Description
Book SynopsisPresents a framework for understanding Shi'ite national politics in Lebanon. This book recasts the relationship between religion and nationalism in the Middle East. It reconsiders not only the politics of the established leadership of Shi'ites, but also the everyday and popular practices of identity production in Lebanon.
Trade ReviewSmart, balanced, and wonderfully readable. Roschanack Shaery-Eisenlohr has written a timely book at once groundbreaking and authoritative on a subject of great interest and importance. This is a work of careful scholarship and incisive analysis that provides fresh perspective on how Shi'ite identity and politics have taken form in Lebanon and the role they will play in that country's future. Easily the best book on the subject, it is a must-read for all those interested in Lebanon and the role that religion and sectarian identities play in Middle East politics. -- Vali Nasr, author of The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future [Shi'ite Lebanon] pursues the Iranian-Lebanese link in greater detail as a way of understanding Lebanese politics and society and the wider impact of Iran in the Middle East. -- Sajjad H. Rizvi The Muslim World Book Review I would recommend it to any serious scholar of contemporary Lebanon or transnational Shi'a networks. -- Morgan Clarke Journal of Shi'a Islamic Studies
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Note on Transliteration Introduction: Claiming Cultural Citizenship in Lebanon from Margin to Center Part 1 The Nation in the Making 1. Two Nations and One State: Shi'ite and Maronite Lebanon 2. Schooling and the Creation of Lebanese Shi'ite Public Identities Part 2 Transnational Debates and Local Struggles 3. Shi'ite Piety and the Palestinian Cause: The History of a Discourse 4. The Politics of Shi'ite Authenticity Since 1982 5. Iranian Cultural Politics in Lebanon Epilogue Notes References Index
