FRAGMENTS OF LEBANON: SECTARIANISM AND THE FINANCIAL CRISIS
https://doi.org/10.4081/ilpolitico.2020.295
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Lebanon"s current economic meltdown is in many ways the painful consequence of a patron-client political system, tinged with sectarian narratives and claims, that has squeezed the resources of the state in exchange for short-term loyalty and the social reproduction of its elites. The nexus between political institutions, loci of power, the banking system, and political representation of economic interests is helping to problematize our understanding of sectarianism, and escape the often inane debate on its primordial or instrumental nature1. Recent research has cast light on the political economy of sectarianism through its systems of alternative welfare2, or the spatial dimension of sectarianism through its provision of everyday services in urban neighborhoods3. The current economic crisis offers venues for further discussion on the link between sectarian power-sharing, rentier economy, and neopatrimonialism.
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