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Free Patriotic Movement Mobilization Keeps the Flame Burning (1991–2005)

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Activism, Change and Sectarianism in the Free Patriotic Movement in Lebanon

Part of the book series: Reform and Transition in the Mediterranean ((RTM))

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Abstract

This chapter explains how the FPM mobilized for activism throughout the period 1990–2005 despite the challenges it faced. The analysis considers the previously unexamined accounts of FPM activists who structured their activism according to small, loosely connected and decentralized cells, while maintaining only a political affiliation with the central FPM command in Lebanon and with FPM groups abroad for the distribution of news in the media. It also discusses several tactics that FPM activists adopted to incentivize other members to invest time and effort in activism. Here, too, the role of Michel Aoun’s ideas and the means of channeling those ideas in various media forms helped keep movement activism burning, even though large-scale gatherings were not always a feasible course of action.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Sciences, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon

    Joseph P. Helou

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  1. Joseph P. Helou
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Helou, J.P. (2020). Free Patriotic Movement Mobilization Keeps the Flame Burning (1991–2005). In: Activism, Change and Sectarianism in the Free Patriotic Movement in Lebanon . Reform and Transition in the Mediterranean. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25704-0_4

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