Adhocratic Humanitarianisms and Ageing Emergencies in Lebanon: from the July 2006 War in Beirut’s Southern Suburbs to the Syrian Refugee Influx in Akkar’s Villages.

Abstract

This thesis explores the ways in which humanitarianism transforms social space through case studies of Beirut’s southern suburbs (Dahiye) in response to 2006 July war and the Syrian refugee influx in Akkar (North Lebanon) from war in Syria during 2011-2014. Through the investigation of humanitarian practices, it identifies the (un)declared states of emergency in which the short-term displacement of the Lebanese population cyclically exists alongside ageing refugeehood of Iraqis, Palestinians, and Sudanese in Lebanon. It also explores how humanitarian practice becomes articulated with forms of welfare and development in the form of long-term humanitarianism. Official states of emergency in Lebanon cyclically stimulate the flow of greater amounts of social and economic resources to local citizens through the increasing internationalisation of local welfare. This thesis investigates how transnational humanitarian interventions have produced different macro-political outcomes in Lebanon. In Dahiye, international humanitarian organisations upgraded services from the local to the international through financial support but without wielding de facto power and, therefore, remaining largely technocratic. In Akkar’s villages, the practical rescaling of power from the local to the international has paradoxically reinforced fragmented statehoods through their cooperation with the international humanitarian apparatus in the context of a wavering and lax Lebanese state. This phenomenon has been called moralisation of local authorities. In this environment, international humanitarianism ends up functioning as an arm of ethical governance which aims to maintain state and regional order, and avoids confronting the human security of refugees, whose political dimension is constantly tamed by humanitarian policies. This thesis also raises epistemological queries with regards to the ethnographic fluctuation between what humanitarianism actually is on the ground, and how humanitarianism is rather perceived by aid providers and aid (non)recipients in the field. Ultimately, the chronic emergencisation of Lebanese society becomes leverage for preserving international security. The humanitarian strategy of continuously preventing further catastrophes and meeting immediate needs as a way of governing, in an environment of political nihilism, consigns the local as well as the refugee communities in Lebanon to an aprioristic abdication of radical social change.