ABSTRACT
Civil society organizations have been present in Lebanon since the Ottoman Empire and are protected by the Law of Associations of 1909. These organizations are considered to be governed by one of the most liberal laws when compared to the neighboring Arab countries and their historical development goes back to pre-Ottoman Empire. While civil society passed through five different phases from 1909 until today, its role took a major turning point during post-war Lebanon: In addition to charitable and religious service-providing associations, advocacy movements and associations started to appear in Lebanon for the first time, as a way of requesting the reconstruction of the state. They called for social reconstruction, environmental policies and human rights. This chapter analyzes the state–non-profit relationship in post-war Lebanon and the extent to which this relationship affected the role, function, and actions of these non-profit organizations. The chapter’s main claim is that post-war Lebanon’s socio-economic and political situations pushed for the development of two types of civil societies in this country, sharing different relationships with the state. The first type is the communal society that has, due to the confessional nature and the patron–client networks of the state, grown stronger than the state itself; this type of civil society is sharing a cooperational and complementary relationship with the state. The second is the civic society, which, in spite of many attempts to influence public policy, faces major challenges and is sharing a confrontational relationship with the state. To analyze this relationship, this chapter is divided into four main parts: Part 1 reviews frameworks that analyze the state-non-profit relationship. Part 2 explores the political, social, and economic background of the state of Lebanon. Part 3 analyzes the relationship between civil society and the Lebanese government in post-war Lebanon. Part 4 concludes with major findings and recommendations.
