Iman Ali is a PhD candidate in the department of Anthropology at Cornell University. Prior to beginning her PhD, she earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. For her undergraduate thesis, she worked with recently resettled Syrian refugee women in Michigan to unpack their experiences within decentralized voluntary resettlement organizations and the existing Arab-American community in Michigan.

After earning her BA, she worked as a research associate at the University of Michigan’s Medical School, where she applied her social science research skills to multiple projects aimed at improving patient care. Upon beginning her PhD, she returned to examining the relationship between marginalized communities and state-like structures and entities. In 2021, she began researching Lebanon, focusing on the role of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and its relationship with border communities. Following the outbreak of the war in 2023, she expanded her research to encompass the broader region of South Lebanon and its interactions with the state. Her research interests broadly include militarism, international relations, governance, and infrastructure.

Research project

South Lebanon: A Frontier Between State, Empire, and Everyday Precarity

My research examines South Lebanon as a critical frontier where Lebanon's postcolonial state-building intersects with the influence of the US empire, mediated through Israel. I seek to look at the lived experiences of the Shia community in South Lebanon who have been historically marginalized in Lebanon and systematically targeted by Israel. This research examines how the Shias of South Lebanon had to adapt and survive amidst unprecedented violence in the most recent war (2023-ongoing). By juxtaposing the ongoing conflict with the history of Israel’s invasions, occupations, and wars, the project seeks to capture how the mundane of everyday life materializes under precarious conditions in South Lebanon. It engages critically with literature on the state and empire to explore the everyday precarity of living with violence that outlasts itself. The research questions at the heart of this project include: 1) How has the history of occupation and invasions shaped the social and political identity of South Lebanon? 2) How do the residents of South Lebanon navigate the realities of violence and precarity in their everyday lives? 3) What insights does South Lebanon offer into the intersections of empire, state governance, and sectarian identity?