Swimming in Sewage: Political performances in the Mediterranean

This article narrates and analyses three instances of swimming in the Beirut sea as political performances. Since the end of the Lebanese Civil War in 1990, researchers, media outlets and community activists have highlighted the accelerating privatization of the Lebanese coast. Beirut in particular has been prominent in these discussions, as it features some of the most rampant sites of exclusive control and access. This article will be written as three separate scenes based on real-life activities that have taken place on the Beirut coast over the past three years (2012–15). In doing so, it highlights the structures of power as well as the actions of resistance by focusing on swimming as a political performance in three settings.