People or Profit? Two Post-Conflict Reconstructions in Beirut

Abstract

Whether following disasters or extended periods of civil conflict and war, the development industry views reconstruction as a window of opportunity within which to affect otherwise deeply unpopular reforms in the name of market-driven reconstruction and improvement. Critics, who emphasize the pain that neoliberal reconstruction entails, even as it often fails, term such projects “disaster capitalism.” This article examines the institutional priorities and urban vision of two post-conflict reconstruction projects in Beirut, Lebanon. The first, undertaken by a private real estate holding company in the 1990s, was part of a radical experiment in market-driven reconstruction but closely approximates disaster capitalism. The second, undertaken by a nonprofit NGO, presented itself as an alternative approach that prioritized people over profit and sought to return residents to their pre-war communities. The contrast and connections between the two offer useful lessons for future instances of post-trauma reconstr...