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Durham E-Theses Hizbullah's Struggle for Symbolic Power: Creating and Reproducing the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon MOFFATT, CAELUM,ROBERT,MAGUIRE How to cite: MOFFATT, CAELUM,ROBERT,MAGUIRE (2015) Hizbullah's Struggle for Symbolic Power: Creating and Reproducing the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11295/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. 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 Hizbullah’s Struggle for Symbolic Power: Creating and Reproducing the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon Caelum Robert Maguire Moffatt Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Sciences School of Government and International Affairs Durham University 2015 1 Abstract This thesis presents an alternative conceptual framework with which to examine the emergence and evolution of Hizbullah in Lebanon. The proliferation of Islamist movements in the Middle East has stimulated scholarly inquiry that seeks to identify and explain episodes of collective action in Muslim societies. Addressing the phenomenon of mobilisation from the respective perspectives of Islamic studies, Area studies or social movement theory (SMT), pre-existing literature remains predominantly characterised by intra-disciplinary dualisms and limited inter- disciplinary engagement. In this context, not only is there a deficiency of consistency concerning the relative influence of agency/structure and culture/ideology in collective action, but Hizbullah, arguably the most effective manifestation of movement mobilisation in the Middle East, is also conceptually under-explored. This research aims to transform these prevailing dichotomies into permanent dialectics by adopting the epistemological and methodological insights developed in Pierre Bourdieu’s ‘Theory of Practice’ as conceptual interlocutors to problematise conventional assumptions in traditional Islamic studies and SMT, to propose a revised Bourdieu-SMT approach for illustrating collective action and to prioritise the application of this holistic lens for assessing the multi-faceted dimensions of Hizbullah’s advancement in Lebanon. Equipped with these analytical tools, this thesis intends to initiate and contribute to an inter-disciplinary discussion on collective action by arguing that a Bourdieu-SMT conceptualisation can assist in explaining the mutually constituted process by which Hizbullah strategically inculcates dispositions and perceptions amongst agents within the parameters of specific fields in Lebanon while concurrently propagating cohesive discourses and practices with the objective of managing the harmonisation of its relational positions across fields that are inherently constituted by differentiated logics. Embedded within a system that internally mitigates against the exclusive exercise of symbolic power, Hizbullah is entrenched in a tautological struggle for opportunities that enable it to balance and enhance the legitimate status of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon. Cover page contains a graphic commemorating the 2013 anniversary of Hizbullah’s ‘Three Leading Martyrs’. The image shows Imad Mugniyeh (d. 2008), Shaykh Abbas Moussawi (d. 1992) and Shaykh Ragheb Harb (d. 1984) with the phrase ‘On the Road to Palestine’ symbolically sprawled in blood at the bottom (picture obtained from Hizbullah’s Al-Moqawama website). 2 Table of Contents Declaration and Statement of Copyright ................................................................................ 5 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 6 Note on Transliteration .......................................................................................................... 8 List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. 9 Glossary of Selected Bourdieusian Terms ........................................................................... 10 Introduction: Hizbullah in Lebanon ...................................................................................... 13 1. Islamist Movements in the Academic Field(s) .................................................................. 33 1.1 Field Formation and Fragmentation ............................................................................... 35 1.2 Introducing Social Movement Theory ............................................................................ 43 1.3 New Social Movements ................................................................................................. 44 1.4 Political Process Model ................................................................................................. 46 1.5 Collective Action Frames ............................................................................................... 48 1.6 Towards a Synthesis ..................................................................................................... 50 1.7 Misinterpreting Culture .................................................................................................. 52 1.8 Ideology and Religion in SMT ........................................................................................ 55 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 57 2. Introducing Metanoia into Social Movement Theory ........................................................ 60 2.1 A Manuel in Basic Bourdieuese ..................................................................................... 65 2.2 Addressing Culture and Ideology ................................................................................... 72 2.3 Collective Action and Transferability .............................................................................. 78 2.4 Reproduction and Change ............................................................................................. 83 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 88 3. Methodology: Studying (in) Lebanon ............................................................................... 92 3.1 The Struggle for capital in the Academic field ................................................................ 95 3.2 ‘L’Etranger’ (‘The Outsider’): Theoretical and Practical Logics ..................................... 100 3.3 Spotting Field Relationality in Lebanon ........................................................................ 105 3.4 Relational Fields of Practice in Lebanon ...................................................................... 114 3.5 Practising in the Shadow of ‘Al Muamara’.................................................................... 115 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 123 3 4. Locating the Shi’i habitus in the Construction of Lebanon’s Fields ................................. 127 4.1 Shi’i Mobilisation under the Ottoman Empire (1516-1919) ........................................... 133 4.2 Shi’i Mobilisation under Mandate and Independence (1920-1958) .............................. 142 4.3 Shi’i Mobilisation under Musa al-Sadr (1959-1978) ..................................................... 152 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 162 5. The Creation and Positioning of Hizbullah in Lebanon (1982-1991) .............................. 167 5.1 From radical habiti into collusio ................................................................................... 171 5.2 The Construction of Hizbullah’s Organisational Field (OF ) .......................................... 178 5.3 Identifying Hizbullah in the MSF : Islamic Jihad and Islamic Resistance ....................... 192 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 203 6. Infitah and the ‘Lebanonisation’ of Hizbullah (1992-2000) ............................................. 208 6.1 Realigning the Resistance ........................................................................................... 212 6.2 Striving for symbolic capital in the MSF ....................................................................... 225 6.3 The Politics of Resistance ........................................................................................... 235 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 247 7. Reproducing a State of Permanent Resistance (2000-2010) ........................................