This chapter explores how Lebanon’s popular uprising (al-thawra 17 tishrīn) has drawn on civil war (1975-1990) memories, sites and narratives in an attempt to challenge the political status quo. Protestors have framed the uprising as a continuation of the struggle to address Lebanon’s postwar inequalities, corruption, and sectarian system. The chapter examines how symbolic urban sites, protest slogans and chants, street art and graffiti, are utilised to integrate revolutionary discourses through reclaiming spaces and demanding civil rights. While war memory is being evoked as a liberatory force, the horrors and chaos of the past also serve as stark warnings, evinced by counter-revolutionary forces seeking to quell protests and maintain elite power dynamics. This chapter draws on primary source material gathered from site observations, local Lebanese media and social media platforms (Twitter/Instagram/Facebook).
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Lebanon’s October Revolution (al-thawra 17 tishrīn) and the Civil War: Memory, Protests and Mobilisation
When public protests erupted onto Lebanese streets in October 2019, they were neither unexpected nor without recent precedent. This book chapter examines how symbolic urban sites, protest slogans and chants, street art and graffiti, are utilised to integrate revolutionary discourses through reclaiming spaces and demanding civil rights.