Mona Harb
American University of Beirut, Urban Studies & Politics, Faculty Member
- Mona Harb is Professor of Urban Studies and Politics at the American University of Beirut, where she also co-leads th... moreMona Harb is Professor of Urban Studies and Politics at the American University of Beirut, where she also co-leads the inclusive urban governance platform of the Beirut Urban Lab. She received her PhD in Political Science in 2005 from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques at Aix-Marseille (France). She is the author of Le Hezbollah à Beyrouth (1985-2005): de la banlieue à la ville (Karthala-IFPO, 2010), co-author of Leisurely Islam: Negotiating Geography and Morality in Shi'ite South Beirut (Princeton University Press, 2013, with Lara Deeb,), co-editor of Local Governments and Public Goods: Assessing Decentralization in the Arab World (Beirut: LCPS, 2015, with Sami Atallah), and of numerous journal articles, book chapters, and other publications. Her ongoing research investigates local governance and displacement, as well as urban activism and oppositional politics. Harb is the recipient of grants from IDRC, Ford Foundation, LSE-Emirates Fund, EU-FP7, Wenner-Gren, ACLS, and the Middle-East Awards. She serves on the editorial boards of IJMES, Environment and Planning C, IJURR and CSSAME, and is a trustee of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences. She is the founder and co-editor of the Cities Page on Jadaliyya e-zine. She served as the coordinator of the AUB graduate programs in Urban Planning, Policy and Design, as Associate Dean of her faculty, and as the chairperson of the department of Architecture and Design. She provides professional advice on urban development issues for several international organizations (ESCWA, WB, EU, UNDP).edit
Decentralization, democratization, and the role of regional and local governments in delivering services are key issues to development across the Arab world. While the tools and processes for which decentralization is carried out varies,... more
Decentralization, democratization, and the role of regional and local governments in delivering services are key issues to development across the Arab world. While the tools and processes for which decentralization is carried out varies, the stated goals of these efforts are to create a more democratic system of governance and more effective urban management.
Countries across the Arab world have been engaged in a range of decentralization efforts. This books documents and assesses the past and current decentralization policies and initiatives in five Arab states. Country-specific case studies are authored by Ali Bouabid and Aziz Iraki for Morocco, Sami Yassine Turki and Eric Verdeil for Tunisia, Myriam Ababsa for Jordan, Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj for Yemen, and Mona Harb and Sami Atallah for Lebanon.
The common analytical framework is structured along three components: the rules and politics of decentralization, the legislation and practice of service delivery, and the fiscal structures of decentralization. In all three components, we seek to understand the legal framework guiding the studied issue, its evolution over time, and its actual practice. Through the examination of service delivery cases, we identify, document, and understand instances of power struggles at the regional and local levels, and features that explain their varying successes and failures.
Countries across the Arab world have been engaged in a range of decentralization efforts. This books documents and assesses the past and current decentralization policies and initiatives in five Arab states. Country-specific case studies are authored by Ali Bouabid and Aziz Iraki for Morocco, Sami Yassine Turki and Eric Verdeil for Tunisia, Myriam Ababsa for Jordan, Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj for Yemen, and Mona Harb and Sami Atallah for Lebanon.
The common analytical framework is structured along three components: the rules and politics of decentralization, the legislation and practice of service delivery, and the fiscal structures of decentralization. In all three components, we seek to understand the legal framework guiding the studied issue, its evolution over time, and its actual practice. Through the examination of service delivery cases, we identify, document, and understand instances of power struggles at the regional and local levels, and features that explain their varying successes and failures.
Research Interests: Regional and Local Governance, Lebanon, Morocco, Yemen, Jordan, and 7 moreDecentralization, Arab world, Tunisia, Public Goods, Public Service Delivery, Development Agencies, Governance, Aid Management, Local Governments, Decentralization, Urban Quality, Corporate Social Responsibility, Youth Development and Participation, Policy Making, International Development Organizations, and Municipalities
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Le monde occidental connaît le Hezbollah en tant que parti chiite, agent de l'Iran au Liban et force militaire qui fait la guerre à Israël. Médias et gouvernements dénoncent le rôle destructeur du "parti de Dieu" au sein du pays du Cèdre,... more
Le monde occidental connaît le Hezbollah en tant que parti chiite, agent de l'Iran au Liban et force militaire qui fait la guerre à Israël. Médias et gouvernements dénoncent le rôle destructeur du "parti de Dieu" au sein du pays du Cèdre, ainsi que ses ambitions islamistes et terroristes néfastes au bon développement de la société plurielle libanaise. Ce livre s'adresse aux lecteurs et lectrices qui ne se suffisent pas d'une telle analyse réductrice.
