Exploring the Lebanese Intifada of 2019: A sound survey approach

“All of them means all of them.” This was the slogan that united more than half of the Lebanese population who took to the streets against the ruling oligarchy in 2019, across denominational, regional and class divides. This article proposes a sound exploration of the first twenty days of the October 17 intifada. The sound investigation is proposed as a methodological approach to exploring a social movement in its early stages. Audio recordings make it possible to capture, revive and analyse the atmosphere and emotions on the spot, and subsequently zoom in on the vocabulary used by the protesters: speeches, interactions, and slogans. The recordings reveal the key role of the younger generations and the discursive repertory they mustered to explain their revolt: the refusal of exile, access to free, quality public education and to a local job offer. This approach makes it possible to clarify certain social dynamics underlying the October intifada, in particular the encounter between classes made possible by the crisis of the capitalist system in Lebanon, and the hopes that this encounter raised.