When Heritage Becomes Horizon: The Acquisition of Extra-Territorial Citizenship among Lebanese in Argentina

Abstract

The sedentariness of the nation-state (emerging from its territoriality) sets it at odds with human mobility of different types and scales, but particularly so with international migration. In this article we are concerned with the different strategies states deploy for the construction of nationhood and citizenry when faced with mmigration and emigration. We focus on heritage and horizon to think citizenship practices as they relate to Levantine immigrants in Argentina, their descendants, and the relationships established with modern-day Lebanon. We are particularly interested in the moment of transformation from foreigner to national and from non-citizen to citizen. We further point to the misalignment between the ways in which different Lebanese institutions promote extraterritorial citizenship, and the motives latent citizens express for pursuing it. We show that the acquisition of Lebanese extra-territorial citizenship is not based on pragmatic motives but is the result of a re-ethnicization attempt and that there are inverted configurations of heritage and horizon in Argentine and Lebanese citizenship and nationality practices.