Media and Communication Ph.D. Dissertations

"Azma Fawq 'Azma": Non-Governmental, Civil Society, and Faith-Based Organizations' Roles in Combating Catastrophes in Lebanon

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

Media and Communication

First Advisor

Lara Martin Lengel (Committee Chair)

Second Advisor

Lori Brusman Lovins (Committee Member)

Third Advisor

Terry Rentner (Committee Member)

Fourth Advisor

Ellen Gorsevski (Committee Member)

Abstract

The World Bank classifies the Lebanese economic crisis as one of the 10 worst such crises globally since the 19th century—and possibly one of the top three. Azma fawq ‘azma [crisis upon crisis] includes financial collapse, inability to care for 1.5 million refugees, the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic on an already fragile healthcare system, and the catastrophic explosion in Beirut, one of the worst non-nuclear explosions in human history, that killed 218 people, injured 7,000, and left 300,000 unhoused. Due to unprecedented levels of inflation, the Lebanese pound has lost 90% of its value, food prices have risen 500%, and 80% of the population lives in poverty. These crises have transformed Lebanon from a beacon of success to a failed state. Given the severe lack of organizational communication research in the Mashreq (Middle East), this dissertation is of particular importance as it fills a critical gap in research. The dissertation takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine how NGOs mobilize support, provide services, and engage in interorganizational collaboration to support citizens, residents, and asylum seekers struggling to survive in Lebanon. The triangulated methodological approach includes policy analysis, two phases of field research in Lebanon, and in-depth interviews with leaders, administrators, employees, and volunteers representing 52 NGOs. Interview respondents (n = 64) provided first-hand experiences, insights, and assessments of NGOs’ efforts to combat intersecting crises, reflected on the complexity of these crises, and highlighted the need for economic and political reform to assuage the feelings of being trapped in the azma fawq ‘azma. Emergent themes include the importance of collective identity through interorganizational collaboration, the benefits of group cohesion in providing support and services, a sense of purpose that has expanded alongside the crises, a continuing commitment to local, regional, and diasporic community-building, and hope and courage to make change. The dissertation includes policy recommendations at both the governmental and non-governmental levels. It breaks new ground in an underdeveloped and under-theorized area—critical organizational and intercultural communication studies in Lebanon—a nation that has been nearly entirely overlooked in these fields.

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