Bloomsbury Resisting Sectarianism: Queer Activism in Postwar Lebanon

Review "A sensitive exploration of the practices of freedom deployed to resist the violence of Lebanon's sectarian system, in the process undermining its ideological and disciplinary powers one small battle at a time." --Bassel F. Salloukh, Associate Professor of Political Science, Lebanese American Product Description The Middle East is often portrayed as oppressively patriarchal and homophobic. Yet, in recent years the region has become a vibrant and important arena for feminist and LGBTQ activism. This book provides an insight into this emerging politics through a unique analysis of feminist and LGBTQ social movements in the context of Lebanon’s postwar sectarian system. The book argues that LGBTQ and feminists social movements are powerful agents of political and social transformation in Lebanon. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, the book takes the reader inside these movements to see how they attract members and construct campaigns, forge alliances, and the multiple ways in which they generate important forms of resistance to and change within the sectarian system. The book also traces the strong obstacles that sectarian parties and religious authorities employ to weaken LGBTQ and feminist activism. Written in an accessible style, this book will appeal to scholars and students of the Middle East, postwar societies, politics, sociology, feminism and post-colonialism. About the Author John Nagle is Professor in Sociology at Queen’s University of Belfast’Tamirace Fakhoury is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the Lebanese American University