Gendered practices of postdisaster resilience in Lebanon: oral narratives from Karantina after the 2020 Beirut port explosion

Purpose This study aims to examine the social structures in Karantina, a former semi-industrialized settlement near the port of Beirut, following the 2020 explosion. Aiming to offer an alternative perspective on resilience, this study approaches disaster as a critical moment for understanding how gendered practices manifest in daily life in a neighborhood near the explosion site in the aftermath of the disaster. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a secondary qualitative analysis of 60 archived oral narratives, comprising 25 men and 35 women. Drawing on a thematic analysis designed around memory and space, it seeks to explore how gendered practices may play a role in resilience strategies among residents, particularly in areas such as resource management and social reproduction. Findings This study argues that resilience can be observed through everyday practices. It interrogates residents’ narratives through Lefebvre’s spatial triad of perceived, lived and conceived space, focusing on dominant themes that shape memory and space. In doing so, it reveals the gender-specific practices that emerge in Karantina after the explosion. Research limitations/implications In-depth and unstructured interviews were conducted in colloquial Lebanese Arabic. 24 transcripts were prepared by the project team and form the material analyzed here. Working directly from the audio, the remaining 36 of these 60 narratives were translated into English, and the English transcripts were produced by the same author. Errors of translation, coding, or interpretation are mine and should not be attributed to the archive team. Practical implications Considerations of housing recovery only through material and infrastructural life might conceal unpaid work, overwhelmingly done by women. Damage assessment criteria should include not only structural integrity but also reproductive functions. Originality/value The originality of this study lies in its focus on the specific context of Karantina’s residents’ experiences after the 2020 Beirut Port explosion. While there is existing research on postdisaster impacts, this study examines how gendered practices shape postdisaster resilience in the context of memory and space.