CRISIS AND SECTARIAN NEOLIBERALISM IN LEBANON: THE MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS IN 2020

Abstract

The aim of the thesis is to analyse how the year 2020 has affected the political practices in Lebanon through a focus on the Ministry of Social Affairs. More precisely the scope of analysis focuses on the political practices vis-a-vis the social repercussions that were the outcome of two exogenous events that happened in the context of a deep financial crisis: the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut port explosion. For that end, this thesis focuses on the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs and its response to the pandemic and the August 4th Beirut port explosion. It investigates the way some members of the Lebanese political regime have taken advantage of the social repercussions of the dramatic events that occurred during the year 2020. This thesis relies on qualitative methods of inquiry including content analysis of secondary data collected between January 2020 until December 2020, and in-depth expert interviews. The work showcases how the Ministry of Social Affairs reproduced old patterns when dealing with a crisis, which is to rely on foreign funds to respond to the social repercussions of the pandemic and the Beirut port explosion, whereas some members of the political regime capitalized on the pandemic and explosion to restore its legitimacy. While the Lebanese state is often referred to in public culture as absent, this thesis shows that it is very present in terms of security-led role rather than civil welfare. The political system in Lebanon found new ways to reinvent itself and became more explicit in its violent tactics and strategies, sectarian narratives and delegation of power to the security-led agencies.