Books by Marta Wozniak-Bobinska
Modern Assyrian/Syriac Diaspora in Sweden, 2020
The monograph discusses up-to-date issues concerning the acculturation of a Middle Eastern group ... more The monograph discusses up-to-date issues concerning the acculturation of a Middle Eastern group in a European country. The book is based on research conducted by the Author in 2014 in the Assyrian/Syriac diaspora in Sweden, within the framework of the “Defining and Identifying Middle Eastern Christian Communities in Europe” project. Assyrians/Syriacs (Assyrier/Syrianer) began to arrive in Scandinavia in the late 1960s, fleeing the wars and meagre economic prospects in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Today, they constitute an active diaspora which contributes in various ways to the development of its new homeland and numbers around 150 000 people. The Author describes Swedish migration and integration policies, the history of the Assyrian/Syriac community in the Middle East, the phases and forms of institutionalisation in Sweden, internal dynamics as well as the group’s relations with external actors and its transnational links. One of the main findings of the book is that the ethno-national identity of this community was largely constructed in the Swedish diaspora and is considerably more complex than it had previously been described in research. The identity in question is not a single construct, but rather a few – if not a few dozen – variants, although polarisation resulting from the divide between Assyrians and Arameans/Suryoye/Syriacs is visible.
Publikacja powstała na podstawie badań Autorki przeprowadzonych wśród społeczności asyryjsko-aram... more Publikacja powstała na podstawie badań Autorki przeprowadzonych wśród społeczności asyryjsko-aramejskiej w Szwecji. Asyryjczycy/Aramejczycy trafili do Skandynawii w późnych latach 60. XX wieku, uciekając z Turcji, Syrii, Iraku i Libanu przed wojnami oraz brakiem perspektyw. Obecnie stanowią prężną, liczącą ponad sto dwadzieścia tysięcy osób diasporę, która na różne sposoby przyczynia się do rozwoju swojej przybranej ojczyzny. Szwedzki model, aczkolwiek niedoskonały, w ich przypadku się sprawdził. Autorka opisuje politykę migracyjną i integracyjną Szwecji, etapy i formy instytucjonalizacji w tym kraju, historię wspólnoty asyryjsko-aramejskiej na Bliskim Wschodzie, dynamikę wewnętrzną tej grupy i jej relacje z otoczeniem oraz powiązania transnarodowe. W monografii został poruszony niezwykle aktualny temat, jakim jest akulturacja osób z Bliskiego Wschodu w Europie. Podjęto go jednak z nowej na gruncie polskim perspektywy – ukazując, jak z integracją radzą sobie bliskowschodni chrześcijanie.
Introduction to Foreign Policy of Muslim States in the Middle East and North Africa (Warsaw 2018... more Introduction to Foreign Policy of Muslim States in the Middle East and North Africa (Warsaw 2018, pp. 476, in Polish), edited by Marta Wozniak-Bobinska, PhD, and Anna M. Solarz, PhD, is first in Poland and one of few in the world compendia on foreign policy of Arabic states, Turkey and Iran. The book consists of 15 chapters discussing policy of different Muslim states, methodological preface and afterword outlining the recent events in the region. It is a result of cooperation between 17 researchers from 9 academies in Poland. Apart from information on history, polical systems, intrests and main directions of foreign policy of Middle Eastern states, it includes the decriptions of bilateral relations between the most important partners and rivals. The volume is intended for students of interntional relations and political studies, journalists, policymakers, businessmen, as well as all interested in MENA region.
The book concerns the process of identity formation among modern Assyrians and Arameans – a Chris... more The book concerns the process of identity formation among modern Assyrians and Arameans – a Christian minority from the Middle East. Until the beginning of 20th century the community developed strong collective identity, based on the belonging to one of the Oriental Churches and Aramaic language. Currently, the group is undergoing a process of national identity construction. The latter splits into at least two sub-identities – Assyrian and Aramean. The book consists of four parts: theoretical framework, historical background in the Middle East, modern history in the diaspora, as well as sociological analysis of 13 in-depth interviews and results of 796 online surveys. The book advances a thesis that the original ethno-religious identity of Assyrians and Arameans transforms into more ethno-national one in the diaspora.
