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The Free Patriotic Movement’s Emergence in the Complex Political Economy of Post-war Lebanon

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Activism, Change and Sectarianism in the Free Patriotic Movement in Lebanon

Part of the book series: Reform and Transition in the Mediterranean ((RTM))

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Abstract

This chapter explains why the FPM emerged in the period 1990–2005 in Lebanon following the expatriation of Michel Aoun to France. It uncovers the movement’s socio-economic, demographic and sectarian makeup by highlighting the role of middle-class Christians in its ranks. It reveals that this middle-class constituency fused their movement’s goals with those of the syndicates and unions in which they operated. It shows how this reality promoted the FPM’s emergence in civil society during the early half of the 1990s despite an official political ban on the movement, before seizing other opportunities to rise on a national scale in the latter half of the decade. It details the role FPM groups abroad played in supporting their movement’s activism in Lebanon.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Sciences, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon

    Joseph P. Helou

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  1. Joseph P. Helou
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Helou, J.P. (2020). The Free Patriotic Movement’s Emergence in the Complex Political Economy of Post-war Lebanon. In: Activism, Change and Sectarianism in the Free Patriotic Movement in Lebanon . Reform and Transition in the Mediterranean. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25704-0_3

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