1968 and the Participation of Women Fighters During the Lebanese Civil War

Drawing on in-depth interviews conducted with former male and female militia members, civil society representatives and researchers in Lebanon in 2015/16 and (auto)biographical accounts, this chapter analyses the conditions and consequences of female participation in the Lebanese Civil War. A comparison of the experiences and ideologies of female militias in Christian, Palestinian, leftist and Shia organisations shows that 1968 was one of several factors influencing a slow change towards a less gender-restrictive society in Lebanon, which influenced leftist and Christian militias in different ways and for different reasons.

Jennifer Philippa Eggert, “The Mood was an Explosion of Freedom’: The 1968 Movement and the Participation of Women Fighters during the Lebanese Civil War.” In: Sarah Colvin & Katharina Karcher (eds.): Women, Global Protest Movements and Political Agency: Rethinking the Legacy of 1968. (Abdingdon: Routledge).