Basé sur une connaissance du terrain longue de quinze années et sur l'analyse d'une trentaine d'entretiens, ce livre propose une nouvelle grille de lecture du Hezbollah, qui l'examine non pas comme phénomène externe à la société libanaise mais comme protagoniste inscrit dans l'histoire sociale et politique du pays. Mona Harb analyse aussi comment le Hezbollah forge au sein de la communauté chiite, longtemps stigmatisée, une conscience collective et un sentiment d'appartenance territoriale qui engendrent des sentiments de fierté, d'orgueil et de confiance.
Basé sur une connaissance du terrain longue de quinze années et sur l'analyse d'une trentaine d'entretiens, ce livre propose une nouvelle grille de lecture du Hezbollah, qui l'examine non pas comme phénomène externe à la société libanaise mais comme protagoniste inscrit dans l'histoire sociale et politique du pays. Mona Harb analyse aussi comment le Hezbollah forge au sein de la communauté chiite, longtemps stigmatisée, une conscience collective et un sentiment d'appartenance territoriale qui engendrent des sentiments de fierté, d'orgueil et de confiance.
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The Cities Page is a Jadaliyya platform promoting critical understandings and investigations of urban life and space, beyond the dominant formal and physical narration on cities. The Cities Page publishes works from different fields that... more
The Cities Page is a Jadaliyya platform promoting critical understandings and investigations of urban life and space, beyond the dominant formal and physical narration on cities. The Cities Page publishes works from different fields that deepen our understanding of the social production of diverse urban geographies and the contestation around them. It aims to consolidate an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to reading and writing about space and cities, incorporating historical, social, cultural, political, legal, economic and technological dimensions. It welcomes contributions in various formats, languages, and on various urban geographies and histories.
POWER2YOUTH is a consortium of research and academic institutions from different disciplines based in the EU member states, Norway, Switzerland and South East Mediterranean (SEM) countries formed to explore the dynamics of youth exclusion... more
POWER2YOUTH is a consortium of research and academic institutions from different disciplines based in the EU member states, Norway, Switzerland and South East Mediterranean (SEM) countries formed to explore the dynamics of youth exclusion and the prospects for youth transformative agency in the SEM region. The project, funded under the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme, will run for three years starting in March 2014.
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While there has been considerable literature looking at policy mobilities including issues of transfer of policy ideas, models and techniques, these studies have remained somewhat narrow in their scope, stopping short of conceptualizing... more
While there has been considerable literature looking at policy mobilities including issues of transfer of policy ideas, models and techniques, these studies have remained somewhat narrow in their scope, stopping short of conceptualizing changing forms and scales of governmentality in cities and regions, and considering how planners and experts learn and contribute to these transformations and transfers.
In our project, we are keen to embed a critical approach to policy mobilities in a wider reflection on regionalism, refugee policies, and planning. Indeed, while ideas of regionalism and refugee policies have come to Lebanon through international donors and humanitarian agencies, there are actual local and regional practices and policies incorporating a range of actors—municipalities, municipal unions, NGOs, experts, activists and scholars—taking place on the ground. Some of these actors are operating as planners, elaborating spatial strategies at a large territorial scale, trying to identify productive sectors of development. Others are operating in a crisis-response mode providing shelter, basic services and small scale infrastructure to refugees and host communities, to help contain and manage the urgent humanitarian crisis.
The project thus seeks to understand how international aid and policy mobilities affect, on the one hand, refugee policies, the delivery of shelter and services, and on the other hand, spatial planning and scales of urban governance in Lebanon. We are also keen on understanding what are the socio-spatial and political effects (planning-relevant) of these changing planning practices in Lebanon? How does aid help us rethink the forms and entanglements of sovereignty between actors such as the EU, UN, international donors, municipalities, municipal unions, NGOs and political parties? How is this changing and negotiating the hegemonic political configurations dominating the Lebanese territory?
