Ottoman History Podcast: The Argentine Mahjar

Since its first broadcast in 2011, the Ottoman History Podcast has grown to be one of the largest digital resources for academic discussion concerning the Ottoman Empire and the modern Middle East. In this episode, from March 2018, Ella Fratantuono speaks with Lily Pearl Balloffet about the history of the over 100,000 Arabic-speaking immigrants who settled in Argentina during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. How did this diaspora—or mahjar—influence the Middle East in the twentieth century and how did Arabic-speaking Argentines forged community ties within Argentina? Balloffet describes the role of women’s philanthropy networks in creating interprovincial, rural-urban, and transnational connections. At the end of the podcast, she shares how she has been able to employ database work and digital mapping tools to understand more holistically the geographical breadth and social characteristics of the Argentine mahjar.