Fellow Focus: Peter Habib

2024-25 Dissertation Completion Fellow Peter Habib recently received his PhD from Emory University. In Fall 2025, Peter will be a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

In this conversation with Communications & Outreach Coordinator Karl-Mary Akre, Peter shares how the politics of water access in contemporary Lebanon helps him think through democratic values.  

KARL-MARY AKRE: Hi Peter, thanks for sitting down with me. Could you give a brief introduction of what your dissertation research examines? 

PETER HABIB: My research explores the role of ecology, and water specifically, in shaping political and social life in contemporary Lebanon. My dissertation stems from two exceptional facts about Lebanon. First, that it holds the most refugees per capita out of any country in the world. About one-third of Lebanon's population are refugees, the majority of whom are Syrians. And with this, there are widespread concerns and fears of protected refugee residence impacting the larger demography of the country. Second, Lebanon is the most water rich country in the Middle East, which is central to shaping its regionally unique ecology.  

So, my research explores the intersection and entanglement of these two facts. How concerns of water security mirror concerns of a pure nation, demographically speaking, in Lebanon. Or the ways that fears of water's contamination becomes associated with protected refugee residence. Overall, I consider water to be a central lens for understanding complex social and political realities, and investigate the technopolitical strategies adopted by governing actors to manage both water and human life. 

And how does the Fox Center's 2024-25 theme "Democracy: Past, Present, Future" intersect with your research? 

The role of democracy and the question of democracy is widespread in contemporary Lebanon. I think of democracy not as rooted in normative systems like parliamentary representation or elections specifically, but instead how democracy and democratic relations exist on a smaller scale. In particular, I'm interested in the kinds democratic politics that can exist in shared life between citizens and refugees. And rather than assuming refugee and migrant residence as a burden on democratic politics or a barrier for democratic politics, I'm interested by the kind of opportunities and possibilities that exist when life across differences is embraced. 

How would you say the Fox Center's interdisciplinary environment has impacted you and your work?  

I am really convinced that interdisciplinarity is the way forward for addressing the largest and most pressing questions that we have. There's something incredibly valuable about exceeding disciplinary bounds and learning from colleagues in philosophy, history, sociology, and political science. I, myself, am an anthropologist, and I always find endless value in crossing those disciplinary boundaries and learning in larger discussion settings.  

What's been your biggest takeaway from your year at the Fox Center? 

My biggest takeaway has been the value of creating space and a capacious environment for exploring complex and deep questions. There are so many burdens to finish our work in a hastened way, to push out publications, and to meet quick deadlines. Yet the Fox Center offers the time and environment to slow down, think deeply, and explore complex questions that require complex answers.  

If you had to describe the Fox Center in three words, what would they be? 

"Hospitable" for the space and the openness and the generosity that the Center offers in resources, its seminars, and its events. "Capacious" for the kind of wide-ranging ideas that I can explore, the conversations across disciplines, and the time that I have to read and to think and to write. And "inspiring" because at the end of every weekly seminar or event, I'm left with new ideas and new ways to explore my own questions. 

And what advice would you give to Emory graduate students who are thinking about applying for the Fox Center's dissertation completion fellowship? 

This is a wonderful opportunity— one of the best that Emory offers. And as you’re nearing the end of your graduate studies, I can think of no better place on campus to think through the big questions of your dissertation, work through possible publications, and navigate job market applications. There are so many wonderful conversations and events that you can be a part of here, and so I would encourage them to apply. 

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.