Rebel Populism Revolution and Loss Among Syrian Labourers in Beirut

Rebel populism is an ethnography of Syrian migrant workers in Lebanon during the Syrian uprising and civil war. It documents the rise and fall of the revolution from the perspective of ordinary men. It explores the role of economic transformation, new technology, and masculinity in the development and practice of mass oppositional politics

‘This is a lively and genuinely empathetic study filling gaps in our knowledge of young lives, male lives, in forced migration studies. It is essential reading.’
Dawn Chatty, Emerita Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration, University of Oxford

‘This fascinating book provides an intimate portrayal of young male lives shaped not only by warfare and violence but also hope.’
Joe Glenton, author of Veteranhood: Rage and Hope in British Ex-Military Life

Rebel populism tells the story of the Syrian uprising through the eyes of migrant workers in Beirut. Workers from Syria have maintained a presence in Lebanon for decades. There was a time when their wages stretched further back home. However, from the mid-2000s, liberalising reforms saw accelerating levels of poverty. Migration shifted from an ‘opportunity’ to a survivalist strategy.

But in 2011, revolution came to Syria. Rural towns and villages – the birthplaces of this book’s principal characters – exploded in revolt. Several men returned, some later joining armed militias, but even those who remained abroad found means to protest at a distance. This political moment, which Proudfoot conceptualises as an example of ‘rebellious populism,’ also represents an increasingly common global contentious political formation. It is a form of mass politics which emerges not via a charismatic orator or longstanding ideological convictions, but through the weaving together of grievances aimed at the ruling class. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, Rebel populism offers fresh and vital insight into the Syrian uprising, war, and ultimate crisis.

Workers from the Syrian diaspora have maintained a presence in Lebanon for decades, building multimillion-dollar apartment complexes, toiling for backbreaking hours in grocery stores. From the mid-2000s, liberalising reforms saw accelerating levels of poverty among workers, often paid as low as $20 per day. Instead of ‘opportunity’, workers faced the prospect of indefinite economic exile, the unending drudgery of hard labour, and a constant struggle to make ends meet.

But in 2011, revolution came to Syria. Rural towns and villages exploded in revolt, but even those workers who remained in Beirut found means to protest at a distance. Their movement, which this book identifies as ‘rebel populism,’ represents an early instance of an increasingly common global contentious political formation, a form of mass politics that emerges not via a charismatic orator or developed ideological convictions, but through the weaving together of grievances aimed at the ruling class.