Date

2022-9-2

Author

İnan, Elif

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Hezbollah, as a non-state actor, has been a part of the Lebanese political sphere for more than 30 years. However, how to define Hezbollah has been a dilemma because of its complex state of existence. Confining the group within the borders of previously set categorizations may not lend credence since Hezbollah is most likely to continue practicing unexpected and conflicting policies and overstep the limits of the assigned identity. Emancipating Hezbollah from a binary understanding, therefore, is able to give a full understanding of the organization’s intricacy without facing obstacles. Since liminality is a broader and less restrictive concept, the frame of “liminality”, hereby, is used to replace the concept of “transformation” in the literature. This thesis, which is a single case study, is intended to analyze the political pragmatism of Hezbollah at both domestic and regional levels. The political maneuvers of Hezbollah are made through the room created by the consequences of liminality of Lebanese state as well as Hezbollah itself. Since Hezbollah, as a non-state actor, was born into a state of liminality, it was endowed with no necessity of a clear definition of itself because of the suspended state structure. Hezbollah’s victory as a surviving and as the most benefitting one is a consequence of a good reading of the liminal periods and the political acumen. The political developments in Lebanon, in this context, has shaped the group’s mission according to the conjuncture. Hezbollah’s political pragmatism at the regional level, on the other hand, is explained by three cases: Israeli Invasion of Lebanon, Participation to the Lebanese electoral system and the 2019 October Uprising. Hezbollah’s political pragmatism at the regional level is elucidated with its reliance on Iran, its alliance with Syria, and lastly, the Arab Spring & Syrian Civil War. Secondary sources such as news from media outlets and the periodic speeches of Nasrallah were utilized. Critical Discourse Analysis is used for the speeches of Nasrallah to analyze the changes in the narrative of Hezbollah. Keywords: Lebanon, Hezbollah, political pragmatism, liminality

Subject Keywords

Lebanon, Hezbollah, political pragmatism, liminality

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/99586

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis