Everyday Sectarianism in Urban Lebanon

"In this thoughtful book, Joanne Randa Nucho tells the story of how electricity, educational and social work facilities, credit services, and mobility infrastructures are imagined, planned, used, and abused. Nucho manages to defamiliarize the familiar and forces us to look at the hidden structures under the surface of social relations more inquisitively and critically."--Laleh Khalili, SOAS, University of London"Joanne Randa Nucho brilliantly captures the everyday acts that continually reinvent sectarianism and she challenges the assumption that sectarian communities are old and natural. Sectarianism, she boldly argues, is made through municipal organizations, nonprofits, lending institutions, and other establishments that channel resources along sectarian lines. Marvelously ethnographic, Nucho's nuanced book is a must-read for those who believe that 'ethnic, ' 'tribal, ' 'religious, ' and 'sectarian' identities are an ageless given."--Suad Joseph, University of California, Davis"This is a wonderful book, both accessible and compelling. Looking at the complex city of Beirut, Nucho skillfully expands traditional ideas of human and material infrastructure to include areas that are far from ordinary. The discussions of memory and its deployment to shape an uncertain future are incisive and assured."--AbdouMaliq Simone, author of City Life from Jakarta to Dakar"This articulately written and well-argued book investigates sectarianism in Lebanon through networks, infrastructures, and service provision, focusing on Armenian institutions in Bourj Hammoud since their establishment in the 1920s to today. Providing rigorous analysis and rich narratives of urban spaces, homes, social services, and microcredit lending, Everyday Sectarianism in Urban Lebanon breaks fascinating new ground in the urban anthropology of the Middle East."--Mona Harb, American University of Beirut