“Hospitality” Delegitimised by International Humanitarianism: When Mayors “Take Back Control” of the Political Economy of Solidarity in Lebanese Municipalities Receiving Displaced Syrians

Since 2011, Lebanon hosts more than a million displaced Syrians fleeing from a devastating civil war. This humanitarian crisis directly questions the political economy of solidarity in municipalities of the Bekaa valley welcoming displaced populations. In the Levant, solidarity is customarily practiced as an act of “hospitality” from a “host” to a “guest”. But the Lebanese government also delegated the management of the emergency crisis to international humanitarian actors. Therefore, this article exposes how newcoming International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) destabilised the tradition of hospitality in villages of the Bekaa by hampering the latter’s legitimacy in preserving the pre-existing social order. This research presents original mixed data observations compiling 78 elite-interviews with shapers of the political economy of solidarity in Bekaa municipalities. In addition, 146 Lebanese and displaced participants responded to two sets of surveys gathering information on their livelihoods. This research then reveals how some Lebanese mayors successfully exploited INGOs’ mishandling of the humanitarian response to rebalance the political economy of solidarity in their favour. Encouraged by the state administration, many mayors emulated corrupt practices from the national elites to blackmail some compliant INGOs. In fear of being evicted, several INGOs ceded to the mayors’ demands and involuntarily unleashed an anarchic competition of resource predation. These mayors thus instrumentalised “hospitality” into a clientelist rent perpetuating their political dominance. Conclusively, this research emphasises the importance for international NGOs to “localise” emergency programming with experienced local NGOs to avoid fueling traditional structures of corruption.