What Constitutes Feminism? A Study on Contemporary Feminist Activism in 2020 Beirut

Abstract

In postwar Lebanon, feminist activism emerged as a distinctive sphere within the broader field of civil society activism. In this context, feminist activists navigate and counter the power dynamics of the heteropatriarchy, racism, sectarianism, as well as histories and practices of imperialism and colonialism. This qualitative study explores the ways in which feminist activists in contemporary Beirut conceptualize and perform their activism. This thesis aims to study how personal motivations, experiences, and histories bring individuals into feminism, and how they shape trajectories of activism. Arguing that alliances, solidarity and strategic visibility constitute the main aspects of performed feminist activism, I explore the ways in which these strategies are manifested in concrete action. Finally, I outline practices of knowledge production, distribution and exchange as additional key elements of feminist activism. To do so, I adopt a biographical research methodology, focusing on the personal narratives of selected activists. Based on this study’s findings, I argue that feminism is essentially both, a longing for justice and constitutes a sense of self, propelled by personal and in many cases, painful experiences. I further argue that this longing for justice is externalized through activism and organizing which happens in manifold ways within the umbrella that forms the feminist movement. My point of entry for this study is the presence of feminist activists in the context of the nation-wide popular uprising Lebanon witnessed in October 2019. The interviews were conducted in winter 2020 through semi-structured interviews with 13 feminist activists, speaking from experiences as individuals and members of feminist collectives, informal groups, clubs, and NGOs. Findings were complemented by document analysis of primary and secondary sources relating to feminist activism and community organizing in Beirut, such as articles, videos social media posts, books, blog posts and others.