be a response to their exclusion from national belonging in their country of residence. Uniting as a ‘secular’ ethnic group helped to counter discrimination faced by Lebanese Muslims and Christians first under French colonialism and later from the independent Senegalese state. Over time sectarianism ceased to divide migrants and religion instead became a shared element of Lebanese diasporic culture. Yet religious rituals can be another way of reinforcing belonging to the homeland while unintentionally representing the host society as not home. The 2006 Lebanon War led to pressures to return to religious divisions as Shi’i Islam became equated with Lebanese nationalism. In this example, an established diaspora community embraced newfound transnational connections, which became an impediment to diasporic belonging.