In our project, we are keen to embed a critical approach to policy mobilities in a wider reflection on regionalism, refugee policies, and planning. Indeed, while ideas of regionalism and refugee policies have come to Lebanon through international donors and humanitarian agencies, there are actual local and regional practices and policies incorporating a range of actors—municipalities, municipal unions, NGOs, experts, activists and scholars—taking place on the ground. Some of these actors are operating as planners, elaborating spatial strategies at a large territorial scale, trying to identify productive sectors of development. Others are operating in a crisis-response mode providing shelter, basic services and small scale infrastructure to refugees and host communities, to help contain and manage the urgent humanitarian crisis.
The project thus seeks to understand how international aid and policy mobilities affect, on the one hand, refugee policies, the delivery of shelter and services, and on the other hand, spatial planning and scales of urban governance in Lebanon. We are also keen on understanding what are the socio-spatial and political effects (planning-relevant) of these changing planning practices in Lebanon? How does aid help us rethink the forms and entanglements of sovereignty between actors such as the EU, UN, international donors, municipalities, municipal unions, NGOs and political parties? How is this changing and negotiating the hegemonic political configurations dominating the Lebanese territory?
Research Interests: Social Networks, Urban Politics, International organizations, Urban Planning, Lebanon, and 11 moreUrban Studies, Local Government and Local Development, Knowledge Transfer, Urban And Regional Planning, Refugees, Policy Transfer, City and Regional Planning, International law, international relations, human rights law, international humanitarian law, international organisations, law and politics, Strategic Spatial Planning, Assemblage Theory, and Policy Mobilities and Assemblage
Lebanese youth are constructed through fragmented lenses, and are recipients of partial, unresponsive, and often irrelevant policies. Despite these constraints, many youth have become actively engaged in political life, especially since... more
Lebanese youth are constructed through fragmented lenses, and are recipients of partial, unresponsive, and often irrelevant policies. Despite these constraints, many youth have become actively engaged in political life, especially since 2005. Three types of youth engagement can be identified: i) the ‘conformists’, who privilege their sectarian belonging, ii) the ‘alternative groups’, who engage in professional NGOs, and iii) the new ‘activists’, who prefer loose organising centred on progressive and radical issues. New forms of youth activism in the contested city of Beirut have been able to exploit interstitial openings for seeds to grow into potentially “disruptive mobilizations”. While these resistances may have been limited up to now in time and space, youth activist groups still embarrass, hold accountable and constrain hegemonic politics. They may be generating seeds of collective action that still have to be further structured and organised.
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To assess youth exclusion at the macro institutional level in Lebanon, this paper proposes a methodology that critically investigates discourse production on youth, as well as policy making targeting youth. Two types of discourse that... more
To assess youth exclusion at the macro institutional level in Lebanon, this paper proposes a methodology that critically investigates discourse production on youth, as well as policy making targeting youth. Two types of discourse that dominate knowledge production on youth in Lebanon are identified and investigated: a policy-led discourse, and an academic discourse. Factors of youth exclusion are further explored through four policy sectors (employment, migration, family, spatial planning). Our findings demonstrate that Lebanese youth are constructed through fragmented lenses and policies that lack an interdisciplinary and integrated understanding of their complex, dynamic and highly differentiated livelihoods. Youth are actively excluded from politics, economics, society and the built environment, through policies that do not prioritize their needs and desires.
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Established in 1985 in Lebanon, Hezbollah (alternative spellings: Hizballah or Hizbullah) is a political party run by Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, which leads an armed resistance against Israel, and manages a large network of organizations... more
Established in 1985 in Lebanon, Hezbollah (alternative spellings: Hizballah or Hizbullah) is a political party run by Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, which leads an armed resistance against Israel, and manages a large network of organizations providing an array of social services to Shiʿite groups.
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Durant la guerre israélienne contre le Hezbollah, le nom de Dahiye a fait la une des médias. Jamais la notoriété de cette banlieue sud de Beyrouth n'aura atteint de telles proportions. Pendant plusieurs jours, les avions... more
Durant la guerre israélienne contre le Hezbollah, le nom de Dahiye a fait la une des médias. Jamais la notoriété de cette banlieue sud de Beyrouth n'aura atteint de telles proportions. Pendant plusieurs jours, les avions de guerre israéliens ont pilonné le quartier de Haret ...