Papers by Marta Wozniak-Bobinska
Studia Religiologica
There has been an academic interest in fatwas regarding abortion since the 1980s (Anees 1989; Ris... more There has been an academic interest in fatwas regarding abortion since the 1980s (Anees 1989; Rispler-Chaim 1993, 2003; Faúndes, Barzelatto 2006). With the globalisation of ummah – the Islamic community – and the expansion of the internet, online fatwas have started to provide normative answers to inquiries from Muslims from all over the world. Van den Branden and Broeckaert researched non-voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide expressed in English e-fatwas (2009, 2011). Using their approach and framing e-fatwas in the context of Roy’s view on the virtual Islamic community (2000, we have selected and analysed eighty English Sunni e-fatwas on abortion. On the level of structure, these e-fatwas are very similar – often rooted in the Quran and Sunna but not classical jurisprudential discussions on the subject. On the level of content, they do not deviate from Islamic jurisprudence, which does not encourage abortion but permits it in particular circumstances during specific stages of...
Nations and Nationalism, 2024
This article sheds new light on the Aramean movement in northern Israel, drawing from studies on ... more This article sheds new light on the Aramean movement in northern Israel, drawing from studies on nationalism, racialisation, ethnic conflict and minority mobilisation. In 2014, Israel allowed members of several churches to identify as Aramean. The pivotal role in the Aramean minority's distancing of itself from the Arab identity was played by the Israeli Christian Aramaic Association (ICAA). Specifying and partially adapting Yusri Hazran's concept of 'Druzification', meaning the Israelis' conscious policy of minoritising indigenous populations and encouraging their conscription to the army, the term 'Druzification from below' is proposed to stress the bottom-up character of the Aramean movement in the north of the country as well as the agency of Middle Eastern Christians. My general standpoint is that 'Druzification from below' can be perceived as an adaptive strategy-a survival response to structural political conditions and urbicidal practices of the ethnocratic state and adaptation to external threats.
Historia i Polityka, Mar 9, 2017
This paper attempts to present Sino-Mideast relations in terms of economic interdependence theory... more This paper attempts to present Sino-Mideast relations in terms of economic interdependence theory. In the 21st century, the People’s Republic of China has become a major player in the Middle East. The foundation for China-Saudi cooperation is energy: Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil exporter and China the world’s largest oil importer. Moreover, China perceives Saudi Arabia as a reliable source of oil and, as a consequence, the energy cooperation between the two countries has resulted in significant economic and trade cooperation.
However, due to its friendly economic and strategic partnership with Iran – Saudi Arabia’s
enemy – China is walking a political tightrope in the Middle East while trying to ensure the
diversification of its energy sources.
The paper argues that China’s military does not have close relations with Saudi Arabia’s
armed forces; the Kingdom relies almost entirely on arms imported from the USA. Both
China and the USA want to preserve Saudi Arabia’s security and stability. Thus, China’s
engagement in the Middle East has not been seen as undermining the United States’ interests in the region. On the contrary, Sino-Mideast relations appear to be dependent upon US involvement. It is unlikely that in the immediate future China and the United States will actively compete against each other in the Middle East although this cannot be ruled out in the coming decades. Meanwhile, China continues to skilfully propagate its national interest in the region.
Parole de l’Orient, vol. 40, 2015
The paper discusses the modern Aramean national and social identity with special focus on the aut... more The paper discusses the modern Aramean national and social identity with special focus on the autoperception of the Aramean diaspora. Basing on the feedback which the author received during the X Symposium Syriacum on her previous work on the modern Assyrian identity, the deeper research into Aramean (Suryoyo) group was made. The same theoretical assumptions were applied, namely moderate constructivism and Benedict Anderson’s definition of “imagined community”, as well as understanding identity as a process rather than a state.
