Anatomy of an Opposition: Book Discussion
Thursday, October 8, 2026 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm CET/GMT+1JJK Hall Cafe
Lebanon is often read as a textbook case of a deeply divided society, where sectarian identity dictates political life. Yet years of economic collapse, the Beirut port explosion, and Israeli attacks and mass displacement have reshaped the terrain on which sectarian politics operates. Anne Kirstine Rønn, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Aarhus University, examines the movements contesting this order. Drawing on fieldwork across five battlegrounds, electoral politics, labour, urban space, gender and sexuality, and migration, from the 2019 October Uprising to local campaigns for inclusive public space, she maps their strategies, internal tensions, and prospects amid Lebanon's unfolding crisis.
Anne Kirstine Rønn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University. Her research focuses on political opposition and social movements in ethno-religiously divided societies, especially in Lebanon and Iraq, exploring how diasporas, labour movements, and protest dynamics shape change. Prior to joining Aarhus University, Anne Kirstine was a Carlsberg Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow and a Visiting Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre.
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