Dissertation Research: Social and Political Process Among Shia Moslems in Lebanon

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9904287Donham / Deeb This project supports the dissertation research of an anthropology student from Emory University studying the political approaches and attitudes of Islamic Shia communities in Beirut, Lebanon. The student will examine three institutional sites, an "Islamist" (fundamentalist), a nationalist, and a secular Shia community, to see how local conceptions of sectarianism (the dominant way local people view each other) affects their relation to the larger national community, to assess how these conceptions affect social agendas with regards to Lebanon's reconstruction, and to investigate the role of gender in these diverse groups. The student will use participant-observation, archival research, surveys, extended case studies, semi-structured interviews, genealogical, narrative and peer group interviews in a nationalist organization which runs over twenty elementary, secondary and vocational schools in the city, the Lebanese University in which many secular Shia faculty and students congregate, and an Islamist organization which runs over twenty schools, hospitals and orphanages in Lebanon, and which is linked to an international Shia network of mosques. In addition to furthering our understanding of how religious communities organize themselves in nation-building, the project supports the training of a young social scientist, and will inform discussions of the current political climate in the Middle East, as the Shia play a critical role in the rebuilding of Lebanon and the struggles for influence in the region.