Gender Dictionary: traveling concepts and local usages in Lebanon

قاموس الجندر: مفاهيم متنقّلة واستعمالاتها المحلية في لبنان

Power stems etymologically from the latin “potere” and is related to the French “pouvoir”, both of which mean “to be able”. Power as a concept is widely debated, and points of disagreement are manifold. One of the main points of debate is whether ‘power’ means ‘power-over’ or ‘power-to’. ‘Power-over’ denotes a relationship of unequal force, while ‘power-to’ refers to an ability or a capacity to act. Another way to divide debates on power is by distinguishing between action-theoretical conceptions (referring to particular actors or the individual capacity to act) and systemic or constitutive conceptions of power (“power as systematically structuring possibilities for action, or, more strongly, as constituting actors and the social world in which they act”).

Feminism as a political current and social movement incorporates, in different contexts and periods, all the notions of power: power over, power to, power as actor-centric and as operating structurally. Liberal feminist thinkers most often analyze power as a positive resource to be redistributed to women. Phenomenological, radical and socialist feminist approaches discuss power as domination and may refer to it alternatively as “oppression”, “patriarchy” or “subjection” (which is for example prominent in Nawal Saadawi’s conceptualizations). Intersectional approaches advocate for developing a framework for understanding power which grants equal weight to gender, race and class-based subordination, as well as markers that are relevant for each particular context such as sectarianism, or sexuality (see Intersectionality).  

In post-structuralist feminism, Foucaultian notions according to which power is not primarily repressive but rather both repressive and constructive have been extremely influential across the European, North American, and to a certain extent Middle Eastern feminist works. Michel Foucault also theorized the interaction between power and the body through his conceptualization of “disciplinary power” which is productive of docile bodies made controllable by the state and social institutions. These conceptualizations are salient in feminist critiques against state control of women’s bodies, including in Lebanon (see Hymen). Lastly, the 2011 Arab Revolt protests have included significant criticism from feminists against authoritarian state power over women’s bodies including various activist acts, while various waves of feminist protests in Lebanon have pointed directly at the state’s role in perpetuating the subjugation of women through policies that limit their bodily rights (see Sex and Bodily Rights).

Marxist conceptions of power as domination and as operating through ideology have been used to expose the liberal state’s hypocrisy in promoting non-discrimination and equal opportunity policies while structural, deeply-embedded inequalities prevail. As a result of this critique of formal power, many feminist groups opt for horizontal, structureless organizing formulas, employed in some small feminist collectives in Beirut in what constitutes a conscious effort to fight against reproducing inequality, with various degrees of success. Yet, even such an approach is not without critique, mainly because it risks assuming that hierarchies can be broken through “structurelessness” where in fact they are frequently only rendered invisible.