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Durham E-Theses Debating `Religious Violence' in Lebanon: A Comparative Perspective on the Mobilisation of Religious and Secular Militias during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) VOSTERMANS, LIANNE,PETRONELLA,ELISE How to cite: VOSTERMANS, LIANNE,PETRONELLA,ELISE (2020) Debating `Religious Violence' in Lebanon: A Comparative Perspective on the Mobilisation of Religious and Secular Militias during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), Durham theses, Durham University. 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Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Debating ‘Religious Violence’ in Lebanon A Comparative Perspective on the Mobilisation of Religious and Secular Militias during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) Lianne Petronella Elise Wood-Vostermans Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Government and International Affairs Durham University 2020 2 THESIS ABSTRACT In a world where collective violence seems increasingly mapped in relation to religions and religious actors rather than secular forces, to understand the potential of religion in promoting conflict has become a formidable and important goal. On the one hand, there are those that argue that ‘religious violence’ is not really religious and at most a perversion of religious teachings. On the other side of the spectrum, an increasing number of commentaries conclude with urgent warnings against religion’s propensity for violence. Rather than taking sides in a debate characterised by sweeping generalisations, this dissertation aims to unravel how, when and at what levels religion can play a role in the social and political mobilisation towards violence, while comparing these mechanisms to non-religious equivalents. A Social Movement Theory (SMT) framework is adopted to analyse the mobilisation processes in four diversely oriented militia movements active in the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990): the Kataeb, the Amal movement, the Progressive Socialist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party. The thesis makes empirical and theoretical contributions on three analytical levels. At the macro-level, the thesis demonstrates how religion co-determined the character of the socio-political context, economic relations, foreign influence, and security issues, against which militia movements emerged as competing forces. The adaptation of critical realism aids in conceptualising the interdependence between these different factors as well as between the analytical levels. At the meso-level it shows how the cooperation and incorporation of religious resources involved significant re-imaginations of prevailing hierarchies and structures – an observation that should change the manner in which we theorise about religion as a resource for mobilisation. Analysing the speech of militia leaders, using the psychometric of integrative complexity, the thesis further demonstrates that no significant differences exist between the relative complexity of religious and non-religious idea structures. IC’s focus on cognitive structures adds an innovative edge to SMT. At the micro-level, augmenting SMT by incorporating insights from the field of social psychology, the thesis evidences how religion played a role in social identification and a mediating role in existential anxiety. Simultaneously, the dissertation cautions that the role of religion is in most instances similar to the role of non-religious counterparts. The research thereby complicates generalising theories on ‘religious violence’, presenting the social mobilisation towards violence as contingent on a complex mix of religious and non-religious ideas, societal structures, available resources, leadership attitudes, social identifications and personal affections. 3 4 TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 10 NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION 12 COPYRIGHT 14 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 16 1. INTRODUCTION 20 1. Debating ‘Religious Violence’ 20 2. Theoretical Approach 25 2.1. Social Movement Theory and Religion 25 2.2. Social Movement Theory and Violence 27 2.3. Social Movement Theory and ‘Religious Violence’ 29 3. Empirical Focus 30 4. Structure of Thesis 32 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 38 1. Theory and Aim 38 2. Overcoming Shortcomings 39 2.1. Conceptualising ‘Religious Violence’ 39 2.2. Ontological Considerations 42 3. A Social Movement Theory Framework to Analyse Religion in Lebanon 45 3.1. Militia Movements 47 3.1.1. Militia Movements and Political Opportunities 48 3.2. Militia Leaders 52 3.2.1. Militia Leaders and Resource Mobilisation 53 3.2.2. Militia Leaders and Integrative Complexity 56 3.3. Militants 60 3.3.1. Militants and Social Identity 62 3.3.2. Militants and Emotions 64 4. Conclusion 