Creating a Common Space in a Sectarian Landscape: Social Work andCohesive Action in Post-War Lebanon

Abstract

Through the course of this thesis I will portray and debate the make up, projects andmembers of a small organisation acting within a large context. Aiming to give a thoroughpresentation of Mouvement Social, and to illuminate the organisation against the larger frameof Lebanese society, I have divided the thesis into three main parts. In chapter two, which is1 See appendix three for an overview of the confessional composition of the Lebanese population.11the first part, I will give an introduction to Lebanon. In this account I will particularly befocusing upon the country’s history of sectarian conflicts, but also consensus, as well as thesocial, political and economical conditions of post-war Lebanon. In the second part, whichincludes chapter three, four and five, I will introduce my empirical elaboration onMouvement Social. In the third part I intend to present two main discussions. In chapter sixI debate how MSL dealt with sectarianism, while in chapter seven I address the organisationas an actor within the state and civil society of Lebanon.