'Now is not the time to cower': Racialized representations, articulations, and contestations of Arab -American women

This dissertation examines the construction of Arab American women's racialized ethnic subjectivities and the positioning of Arab Americans within the racialized ethnic terrain of the United States. The narratives of 40 Arab American women who resided in the Northeast region of the United States were analyzed using discourse analysis. Women's narratives are situated within and theorized as they are shaped by gender, race, and ethnicity. I examine both the powerful influences of hegemonic discourses, particularly about race and ethnicity, and the role and agency of individuals in the construction of racialized ethnic identities.;First, I examine the shifts in the theorization of race and ethnicity within the social sciences and legal institutions to explicate how these concepts are socially constructed and contested. I next examine how Arab Americans have been racialized within the United States. I investigate women's articulations of the racialized ethnic then connect these racializations to specific discourses and national and transnational events.;Women's discursive acts and identities as nonwhite racialized ethnics contest the way they have been racialized by government institutions and mirrors the way they have been discursively represented in the media and within their everyday experiences. This dissertation examines how shifts in the construction of race and ethnicity categorizations are connected to national and transnational events and the construction of the ideal national citizen through government mechanisms such as immigration policy and the census.;This dissertation contributes to our understanding of the necessity of conceptualizing race beyond a dichotomous black/white color line. An examination of racialized practices creates potential opportunities for solidarities among marginalized groups and may help to reposition Arab Americans within the discourses of race and ethnicity. Future research investigations are suggested concerning the role of culture in creating alternative subjectivities.