The Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship had dedicated this section to showcase the Institute's published work as part of a research project funded by the Ford Foundation, titled

The Lay of the Land: A Social Mapping of the Daily Practices in Informality Amongst Syrian Displaced Communities in Lebanon

You can also access our other publications below

asfari publications

​What policies are needed to protect Syrian displaced persons in Lebanon?
Overlooked Priorities

ما هي السياسات اللازمة لحماية النازحين السوريين في لبنان؟
أوليات مهملة

An important finding of this report is the “policy of no policy” that the Lebanese authorities use as their approach regarding this matter. Accordingly, local authorities, employers, and organizations backed by international entities deal with the displaced daily. Therefore, the publication of this Policy Report highlights the “policy of no policy” concerning the various sectors that involve Syrians in Lebanon, including construction, hospitality, and retail. The report also draws attention to the patterns around the provision of financial, health, and legal support to Syrian women, and the crumbling infrastructure erected by international aid organizations

​قررنا انتاج هذا الإصدار السياساتي لإبراز «اللاسياسة كسياسة » في ما يتعلق بقطاعات الأعمال المختلفة التي تضم نازحين سوريين في لبنان، مثل عمال البناء والعاملين في المطاعم والمحلات التجارية، وكذلك تسليط الضوء على أنماط تقديم الدعم المالي والصحي والقانوني للنساء السوريات، أو في ما يتعلق بانهيار البنى التحتية التي أقامتها وكالات التنمية والمساعدة الدولية دون محاولة من السلطات اللبنانية للإبقاء عليها وإدارتها بشكل كُفْءُ أو تسلمها وتطوير إدارتها بشكل رسمي

Syrian Women and their Participation
​in the Peace Process

Kholoud Mansour

Despite their continuous efforts and direct involvement in civil, social, economic, and cultural domains, their political participation in the negotiations and peace processes is rarely recognized or supported in a substantial way. This article draws on existing scholarly works to women’s representation and inclusion in peace processes as a global challenge. This article aims at addressing the representation of the Syrian women in the media, the different barriers to their political participation and the politics of representation. The article uses contemporary empirical evidence to explore this subject, delving deeper into two experiences, the Women’s Advisory Board (WAB) to the UN Special Envoy and Women’s Advisory Committee (WAC) of the High Negotiations Committee and the international support to Syrian women in the negotiations and peace process. Further, the article aims at instigating further in-depth discussions and work on this crucial, salient and understudied topic

Gendering Citizenship as Enacted:
​Women Refugees in Lebanon

Dr. Connie Carøe Christiansen

In this paper, the writer proposes that certain strategies forged by Syrian refugee women who have settled in Lebanon in their interaction with local NGOs, allow the contours of enacted citizenship as a gendered practice to emerge. The aim is to demonstrate that the full variety of enactments of citizenship only comes into view when the gender of the enactor is given due analytical attention. The discussion is divided into three parts; the interaction of Syrian refugees with the humanitarian sector in Lebanon; Syrian refugee women’s new position as breadwinners in Lebanon; and finally, the phenomena of Syrian refugee women’s acquirement of Lebanese marriage partners as a highly gendered enactment of citizenship. For displaced Syrian women, enacted citizenship does not represent a circumvention of their predicament; instead, these acts demonstrate how these women adapt and survive in a sexist and patriarchal society, while existing in an insecure limbo

The Diversity of Experiences of Syrian Displaced Persons in Lebanon:
Everyday Exclusion, Informality,
and Adjustment Tactics

Manar Fleifel

The study aims to address the following questions: How are different displaced Syrian populations in Lebanon accessing their basic needs in displacement? What are the mechanisms used within the informal sectors of work, health, schooling, and housing? Who are the actors involved (as mediators or “patrons”)? What kind of transformations have displaced Syrians undergone in exile? By attempting to answer these questions, the paper will draw on from the themes of replacement within displacement, displaced and marginalized communities’ adjustment mechanisms, and forced return. By attempting to answer these questions, the paper will draw on from the themes of replacement within displacement, displaced and marginalized communities’ adjustment mechanisms, and forced return

