Political Elite Rhetoric on Popular Uprisings: Responding to the Lebanese 2019 ‘October Revolution’
El-Khoury, Anna Kristiina (2023)
El-Khoury, Anna Kristiina
2023
Master's Programme in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-02-22
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202302011970
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202302011970
Tiivistelmä
In October 2019, the Lebanese political leaders were faced with widespread popular protests contesting their political power and holding them accountable for deficiencies, such as corruption, economic deterioration, and government mismanagement. The purpose of this research is to examine how the contested political elite addressed the anti-elite uprising and the subsequent discourse on responsibility and accountability in their political communications to the public. This was done through the Rhetorical Analysis (RA) of two years of both written and oral communications of Gebran Bassil, Hassan Nasrallah, Michel Aoun, Nabih Berri, Saad Hariri, Samir Geagea, and Walid Joumblatt, representing the main sectarian, partisan and factional affiliations, and key political offices at the start of the protests.
The research found varied rhetorical strategies employed by the different political leaders, representing differing degrees of alignment to the protests and their demands, as well as criticism of objectionable aspects. The elite rhetoric was particularly related to the legacies and histories of the elites and their platforms, criticism of the main slogan of the protest, dynamics of political rivalries, warnings and narratives on political conspiracies and threats, the characterisation of protest participants and waves, as well as whether or not the protests represent a breaking point of ordinary politics. The findings highlighted the continued significance of civil war and conflict rhetoric in the Lebanese political discourse, particularly as a basis for the rhetoric of fear and the defence of elite political power. The research, thus, contributes to the literature of Lebanese political elites by providing a systematic in-depth analysis of elite rhetoric across the scale on a single issue, as well as to peace and conflict studies in addressing civil war memory in political elite discourse in a post-conflict society, and the utilisation of these memories for persuasive purposes.
The research found varied rhetorical strategies employed by the different political leaders, representing differing degrees of alignment to the protests and their demands, as well as criticism of objectionable aspects. The elite rhetoric was particularly related to the legacies and histories of the elites and their platforms, criticism of the main slogan of the protest, dynamics of political rivalries, warnings and narratives on political conspiracies and threats, the characterisation of protest participants and waves, as well as whether or not the protests represent a breaking point of ordinary politics. The findings highlighted the continued significance of civil war and conflict rhetoric in the Lebanese political discourse, particularly as a basis for the rhetoric of fear and the defence of elite political power. The research, thus, contributes to the literature of Lebanese political elites by providing a systematic in-depth analysis of elite rhetoric across the scale on a single issue, as well as to peace and conflict studies in addressing civil war memory in political elite discourse in a post-conflict society, and the utilisation of these memories for persuasive purposes.