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There has been limited attention for urban residents’ everyday experiences of cities reshaped by the security imperative, or for the various socio-spatial responses they develop. Beyond the depressingly familiar defensive and repressive... more
There has been limited attention for urban residents’ everyday experiences of cities reshaped by the security imperative, or for the various socio-spatial responses they develop. Beyond the depressingly familiar defensive and repressive responses on the parts of political and economic elites, her discussion of residents’ initiatives in Beirut points to the possibilities for new forms of socio-political mobilization and urban politics to emerge in even the most dire circumstances.
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The New Urban Agenda must take into account the threats of implementation in authoritarian and corrupt states.
Research Interests: Urban Planning, United Nations, Urban Studies, Urban And Regional Planning, Decentralisation processes and development issues, and 2 moreDecentralization and Development Agencies, Governance, Aid Management, Local Governments, Decentralization, Urban Quality, Corporate Social Responsibility, Youth Development and Participation, Policy Making, International Development Organizations
Khaled Malas is a Syrian architect who curated a series of events on the production of the landscape in Syria from before the First World War until today, entitled “excavating the sky” (12-14 August, 2014), at the 14th Venice... more
Khaled Malas is a Syrian architect who curated a series of events on the production of the landscape in Syria from before the First World War until today, entitled “excavating the sky” (12-14 August, 2014), at the 14th Venice International Architecture Biennale (7 June to 23 November 2014). In this interview, he talks with Mona Harb about his trajectory, the project’s threads, processes and goals, building wells as resistance, the support of colleagues and friends, next stages and future plans, and the role of architecture in the face of war, power and conflict.
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Decentralization is a key pillar for consolidating democracy, improving local political participation and ensuring better service delivery. The state of decentralization in the Arab World falls well behind other regions. Most countries,... more
Decentralization is a key pillar for consolidating democracy, improving local political participation and ensuring better service delivery. The state of decentralization in the Arab World falls well behind other regions. Most countries, which were established by colonial powers, remain highly centralized and, at best, deconcentrated. LCPS led a study of five Arab countries—Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen—which highlights five major themes. First, colonial legacies and regional histories determine contemporary decentralization policies to a great extent. Second, states often advocate but simultaneously subvert decentralization efforts. Third, urban management and service delivery are usually centralized, while infrastructural and technical services are increasingly decentralized to a local scale, but without sufficient human and fiscal resources. Fourth, municipalities are reluctant to collect local taxes to secure political loyalty and interests. Finally, and despite these obstacles, some local governments are performing rather well and benefiting from opportunities brought forth via decentralization initiatives.
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The paper investigates how young activists in Beirut bred an urban social movement. It is organized in two parts: the first discusses the context of urban policies and governance in Beirut, and how it has generated a dismal state of... more
The paper investigates how young activists in Beirut bred an urban social movement. It is organized in two parts: the first discusses the context of urban policies and governance in Beirut, and how it has generated a dismal state of public services, where youth groups are excluded from the city and the public sphere. The second examines how two generations of urban activists created a diversity of groups eager to preserve the liveability of their city and their shared spaces. Three success stories of young urban activists demonstrate the formation of new modes of collective action and mobilization. The trigger for the consolidation of these modes of action into an urban social movement is the collapse of a key public service – garbage collection and management, which translated into widespread protests (al-Hirak) as well as a successful municipal campaign (Beirut Madinati).
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This paper investigates youth mobilization in Lebanon. It is organized in two main sections. The first section analyses patterns of youth inclusion and exclusion in the context of Lebanese sectarian politics, showing how partisan groups,... more
This paper investigates youth mobilization in Lebanon. It is organized in two main sections. The first section analyses patterns of youth inclusion and exclusion in the context of Lebanese sectarian politics, showing how partisan groups, religious and family authorities lock-in the youth. It then moves to an overview of “independent” NGOs, examining youth mobilization in NGOs since 2005. It focuses on the role of youth-led organizations (YLOs) and youth-relevant organizations (YROs) in three policy domains: entrepreneurship, personal rights and spatial planning. The second section reflects on NGOs’ professionalization and on youth’s related demobilization, discussing how youth’s associational life reproduces sectarian politics, and depoliticizes engagement. I also examine the rise of coalitions, arguing that they may be the components for future collective action, and reflect on whether this can form the seeds of an independent social movement among the youth. The paper concludes with a synthesis of opportunities and challenges facing youth mobilization in Lebanon.