The text consists of three parts. The first shows the emergence of a distinct Aramean identity and outlines complicated relations with the Assyrian brethren. In the second part, the author presents the results of an online survey which was conducted from November 2008 until May 2009 among the group of 306 Arameans. Part three contains a critical analysis of the presented data, inter alia an overview of Aramean websites whose content is emblematic for the construction of “Cyber Aram”.
The paper advances a claim that the centre of the Aramean community life is not in the historical lands of Aram Nahrin (Middle East) but in the diaspora (Western European countries). The religion – belonging to the Syrian Orthodox Church – plays an important role, though the new laic elite educated in the West sometimes opposes the clergy. Traditional culture and lifestyle is not the only option for the young generation. Consequently, assimilation in the diaspora is one of the most serious threats to the Aramean identity.
cultural geographies, Feb 8, 2023
This article engages with the material geographies of colonialism in Israel/Palestine by looking ... more This article engages with the material geographies of colonialism in Israel/Palestine by looking at the site-specific cultural activities in Iqrit (Israel), a Christian-Arab village depopulated during the 1948 war in the region. We investigate the importance of material infrastructure-and material, bodily encounters with the site-as a basis for the place-based activist memory-work, as well as exposing the ways in which such activities contribute to the advancement of 'the politics of presence', understood as a manifestation of a continuous resilience vis-à-vis the discriminatory policy of the state. Our argumentation focuses on the importance of physical presence in specific geographical areas, shedding light on how place-based activities may contravene the expressed state policy by increasing the fluidity of the territory, creating spaces of contestation in which the traditional understandings of state authority partly dissolve. It also explores how the material reconfigurations of the place, and emotional-bodily investment in it, contribute to the semantic instability of the site, turning the place-based memory-work into a future-oriented project with important political aspirations.
cultural geographies, 2023
This article engages with the material geographies of colonialism in Israel/Palestine by looking ... more This article engages with the material geographies of colonialism in Israel/Palestine by looking at the site-specific cultural activities in Iqrit (Israel), a Christian-Arab village depopulated during the 1948 war in the region. We investigate the importance of material infrastructure-and material, bodily encounters with the site-as a basis for the place-based activist memory-work, as well as exposing the ways in which such activities contribute to the advancement of 'the politics of presence', understood as a manifestation of a continuous resilience vis-à-vis the discriminatory policy of the state. Our argumentation focuses on the importance of physical presence in specific geographical areas, shedding light on how place-based activities may contravene the expressed state policy by increasing the fluidity of the territory, creating spaces of contestation in which the traditional understandings of state authority partly dissolve. It also explores how the material reconfigurations of the place, and emotional-bodily investment in it, contribute to the semantic instability of the site, turning the place-based memory-work into a future-oriented project with important political aspirations.
The monograph discusses up-to-date issues concerning the acculturation of a Middle Eastern group ... more The monograph discusses up-to-date issues concerning the acculturation of a Middle Eastern group in a European country. The book is based on research conducted by the Author in 2014 in the Assyrian/Syriac diaspora in Sweden, within the framework of the “Defining and Identifying Middle Eastern Christian Communities in Europe” project. Assyrians/Syriacs (Assyrier/Syrianer) began to arrive in Scandinavia in the late 1960s, fleeing the wars and meagre economic prospects in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Today, they constitute an active diaspora which contributes in various ways to the development of its new homeland and numbers around 150 000 people. The Author describes Swedish migration and integration policies, the history of the Assyrian/Syriac community in the Middle East, the phases and forms of institutionalisation in Sweden, internal dynamics as well as the group’s relations with external actors and its transnational links. One of the main findings of the book is that the ethn...
