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Politics, Culture, Religion: How Hizbullah is Constructing an Islamic Milieu in Lebanon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2016

Lara Deeb
Affiliation:
Scripps College
Mona Harb
Affiliation:
American University in Beirut

Extract

What might the wreckage of a former prison in south Lebanon that was destroyed during Israeli bombardment in 2006 have in common with a series of “family-oriented” amusement parks built by a corporate investment group? How might these sites be related to an ecotourism facility high in the mountains above Saida and the 70-some cafés and restaurants that have opened in the southern suburbs of Beirut since 2000? Aside from being fieldsites in our ongoing research on Islam and leisure in Lebanon, these places are significant to the political party Hizbullah. They tell us something about the relationship of culture to politics in the Hizbullah community, and they can be considered part of a recently emergent “Islamic milieu” in Lebanon.

Type
Special Section: Culture Concepts in Political Struggle
Copyright
Copyright © Middle East Studies Association of North America 2009

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References

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