Transnational circulations and the transformation of activism

How do transnational circulations affect the paths taken by activists, along with their representations and forms of activism? How do these mobilities favor the establishment of transnational activist networks that can be mobilized in contexts of crisis and forced migration? These are the main questions that this paper would like to answer by studying the circulation of Palestinian refugees in the Syrian-Lebanese area during a long historical period going back to the 1970s. This period covers both the circulations resulting from the Palestinian national mobilization, and the recently forced mobilities provoked by the conflict that broke out in Syria as a consequence of the anti-regime protests of March 2011. Since then, nearly 35,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria have sought shelter in Lebanon. In different ways and to different extents, depending on the periods and political contexts, activists’ circulations have enabled a transfer of ideas and skills, and have allowed them to continue their mobilization when it became impossible in their country of residence. The creation of transnational networks has also converted and transformed their activism, leading to the reorganization of activists’ life in exile.