Ecological agrarian questions

While reading the collection of articles in this forum, I was reminded of a sentiment that I encountered repeatedly throughout my fieldwork in rural Lebanon. As it was often put to me, everything and everyone is taʿbān (exhausted): the economy, the soil, the plants, workers’ bodies, life itself. In colloquial Arabic, taʿbān implies a state of fatigue brought on by continuous exertion and sustained pressure over time. Rather than a sudden collapse, it evokes the slow wearing down that emerges from daily toil and stress. It can refer at once to physical duress, mental exhaustion, environmental degradation, and an epochal condition.