Studia Religiologica
This article presents a case study of a Swedish-based NGO, Assyrians Without Borders (AWB), whose... more This article presents a case study of a Swedish-based NGO, Assyrians Without Borders (AWB), whose priority objective is to help Middle Eastern Christians, mainly Assyrians/Syriacs, in need in their homeland. The paper argues that Assyrians/Syriacs in Sweden have developed three forms of citizenship – religious, political and democratic. All three forms are transnational and have the potential to challenge the idea of national citizenship as being the dominant model of citizenship. Participating in AWB is understood as practising democratic citizenship, a concept seen as the Swedish ideal of model citizenship. The paper claims that AWB empowers its members and helps them to construct a mutually reinforcing dual Assyrian-Swedish identity.
Border Terrains: World Diasporas in the 21st Century
... of Islam: An Account of the Massacre of Christians by the Turks in Persia (Philadelphia: Will... more ... of Islam: An Account of the Massacre of Christians by the Turks in Persia (Philadelphia: Williams Pres, 1918); David F. Andrews ... Arianne Ishaya, 'Class and Ethnicity in Rular California: The Assyrian Community of Modesto-Turlock, 1910-1985' (PhD diss., University of California ...
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
ABSTRACT Weddings can be seen as ‘rites of passage’ and also as ‘symbolic struggles’ since their ... more ABSTRACT Weddings can be seen as ‘rites of passage’ and also as ‘symbolic struggles’ since their glamour appears to be a new indicator of status for many families, especially migrant ones. A mixture of traditional as well as reinvented wedding customs serves a community searching for ethnic identity markers that can help it to embrace all of its descendants. This article presents a case study of how Assyrian/Syriac wedding rituals and marriage traditions that are being performed and transformed in the migratory context of Sweden over the last 50 years. Among the Middle Eastern Christians, who have been emigrating from Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq since the 1960s, and which today numbers 120,000 individuals, marriage is a very serious business – a permanent union between spouses and their respective families. The purpose of the article is to analyse Assyrian/Syriac wedding rituals and to discuss how they have shaped the modern Assyrian/Syriac identity. It also explores how local marriages connect and reconnect migrants of this ethno-religious group(s) and how it differentiates them from their peers in the surrounding Swedish society – religiously, socially and even aesthetically.
Journal of Religion in Europe, 2016
Despite little scholarly attention, Middle Eastern Christian Churches are a well-established elem... more Despite little scholarly attention, Middle Eastern Christian Churches are a well-established element of the European religious landscape. Based on collaborative research, this article examines how three mutual field visits facilitated a deeper understanding of the complexity that characterises church establishment and activities among Iraqi, Assyrian/Syriac and Coptic Orthodox Christians in the uk, Sweden and Denmark. Exploring analytical dimensions of space, diversity, size, and minority position we identify three positions of Middle Eastern Christians: in London as the epitome of super-diversity, in Copenhagen as a silenced minority within a minority, and in Södertälje as a visible majority within a minority.
Studia Religiologica, 2021
This article presents a case study of a Swedish-based NGO, Assyrians Without Borders (AWB), whose... more This article presents a case study of a Swedish-based NGO, Assyrians Without Borders (AWB), whose priority objective is to help Middle Eastern Christians, mainly Assyrians/Syriacs, in need in their homeland. The paper argues that Assyrians/Syriacs in Sweden have developed three forms of citizenship-religious, political and democratic. All three forms are transnational and have the potential to challenge the idea of national citizenship as being the dominant model of citizenship. Participating in AWB is understood as practising democratic citizenship, a concept seen as the Swedish ideal of model citizenship. The paper claims that AWB empowers its members and helps them to construct a mutually reinforcing dual Assyrian-Swedish identity.
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Books by Marta Wozniak-Bobinska
Papers by Marta Wozniak-Bobinska
However, due to its friendly economic and strategic partnership with Iran – Saudi Arabia’s
enemy – China is walking a political tightrope in the Middle East while trying to ensure the
diversification of its energy sources.
