Night school in Beirut and the public sphere: Student civic action rooted in liberal secularism

Abstract

Critics define public sphere as sites where individuals deliberate on issues of civic importance, intervene to promote the common good, and assert authority that serves as a check on the state's power. Universities in the West and Middle East have promoted healthy public spheres by engaging students in service learning and volunteerism and teaching the civic literacy skills necessary to take part in activism and advocacy. Western contexts often assume a secular public sphere, but scholars in the Arab world debate whether “public” identities rooted in religious affiliation constrict the health of the public sphere or foster identity and engagement. Using rhetorical-ethnographic methods, the present study examines a community literacy initiative in Beirut wherein undergraduates embodied a liberal-secular spirit and asserted a particular model of public-sphere activism that reflected that spirit. I pay special attention to the language the undergraduates used to articulate civic values and ideals. Themes that emerged include the undergraduates' sophisticated understanding of and experience with civic work and their resistance to perceived institutional and dominant cultural values such as sectarianism.