Availability of Water and Electricity in the Low-Income Neighbourhoods in Beirut. Adaptation Strategies Against the Background of Local Hierarchies

Lebanon is currently facing an energy and water crisis, which in the longer term stems from the state's inability to effectively manage services and invest in the modernization of technical infrastructure. The current expert debate on water and electricity in Lebanon is based on two approaches. On the one hand, the water and energy sectors serve as examples of state failure. On the other hand, the availability of services related to water and electricity supply is assessed as part of living conditions. The discourse is linked by themes of systemic failure, scarcity, and burden, reinforcing the image of total collapse. This work does not refute this fact, but with the help of the perspective of the actors themselves, the residents of Beirut's slums, it creates a parallel line of interpretation and brings coping strategies to the fore. The aim of the work is defined by two research questions: whether and how local residents are able to adapt to water and electricity shortages, and what factors contribute to different forms of adaptation and coping strategies within a single community. Since there is a lack of detailed studies of the poorest segments of the population in the country in the professional literature, this work is based on field research conducted in four low-income neighbourhoods of the...