67 5 3. METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES 70 1. Methodology, Methods and Sources 71 2. Methodological Considerations 71 2.1. Considerations towards Generalisation 72 2.2. Considerations towards Causality 73 3. Orientation towards Case Studies 75 3.1. Orientation towards Militia Movements 75 3.2. Orientation towards Militia Leaders 78 3.3. Orientation towards Militants 79 4. Sources and Interpretation 82 4.1. National and International Sources 82 4.2. Official Militia Sources 83 4.3. Recorded Speeches and Interviews 84 4.4. Research Interviews 85 5. Towards Empirical Analysis 88 MILITIAS 90 4. MILITIAS: Marching to Civil War 93 1. The Pre-War Years 93 2. Sectarianization before the Civil War 94 2.1. Religion and the Socio-Political Context 94 2.2. Religion and the Economy 99 2.3. Religion and Foreign Influence 103 2.4. Religion and Security 107 3. Conclusion 110 5. MILITIAS: The Phases of Civil War 113 1. The Warring Years 113 2. Sectarianization throughout the Civil War 115 2.1. Demands for Reform (1975-1976) 115 2.2. The Slippery Slope of Sectarianization (1976-1982) 121 2.3. The Losses and Gains of Sectarianization (1982-1990) 130 3. Conclusion 135 6 MILITIA LEADERS 139 6. MILITIA LEADERS: Reach and Restraint in Instrumentalising Religious Resources 142 1. Re-imagining the Instrumentalisation of Religious Authorities and Resources 142 1.1. Bashir Gemayel and the Maronite Patriarch 144 1.2. Walid Jumblatt and the Shaykh al-‘Aql 149 1.3. Imam Musa al-Sadr and ‘Social Islam’ 155 1.4. George Hawi and the Sectarian Devil 162 2. Conclusion 168 7. MILITIA LEADERS: The Instrumentalisation of Religious Speech 174 1. Re-imagining the Instrumentalisation of Religious Speech 174 2. Integrative Complexity in Short 175 2.1. Integrative Complexity and Belief 177 3. Material and Method 179 3.1. Material 179 3.2. Scoring Considerations 180 3.3. Scoring Practise 182 4. Results 183 5. Discussion 188 6. Conclusion 195 MILITANTS 198 8. MILITANTS: Social Identity formation in Wartime Lebanon 201 1. Finding Belonging in a World at War 201 2. The Progressive Socialist Party: The Circle of Life 202 3. Amal: Strength and Sacrifice 213 4. Conclusion 223 9. MILITANTS: Death in Wartime Lebanon 227 1. The Intractability of Death 227 2. The Lebanese Forces: Meeting God on the Killing Fields 228 3. The Lebanese Communist Party: Death and Decline 239 4. Conclusion 249 7 10. CONCLUSION 255 1. ‘Religious Violence’ and the Lebanese Civil War 255 2. ‘Religious Violence’ and Social Movement Theory 262 11. AFTERWORD 268 12. APPENDICES 273 1. Chronology of Wartime Events 273 2. Warring Coalitions 278 3. Visuals 279 13. BIBLIOGRAPHY 290 1. Primary Sources 290 2. Secondary Sources 293 8 9 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AUB American University of Beirut BBC SWB BBC Summary of World Broadcasts CR Critical Realism FBIS Foreign Broadcast Information Service IC Integrative Complexity IDF Israeli Defense Forces LCP Lebanese Communist Party LF Lebanese Forces LNM Lebanese National Movement MNF Multinational Force PLO Palestine Liberation Organisation POS Political Opportunity Structure PSP Progressive Socialist Party RM Resource Mobilisation SMT Social Movement Theory TMT Terror Management Theory UNIFIL United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon 10 11 NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION The International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES) transliteration guide has been utilised with a few exceptions. Where particular forms of transliteration have gained common usage in English, such as Quran, these spellings were adopted. Also cases where scholars or interviewees used a particular spelling of their name that did not conform to the IJMES system, their preferred choices were maintained. In order to appeal to both specialist and non-specialist readers, Arabic transliterations have been used sparingly. 12 13 COPYRIGHT The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author’s prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. 14 15 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My acknowledgement section cannot possibly do justice to all those to whom I am indebted. First though, I would like to say thank you to my family and friends who stood with me during the process of this doctoral thesis. I am grateful for your encouragements and appreciative of your forbearance when, all too often, the PhD took me away or kept me occupied. In Durham, I would like to begin by thanking my supervisors Emma Murphy, Jutta Bakonyi and Jeroen Gunning (who mid-way through my PhD transferred to King’s College London but remained involved in my project). Jeroen convinced me to do a doctoral thesis, giving me the courage to pursue my passion. All three supervisors have been immensely supportive of my project, through the many visions and versions, they took the time to read, review and guide.