On the inside: Shatila camp as a space of respite for Syrian refugees

Abstract

Abstract As thousands of Syrians have sought refuge in Lebanon since 2011, many have moved to Palestinian camps in search of affordable accommodation. While one of these camps, Shatila on the outskirts of Beirut, is highly studied as the site of fervent political engagement and destitution among Palestinians, the camp emerges as a different kind of proposition when investigated from the perspective of Syrian refugees. Based on 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork, I explore how living in Shatila affords my Syrian interlocutors specific opportunities in terms of navigating the hostile urban landscape of Beirut. Casting light on both the character of Shatila as political order and the kinds of political and social existence Syrians are able to forge for themselves there, I argue that with respect to Syrian inhabitants Shatila should be conceptualized as a pocket of respite from a general state of exception in Lebanon.