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Dans ce cadre, ce rapport s'articule autour d'une question centrale : les politiques d'aide extérieure, et notamment celles qui visent à la mise en place de la décentralisation, favorisent-elles, ou non, l'autonomisation des municipalités... more
Dans ce cadre, ce rapport s'articule autour d'une question centrale : les politiques d'aide extérieure, et notamment celles qui visent à la mise en place de la décentralisation, favorisent-elles, ou non, l'autonomisation des municipalités et de leurs élus ? Dans quelle mesure ces politiques autorisent-elles, ou au moins participent-elles à la construction d'un champ politique local ? Cette question, qui prend son sens dans l'analyse des réalités locales palestiniennes et libanaises, est finalement une déclinaison des interrogations plus globales de l'ensemble du projet de recherche concernant la mise en dépendance des acteurs du pouvoir local décentralisé par les institutions donatrices internationales. Au total, il s'agit d'analyser les effets, dans le champ politique local, de l'action des donateurs, comme des directives des pouvoirs centraux, pour tenter de déterminer comment, et dans quelle mesure, l'action des donateurs contribue à la mise en forme des pratiques et des positions du pouvoir local municipal. L'un des angles d'approches revient finalement à prendre au sérieux le discours normatif des institutions donatrices pour se demander si l'implication croissante des bailleurs de fonds dans le pouvoir local débouche effectivement sur la promotion de pratiques de gestion structurellement différentes des relations clientélistes prééminentes à ce niveau. Pour tenter d'apporter une réponse à ces questions, notre rapport s'articule autour de trois axes problématiques : i) Les politiques de décentralisation au Liban et en Palestine, ii) Les normes de la " good governance " telles qu'elles sont élaborées et véhiculées par les donateurs internationaux, et enfin iii) Les systèmes d'acteurs et les formes de régulation à l'échelle municipale.
Research Interests: Urban management, Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development, State Formation, Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, and 7 moreLocal Government and Local Development, Fiscal federalism and decentralization, Urban Governance, Good Governance, Institutions, International Aid and Development, and Political economy of regulation
The Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies (CAMES) at the American University of Beirut organized panel discussion on the newly released book Leisurely Islam: Negotiating Geography and Morality in Shi'ite South Beirut (Princeton,... more
The Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies (CAMES) at the American University of Beirut organized panel discussion on the newly released book Leisurely Islam: Negotiating Geography and Morality in Shi'ite South Beirut (Princeton, 2013) by Lara Deeb & Mona Harb. The panel took place on March 28, 2014 in West Hall and featured: Mona Harb (Author), Associate Professor of Urban Studies at the American University of Beirut; Laleh Khalili (Moderator and Discussant), Professor in Middle Eastern Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies; Jean-Baptiste Pesquet (Discussant), PhD student, Paris V; fellow at Institut français du Proche-Orient (IFPO)-Beirut; Rasha Al Atrash (Discussant), Managing Editor of Al Modon electronic newspaper.
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"Has Mar Mikhael rejuvenation spelled its downfall?"
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"Pour apaiser les tensions entre communautés, les deux principaux partis libanais ont décidé d’ôter tout signe politique des rues de Beyrouth."
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"Even though the Lebanese capital is a bustling and even glamorous place, the heart of Beirut is empty. That's because the ghosts of this otherwise vibrant city's past still play out in Beirut's neighborhoods. Decades after Lebanon's... more
"Even though the Lebanese capital is a bustling and even glamorous place, the heart of Beirut is empty. That's because the ghosts of this otherwise vibrant city's past still play out in Beirut's neighborhoods. Decades after Lebanon's civil war in the 1980s, those divides still carve up the city and help determine who lives where and who interacts with whom. To understand why, we'll first head west to my neighborhood, the Hamra area. My neighbor, Mona Harb, is an architecture professor with the American University of Beirut. And, like me, she likes Hamra because it's mixed in terms of sect, class and education levels.
But that's rare, she says — much of Beirut is divided. "It is a fragmented city, made of more or less self-sufficient neighborhoods, or sets of neighborhoods, with clear, segregated lines," Harb says."
But that's rare, she says — much of Beirut is divided. "It is a fragmented city, made of more or less self-sufficient neighborhoods, or sets of neighborhoods, with clear, segregated lines," Harb says."
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Published as part of the DIWAN publications on the occasion of International Architecture Biennial of Rotterdam 2009.