Conflicting Loyalties and Legitimate Illegality in Urban South Lebanon

Abstract

Drawing on field research in Tyre, Mollica addresses conflicting loyalties and legitimate illegality. In the Lebanon, the idea of a ‘co-cultural’ architecture does not work because the electorate acts, and votes, according to ethno-religious interests. Hezbollah—a political legal entity and a paramilitary illegal entity—does much illegal policing and enjoys legitimacy within and without the local community. Its (illegal) use of power is not seriously challenged by legal powers—the Lebanese Army and the peacekeeping United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon—that cannot guarantee the security of the religious community. This ethnography raises questions on the definition of ‘citizenship’, as belonging is conceptualized by reference not to the nation state but to (religiously defined) groups, acting in an (ethno-religiously defined) area to pursue (ethno-religiously defined) interests.

I wish to acknowledge the support of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research under the ‘Rita Levi Montalcini Programme’ for the 2014 research field trip in South Lebanon. I am also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their critical comments.