My Mother's Table

"This book is an interesting, sound and compelling study and the first in examining a migrant community (i.e. the Hadchiti community in Australia and America) by using an anthropological perspective, in a time framework which no one else has done before. The novelty in her study is in the critical and creative application of the current literature on migrant identity, racism and the second generation, and essential concepts such as liminality, belonging and homeliness, to the case...
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"This book is an interesting, sound and compelling study and the first in examining a migrant community (i.e. the Hadchiti community in Australia and America) by using an anthropological perspective, in a time framework which no one else has done before. The novelty in her study is in the critical and creative application of the current literature on migrant identity, racism and the second generation, and essential concepts such as liminality, belonging and homeliness, to the case study of Hadchiti emigration. Most particularly, her analysis of the Hadchiti identity and its relation with the contested gender structure of the migrant family is very powerful and revealing. Her argument about the articulation of the identity of the first generation with the gender structure of the family and how the hyphenated character of the second generation's identity is made contingent upon the sense of homeliness generated by their mum's cooking is quite innovative. In the end, this study gives more substance to the concept of a 'deterritorialised identity' found in the literature on migration. In fact Hyndman-Rizk succeeds in showing that the identity of Hadchitis is not only de-territorialised, but also acquires its meaning from this de-territorialisation and associated liminality. I recommend this book as an important contribution to the study of Lebanese emigration and the relationship between home and mobility." Dr Paul Tabar, Associate Professor of Sociology, Institute for Migration Studies, Lebanese American University "I strongly recommend this study of a global Lebanese village as providing an excellent social history of contemporary Lebanese migration, the social and cultural re-articulation of Hadchiti identity in a new world re-imagined as a global diaspora centred on Hadchit. It provides a rich ethnography based on a phenomenological approach which links everyday practices to large scale processes of identity formation, belonging and community as a transnational phenomenon." Michael Humphrey, Professor of Sociology, University of Sydney, Sydney