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Project

Urban Activism in Clientelistic Conditions - the Case of Saida, Lebanon

In Lebanon, planning and the production of space are governed by state and local institutions that operate within the confinements of (sectarian) clientelism. In fact, it is very hard for citizens to maneuver outside the clientelistic structures; very often it would mean a compromise on one’s own means of subsistence (access to jobs, access to welfare, etc.). Nevertheless, within what seems like a suffocating status-quo, there was since 2005/2006 a noticed rise of a non-partisan activism. While being critical of the sectarian regime, in many cases the new activists are contesting problematic spatial (“neo-liberal”) projects that are imposed by the patrons on the Lebanese landscape. Many of these activists’ initiatives, are using different tools to fight against the patrons’ projects. In addition to the usual advocacy campaigns, they are conducting extensive research on the different contested sites and are, moreover, formulating their counter proposals in the form of spatial, social and environmental visions, etc. This PhD will reflect on the recent wave of urban movements. It will concentrate on the secondary city of Saida, by tackling from an insider’s perspective the work of a local activists’ group by the name of Lil-madina Initiative. By using an action research methodology this PhD is trying to understand how in a place driven by patron-clients relations and mutual interests: can urban/environmental activists confront problematic infrastructures and urbanization? How can they propose and potentially impose alternatives? This PhD accepts that when patron-clients relations are the driving force behind a neoliberal economy, any urban activists’ initiative that would emerge will find itself trying to operate between the patrons and the clients and entangled in this dynamic. And thus it becomes primordial to understand: how and when urban activists’ initiatives start affecting patron-clients relations to bring about urban and environmental change?

Date:12 Mar 2019 →  12 Mar 2023
Keywords:patron-clients relations, clientelism, Saida, Lebanon, urban movements, activism
Disciplines:Urbanism and regional planning, Landscape architecture practice, Social movements and collective action, Urban anthropology, Political sociology, Political theory
Project type:PhD project