OBSTACLES TO WORK OPPORTUNITIES AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZING AMONG LEBANESE WOMEN IN SIERRA LEONE
Lina Beydoun

Abstract
This paper examines Lebanese women’s work opportunities in Sierra Leone from the early twentieth century to the present. It argues that migration sustained the manifestation of inequalities between Lebanese men and women. Although some women became small business owners or salaried workers, the majority played a supportive role that enabled durable ties between home and host country and contributed to economic gains for their male counterparts. The Lebanese Women’s Association neither created a venue for organized feminism nor supported the economic independence of Lebanese women. It is dependent largely on the financial support of Lebanese men for its sustenance. Community organizing is hindered by the absence of a strong connectivity between Lebanese women and Black women, the latter being regarded as sexual competitors rather than sisters in solidarity. Global feminist networks are slow to develop in a patriarchal society that shows no signs of radical mobilization. Lebanese men, because of their migratory decision making, their ability to choose their sexual partners, and their extensive entrepreneurial skills in the public realm, encounter many fewer obstacles to work than do Lebanese women in Sierra Leone.

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