​Policies of Reconstruction in Syria, Foreign Actors and the Issue of
​Refugees and IDPs

Dr. Joseph Daher

The “war economy” model, put forward by various analysts to understand the current state in Syria, is often presented as something new, supposedly representing a rupture and departure from the economic dynamics that existed in Syria before 2011—rather than an exacerbation of those prior economic dynamics, albeit often with new networks and personalities. The conflict deepened the Syrian government’s pre-war neoliberal policies while reinforcing the authoritarian and patrimonial aspects of the regime. National and foreign actors have already had an eye out for investment opportunities. In this perspective, this article will analyze how the popular classes in Syria, especially the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and refugees are completely ignored in the discussions on and plans for reconstruction plans and economic policies in their own countries

Social Networks during Displacement:
The Case of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon
and Beyond

Dr. Nada Ghandour-Demiri

When analyzing social networks during displacement, it is essential to consider the impact of distance and physical separation on how social ties are maintained, strengthened, or weakened over time, and how their meaning and practical use can change. Based on case studies of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, this paper explores how social ties are impacted by displacement. How are social networks, such as families and friendships, affected during displacement? What is their role in harnessing basic livelihood necessities? While emphasizing the powerful role of the family in Middle Eastern societies, this paper challenges simplistic analyses of the family (and other networks) as a static entity and suggests a more nuanced analysis of social ties

Syrian (In)formal Displacement
​ in Lebanon
Displacement as Urbanism,
​Informality as Architecture

Dr. Ahmad Sukkar, Hani Fakhani, and Sawsan Abou Zainedin

By using an approach that integrates cross-disciplinary architectural humanities and social sciences, this “diversity research” adopts a qualitative methodology based on a literature review of academic research and technical reports. It highlights a number of significant theoretical concepts of formal and informal displacement and reflects on the case studies and interviews conducted by researchers as part of the project The Lay of the Land: A Social Mapping of Daily Practices in Informality amongst Syrian Displaced Communities in Lebanon, implemented by the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut, and funded by the Ford Foundation

Displaced Syrians in Lebanon:
​Beyond Categorization and Homogeneity of Experiences

النازحون السوريون في لبنان: ما وراء التصنيف وتجانس التجارب

Based on more than one hundred and thirty ethnographic interviews conducted with displaced Syrians living in more than seven different localities in Lebanon, this report presents the research that has been ongoing for over two years as summarized in eight case studies that illustrate the different ways through which Syrians are accessing services and overcoming restrictive policies and procedures, like informal networks among other creative adjustment mechanisms they have adopted. The ethnographic study comprises life histories and semi-structured interviews, focusing on themes rather than sites

يبني هذا التقرير على أكثر من 130 مقابلة اثنوجرافية تمّ إجراؤها مع نازحين سوريين في أكثر من منطقة لبنانية، ويقدّم نتائج بحث استمرّ لأكثر من سنتين، تمّ تلخيصها في ثماني دراسات حالة أظهرت مختلف الطرق التي ينتهجها السوريين من أجل الوصول إلى الخدمات عبر الشبكات غير الرسمية وبالتغلب على السياسات والإجراءات التقييدية من خال اعتماد آليات تكيف مبتكرة. وتشمل الدراسة الاثنوجرافية سِير حياة شخصية ومقابات شبه منظمة، تركز على المواضيع عوضًا عن المواق

The Workshop on War Economy /
Reconstruction Economy in Syria

Manar Fleifel

On the 2nd of March 2019, the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship organized a workshop entitled “War Economy / Reconstruction Economy in Syria” as part of its project: “The Lay of the Land: A Social Mapping of the Daily Practices in Informality Amongst Syrian Displaced Communities in Lebanon”, funded by the Ford Foundation. This workshop was organized to fulfill the goals of the project, which are to “engage with the Syrian displacement academic debate, offering a more nuanced fact based analysis about realities on the ground”. The workshop was divided into 4 panels covering the following themes: The Internal Dynamics of the War and Reconstruction Economy in Syria, the External Dynamics, i.e., the Different Perspectives on Reconstruction in Syria, the Structures of the Reconstruction Economy and the Actors in the Reconstruction Economy