MECACS Director Dr Fiona McCallum Guiney has published two articles from her EU-funded project Defining and Identifying Middle Eastern Christian Communities in Europe

The first article ‘Generational perspectives on homeland-oriented diasporic humanitarianism: Coptic, Assyrian and Iraqi Christian charities in the UK.’ Is available open access in International Migration Review. The article explores generational differences using the case studies of Coptic, Assyrian and Iraqi Christian charities in the UK. The findings show that ongoing crises in the ancestral countries act as trigger events for both first and second generation diaspora members. Instead, the difference between the generations is found in terms of recipients of diaspora charity. First generation members adopt an exclusive approach focusing only on their community in the homeland. Second generation members have a broader approach to include others in the Middle East as well as local causes in the UK.

The second article ‘Misrecognised as Muslim: the racialisation of Christians of Middle Eastern heritage in the UK’ is co-authored with Alistair Hunter of the University of Glasgow and published open access in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. The article explores the impact of the racialisation of religion using case studies of Coptic, Assyrian and Iraqi Christian communities in the UK. The findings analyse the three main types of response by those who are misrecognised – education, resignation, and differentiation.