Imagining the “Worker” in Early Twentieth Century Beirut

Abstract

Imagining the "Worker" in Early Twentieth Century Beirut Ellis Garey (bio) KEYWORDS communism, labor, Greater Syria, post-Ottoman, worker How do historical actors define and advance their understanding of a particular social category? Fu'ad al-Shamali, a tobacco worker and labor organizer who co-founded Lebanon's first communist party in 1924, wrote and translated prolifically after his expulsion from the party in 1936 on his experiences related to work, labor organizing, and radical politics. An examination of his writings reveals a capacious approach to the category of "worker." The conception of workers put forward by al-Shamali is exceptional both in the context of other contemporary writings, and in comparison to current scholarly conceptions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century worker in Greater Syria.1 His expansive understanding of this category should be seen as an intentional political move intended to encourage the formation of a self-consciously constituted working class. From the 1880s onwards, strikes arose as a new form of social contestation in the region, particularly in port cities along the Eastern Mediterranean including Beirut.2 These strikes often took place at sites of Ottoman imperial centralization and capitalist development like ports and railways. By the early twentieth century, scholars estimate that the number of industrial workers in Lebanon and Syria was well over 100,000 people, reaching 200,000 by the [End Page 421] 1930s.3 Labor actions, including strikes, slowdowns, and sabotage, simultaneously grew in number and size, such that by the 1920s there were hundreds of strikes occurring which often involved several thousand workers each.4 During this period, Beirut newspapers would frequently chronicle ongoing labor struggles in Europe and the United States, making reference to the political stakes of worker uprisings. In their reports on local labor struggles, editors tended to emphasize the economic nature of workers' concerns, and on some occasions justified the use of state force against politicized gatherings or protests held by workers.5 The nationalist movement in Greater Syria and the liberal elite who led it would similarly express concern for the economic wellbeing of workers, but simultaneously encouraged them to avoid following in the footsteps of European workers who, in their estimation, were creating unnecessary conflict with capitalists, factory owners and the managerial classes in their respective countries.6 Concurrent with the growth of a labor movement was the emergence of communist parties and leftist circles.7 It is within this context that Fu'ad al-Shamali organized and wrote. Al-Shamali was born in Ottoman Mount Lebanon in 1894 and went to primary school in Bisan (located in contemporary Palestine) where his father worked as a translator for a railroad company.8 When his father died around the year 1910, al-Shamali and his family moved to Cairo in search of work. By the age of sixteen, al-Shamali had worked in cigarette factories in both Cairo and Alexandria. Cigarette workers in these two cities were among the first groups to actively and consistently mobilize.9 Al-Shamali was thus quickly exposed to labor organizing in Egypt. While strike activity was quelled during World War I, al-Shamali was a key organizer in the growing labor movement in Alexandria by the time of the nationalist revolution against British occupation in 1919, which increasingly asserted itself through waves of work stoppages and general strikes in support of the national struggle. Al-Shamali joined the Egyptian [End Page 422] Socialist Party soon after it was founded in 1921, and took on a leadership position in the party shortly thereafter. For reasons which remain contested, al-Shamali returned to what had become the French-ruled mandate of Lebanon in 1923. Among al-Shamali's writings are his reflections on organizing labor unions (published in 1929), founding the communist Lebanese People's Party (LPP) (published in 1935), and his trip to Moscow as a delegate to the Sixth Comintern Congress (published in 1934). These writings make evident al-Shamali's view of the working class, and give insight into his motivations for including or excluding certain groups in its formulation. While workers based in industry and manufacturing constitute the core of how he defines the category 'worker,' his...