The Free Patriotic Movement in Lebanon carried the cause of Lebanese freedom, sovereignty and independence, which were extremely sensitive topics for the de jure Lebanese governments who fell under the influence of Syria. These Lebanese governments did not lack the means to attempt to prevent the movement from emerging. However, against all odds, the Free Patriotic Movement continued to emerge in Lebanon and persisted in the organization of collective activity, which include protests and demonstrations among other activities. Even after the withdrawal of the Syrian troops from Lebanon in 2005, the FPM transformed into a political party and became quite active in Lebanese politics. In this thesis, I aim to explain the emergence, persistence and institutional transformation of the FPM. I refer to Political Process Theory to explain these aspects of my study. In so doing, I hope to make a valuable contribution to Lebanese social movement literature by putting forward the first such examination of the FPM. I argue that the key factor explaining these aspects of my study is the agency of FPM activists and the leadership of Michel Aoun who have impacted the emergence, persistence and institutional transformation of the FPM by actively participating in the movement's ranks. Structural factors, such as political opportunities, are quite important, but their impact on the movement is contingent upon what FPM activists and their leader make of them. Therefore, without the essential role of the movement's dedicated agency, many aspects of the FPM could not be explained as they are in this study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:716782 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Helou, Joseph Prosper |
| Contributors | Maiguashca, Bice |
| Publisher | University of Exeter |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/27819 |
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