The Crisis of Confessionalism: Lebanon between Tradition and Modernity

Abstract

This article contains the analysis of the Lebanese protests that started in October 2019 and attempts to explain their background. The main argument is that the Lebanese consociational system is undergoing a deep crisis. There is a growing disparity between the existing political system and ongoing social changes. The article argues that the reason for the socio-political tensions lies in the clash between two distinctive and competing discourses about the future shape of the Lebanese political system: the confessional discourse and the secular or reformist discourse.