Abstract
This chapter is based on multisited participant observation and in-depth interviews conducted over the last fifteen years in Lebanon. It aims to address informal exchanges in terms of morality and legitimacy in relation to trust or lack of trust towards the state and the religious communities. Here, with specific reference to the management of public health, I analyse the inbuilt sectarian divide that characterizes the fragmented nature of the Lebanese political identity in light of the relationship between the overarching National consociational model and local-level practices and governance. The questions arise, how are structure and treatments recognized as legitimate when applied to Covid-19? What health issues are the epidemiologists faced with? Attention will be paid to the role of religiosity in the management of public health and of sectarianism in the interpretation of the state’s legitimacy. The multi-level public health government will be here contrasted with three dramatic events that have affected Lebanon’s political life and enhanced inter- and infra-confessional socio-political tension. First, the Hezbollah-Israeli War of 2006. Second, the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Third, the tragic explosion that ravaged Beirut on 4 August 2020.
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Notes
- 1.
Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group.
- 2.
IDF stands for Israel Defence Forces.
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Mollica, M. (2023). Managing Public Health in a Fragile Consociation: Lebanon Between Wars, Explosions and the Covid-19 Pandemic. In: Pardo, I., Prato, G. (eds) The Legitimacy of Healthcare and Public Health. Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25592-2_13
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