San Antonio College Library

Explores the history of Hezbollah as a political and religious force and their current and future role in the Lebanese government.

"Hezbollah provides a new, grounded analysis of the controversial and misunderstood Lebanese party. Where previous books have focused on aspects of the party's identity, the military question or its religious discourse, here Joseph Daher presents an alternative perspective, built upon political economy. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in Lebanon and dozens of interviews, as well as new archival and other primary sources, Daher's analysis confidently...

The complex history of Lebanese Shi'ites has traditionally been portrayed as rooted in religious and sectarian forces. The Abisaabs uncover a more nuanced account in which colonialism, the modern state, social class, and provincial politics profoundly shaped Shi'i society. The authors trace the sociopolitical, economic, and intellectual transformation of the Shi'ites of Lebanon from 1920 during the French colonial period until the late twentieth century....

For militant followers of Islam, the highest honor is to be dubbed al-shahid al-hai-"the living martyr," one who has irrevocably committed himself to dying in a suicide attack against the organization's enemies. Why do boys and young men so readily embrace this ideal? And how do the mothers, sisters, and daughters feel about it and the honor that it confers upon them? Filled with exclusive interviews with Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance fighters and...