The Socio-Economic Justice Initiative- MAAN’s Philosophy

The Socio-Economic Justice Initiative- MAAN, is a Lebanese non-profit organization that aims at creating grassroots movements in order to reach equality through daily struggle.

The Lebanese Civil War did not only have devastating results on a humanitarian scale; the worst facet of the war was the political agreement that was reached in its aftermath, which led – in later stages – to a series of setbacks, especially the latest economic crisis that struck everyone. The impunity experienced during the war has led to the fragmentation of the people, and turned the warlords into corrupt political leaders, that corrupted all of the administration, economy, security, education, finances, and other aspects of peoples’ lives. Thus, that is why we firmly believe that the war was still ongoing, in a different form, until the 17th of October 2019, and we believe that the best way out is through holding accountable all the perpetrators that committed misdeeds from 1975 onwards.

MAAN aims at engaging citizens in fighting for their rights and closing the gap that the corrupt system created, which enshrined a sectarian, classist model, that discriminates amongst Lebanese citizens under the banner of “fearing the other”, while a small portion of each sect profiteered from the system. The result was a vertically divided Lebanese people, and a widening horizontal gap, which led to a rise both in extreme poverty and obscene wealth.

MAAN works on safeguarding rights through the concept of solidarity, by integrating various legal organizations inside networks and campaigns, in order to fight for civic spaces, such as the freedoms of assembly, expression, access to information, and the creation of associations and syndicates, in addition to all the basic rights agreed upon in international conventions.

The culture of Human Rights has spread worldwide, both in adoption and application; thus, there are no more barriers regarding access to knowledge, especially with the telecommunication revolution. Only repressive and dictatorial regimes prohibit their peoples from enjoying their basic rights; there are many examples of repression due to the publishing of a book, or an article, or a quote. That is why MAAN upholds these rights, and believes in the importance of spreading Human Rights worldwide in general, and in Lebanon in particular, in order to build a state that respects the diversity and rights of its citizens.

MAAN considers that citizenship does not come ex nihilo; education, systems, and social behaviors all contribute to the creation of an individual and collective consciousness. That is why the Initiative sees the individual as the way to achieve collective citizenship, in disregard of outdated distortions, through awareness-raising programs and citizens’ engagement in pursuit of their rights, by holding decision-makers accountable over their misdeeds.

At MAAN, we consider that all human beings are created equal in rights and obligations, and there cannot be any discrimination, regardless of beliefs, social class, gender, color, or political affiliation. Any gaps that create discrimination must be closed; equity and fairness should guide our approach regarding human causes.

MAAN’s belief in that human beings are the main value is quasi-absolute. Thus, we condemn any act that harms humankind, either in Lebanon or elsewhere; Moreover, we seek to reinforce humanitarian solidarity and develop its approaches on various levels.

We seek to create a new human, one that is sovereign, that can decide her/his own fate, free of incapacity or slavery, a human that rediscovers her/himself after having been alienated, one that cooperates with others after having been their adversary, one that reunites with nature after harming her, so that he/she returns to harmony with her/himself.

MAAN considers that the ends should resemble the means, and not otherwise; as human beings are an end in-itself, there can be no tolerance towards violence on any level, because it creates harms. Thus, while both violence and non-violence can produce outcomes, only non-violence can produce without destroying, whereas humankind wins at the end.

In our opinion, non-violence has more potential than violence, as it leads the unjust into a field that is not their, in ways that they did not foresee, thus crippling their violent power, and vanquishing the oppressor.

As non-violence has a high potential, it deserves being prioritized and built upon, in order to discover new ways to fight the unjust.

MAAN’s philosophy is built upon the principle of wise and just governance, and public ownership; that is why we believe in the necessity of improving the Constitution in order to solidify the principle of citizenship firstly, fairness and equity among all citizens secondly, and the principle of responsibility and accountability thirdly.

The means of production should be fairly distributed among all Lebanese regions, so that both the extremities and big cities can prosper, while giving the former a bigger role in the national economy; the economic model should also be restructured, as it currently widens the wealth gap, creating poverty while profiting the wealthy. The state should also be able to develop a balanced development strategy, one that respects the environment, infrastructure, education, telecom, etc… All of this can only happen through the activation of the Rule of Law and oversight and accountability mechanisms.

Civil Society is an agora of various thought schools and functions. It is not an adversary to the state; however, it stands firm in defending the rights enshrined in the Constitution. Thus, it is essential to create an enabling environment for Civil Society in order for it to serve its national objectives without hindrance from the state and its apparatuses.

In conclusion:

Some might say that our proposal is idealistic, that people are tired of hearing this; however, we say that people have forever longed for an ideal, and have forever worked towards it. This human dynamism is intimately tied to his/her will to ascend beyond daily routines. The weakness of modern society is exactly why people feel disillusioned.
An encouraging ideal is necessary in order not to get lost in reality; however, realism is essential in order to jump from reality to ideals.

We are on the verge of a decisive choice; either humankind actively contributing, through its intellect and genius, in creating a world of happiness, justice, and creation, or watching the world disintegrate through extremism, exploitation, destruction of nature, wars, or even through routine and oblivion.

Thus, we call upon every citizen to bear his/her responsibility regarding her/his own life, and the lives of his/her friends, his/her loves ones, and society. We call upon the faith, hopes, imagination, and intellect of our companions, the citizens, to join us in this vision in order to accomplish it.

To reach the roots together, and the roots are humanity.