Lebanon’s October 2019 Revolution: Inquiry into Recomposing Labor’s Power

In a world dominated by neoliberalism, there is renewed attention to labor organizing and radical forms of action outside the institutional framework. In Lebanon, the October 2019 Revolution brought to the forefront the capacity of labor to recompose its power in the face of the long-standing capitalist effort to decompose it. This essay first examines the outbreak of social unrest in 2019 that accompanied the failure of neoliberal policies. Second, it explains the absence and silence of the labor movement amid the 2019 revolution by state interference and at the service of a long-standing laissez-faire economy. Finally, it concludes by examining recent attempts of professionals to organize from within the October Revolution and the challenges they currently grapple with.