Gender

CSR issue 5: Challenging Power: Gender and Social Justice in the Middle East - Introduction

The present issue is the culmination of more than two years of work. During this time, our editorial team and our writers living in Lebanon faced countless disruptions to our normal working environments, beginning with the October 2019 Thawra; the COVID-19 pandemic and the government-enforced lockdowns beginning in early 2020; and the crippling economic and political crisis that has left Lebanon a shell of its former self.

Civil Society Review issue 5 - Challenging Power: Gender and Social Justice in the Middle East

This issue assesses the current moment of crisis in the region through the lens of gender, contributing new ways of thinking about, and reacting to the current compounded crisis plaguing the SWANA region. A further strength of this issue is the diversity with which authors use the terms “gender” and “feminist,” drawing attention to the ways that such terms are not “neutral;” rather, they are historically specific and signal established power dynamics, especially in the field of international development and humanitarian aid.

Undefined

Women's Political Participation in Lebanon and the Limits of Aid-Driven Empowerment

The question of women’s political participation in Lebanon could not be more timely. As of 17 October 2019, nation-wide protests have erupted in response to increasing austerity measures that culminated in a tax on Voice over IP (VoIP) calls, commonly referred to as the “WhatsApp tax.” Calls for a non-sectarian and “non-political” revolution have drawn Lebanese representing nearly every sect, every class, and every gender out into the streets, which led to the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri on October 29, 2019. 

Undefined

Setting the Agenda towards Gender Equity

The 2018 parliamentary elections in Lebanon witnessed the largest participation of women in the country’s history with 86 out 113 female candidates making it on the final electoral lists (Baturni and Halinan 2018, 1-3). Yet, out of the 128 elected candidates, only 6 were women (The Daily Star 2018). More recently, since the October 2019 protests, women have been at the forefront of mobilisations, organising sit-ins, marches, demonstrations, and chanting feminist slogans.

Lebanon’s 2018 Election: New measures and the resilience of the Status Quo.

This policy brief explores how—despite widespread citizen frustration—the status quo prevailed. The brief will subject the above paradoxes to greater empirical scrutiny, with particular attention to the performance of new actors. It draws findings from an analysis of election results, participant observation of the campaign period, and focus group interviews conducted before and after the election.

English

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