The paper argues that China’s military does not have close relations with Saudi Arabia’s
armed forces; the Kingdom relies almost entirely on arms imported from the USA. Both
China and the USA want to preserve Saudi Arabia’s security and stability. Thus, China’s
engagement in the Middle East has not been seen as undermining the United States’ interests in the region. On the contrary, Sino-Mideast relations appear to be dependent upon US involvement. It is unlikely that in the immediate future China and the United States will actively compete against each other in the Middle East although this cannot be ruled out in the coming decades. Meanwhile, China continues to skilfully propagate its national interest in the region.
The text consists of three parts. The first shows the emergence of a distinct Aramean identity and outlines complicated relations with the Assyrian brethren. In the second part, the author presents the results of an online survey which was conducted from November 2008 until May 2009 among the group of 306 Arameans. Part three contains a critical analysis of the presented data, inter alia an overview of Aramean websites whose content is emblematic for the construction of “Cyber Aram”.
The paper advances a claim that the centre of the Aramean community life is not in the historical lands of Aram Nahrin (Middle East) but in the diaspora (Western European countries). The religion – belonging to the Syrian Orthodox Church – plays an important role, though the new laic elite educated in the West sometimes opposes the clergy. Traditional culture and lifestyle is not the only option for the young generation. Consequently, assimilation in the diaspora is one of the most serious threats to the Aramean identity.
However, due to its friendly economic and strategic partnership with Iran – Saudi Arabia’s
enemy – China is walking a political tightrope in the Middle East while trying to ensure the
diversification of its energy sources.
The paper argues that China’s military does not have close relations with Saudi Arabia’s
armed forces; the Kingdom relies almost entirely on arms imported from the USA. Both
China and the USA want to preserve Saudi Arabia’s security and stability. Thus, China’s
engagement in the Middle East has not been seen as undermining the United States’ interests in the region. On the contrary, Sino-Mideast relations appear to be dependent upon US involvement. It is unlikely that in the immediate future China and the United States will actively compete against each other in the Middle East although this cannot be ruled out in the coming decades. Meanwhile, China continues to skilfully propagate its national interest in the region.
The text consists of three parts. The first shows the emergence of a distinct Aramean identity and outlines complicated relations with the Assyrian brethren. In the second part, the author presents the results of an online survey which was conducted from November 2008 until May 2009 among the group of 306 Arameans. Part three contains a critical analysis of the presented data, inter alia an overview of Aramean websites whose content is emblematic for the construction of “Cyber Aram”.
The paper advances a claim that the centre of the Aramean community life is not in the historical lands of Aram Nahrin (Middle East) but in the diaspora (Western European countries). The religion – belonging to the Syrian Orthodox Church – plays an important role, though the new laic elite educated in the West sometimes opposes the clergy. Traditional culture and lifestyle is not the only option for the young generation. Consequently, assimilation in the diaspora is one of the most serious threats to the Aramean identity.
struggles’ since their glamour appears to be a new indicator of
status for many families, especially migrant ones. A mixture of
traditional as well as reinvented wedding customs serves a
community searching for ethnic identity markers that can help it
to embrace all of its descendants. This article presents a case
study of how Assyrian/Syriac wedding rituals and marriage
traditions that are being performed and transformed in the
migratory context of Sweden over the last 50 years. Among the
Middle Eastern Christians, who have been emigrating from Turkey,
Syria, Lebanon and Iraq since the 1960s, and which today
numbers 120,000 individuals, marriage is a very serious business –
a permanent union between spouses and their respective families.
The purpose of the article is to analyse Assyrian/Syriac wedding
rituals and to discuss how they have shaped the modern Assyrian/
Syriac identity. It also explores how local marriages connect and
reconnect migrants of this ethno-religious group(s) and how it
differentiates them from their peers in the surrounding Swedish
society – religiously, socially and even aesthetically.