Application deadline: Wednesday, November 12th, 2025, 11:59 PM Paris time
Interview date: November 25, 2025 (via Zoom)

SAHA is a project funded by the French National Research Agency and based at the French Institute of the Near East (Lebanon).

SAHA aims to study the structuring of a public action sector in mental health within the context of war and multisectoral crises that Lebanon has been experiencing in recent years. In this context of erosion, or even disappearance, of rights—not only to health but also to housing and education—and of exacerbated inequalities in the face of death and illness, how and in what terms is a right to mental health defined and constructed when political, social, and economic inequalities organize even the finest folds of daily life for the majority of the population, and when war remains a constantly renewed possibility? What does this movement toward the state control of mental health tell us more broadly about the routine functioning of the Lebanese health system and, by extension, about the contours of what constitutes the (social) state or not in contemporary Lebanon? How do people trying to treat themselves navigate the scarcity or even disappearance of resources, as well as bombings, mourning, or job loss? This project mobilizes an interdisciplinary team of researchers in sociology, political science, economics, public health, anthropology, and psychology around a dual objective:

– To organize collective reflection on the contemporary upheavals in Lebanon’s health system and on the reconfigurations of the mental health sector since it was put on the agenda with the “crisis of Iraqi and Syrian refugees.” The interdisciplinary inquiry will pay particular attention to what constitutes continuity or rupture in the long history of health governance in Lebanon, and to the processes of politicization and depoliticization of care and suffering.

– To build a space of shared and accessible knowledge. The aim here is to bring together actors in health research in Lebanon and to explore different creative methodologies based on collaborations between artists, researchers, experts, patients, etc., to imagine a space of shared and accessible knowledge, especially for those confronted with these crises.

The SAHA project proposes an empirical entry point via mental health to understand how the question of the right to health unfolds in a structurally unequal system, where fragmentation and hybridization of public health action and the scarcity of care resources—human, financial, and material—become the norm. It is structured around two main axes:

Axis 1: Mapping the mental health sector in crises

This first axis seeks to study the relationship between the creation of a mental health policy and the implementation of multiple crisis management policies and « apparatus », to understand how, across these different temporalities, the definition of legitimate actors to govern and the allocation of responsibilities in health care take shape. The goal is to identify the diversity of actors involved in this sector, the discourses on mental health they promote, the policies and funding implemented at national and local levels, as well as their framing of war and crises (or the absence thereof).

On one hand, it involves documenting the « apparatus » implemented to compensate for these drastic reductions in resources (human, financial, material) since 2019. On the other hand, the challenge is to make sense of the links between these multiple crisis « apparatus » and the various reforms driven by the “National Mental Health Program” since its creation. The analysis focuses on how this political and administrative work aligns with ongoing crises, or even relies on them to reorganize public health action. It also interrogates what is concretely encompassed by the notion of rights within discourses and practices that construct crises as opportunities to build health rights (notably following the WHO approach). Finally, these discourses and practices are to be situated within the long history of the Lebanese state’s construction, revealing how they continue or break with preexisting care and health governance systems.

Axis 2: Analyzing mental health care pathways

The second axis aims to understand the practices and relationships that allow life to exist and endure during crises (epidemic, social, political, war, etc.). The notion of “care pathways” refers to journeys through different modes of care (e.g., specialist consultation, hospital, pharmacy, support groups, etc.). The focus is on thinking about mental health care in the long term, across contemporary lives. It also involves situating the intimate within processes of precarization and political, social, and economic violence that overflow individual events and link them together: wars (1975-1990, 2006, and since 2023), occupations and displacements, economic crises, and employment reconfigurations. Attention will be paid to the care pathways of three groups differently affected by crises and war in different urban political centers—Beirut, Tripoli, and Nabatieh: retired public servants whose health coverage and pensions were most affected by the Lebanese pound’s devaluation; people facing severe and disabling health conditions (such as cancer or heavy disabilities requiring significant expenses); and displaced populations (Syrian refugees, Palestinian refugees, and inhabitants of southern Lebanon and the suburbs of Beirut).

2 Open Positions :

• • The researcher recruited for the sociology/anthropology position will particularly contribute to Axis 1, especially the analysis of transformations in the medical profession, training, and the mental health professional field. Original problematization via career paths and professional training will be valued during the evaluation of applications.
• • The researcher recruited for the psychology/anthropology position will investigate care pathways within the groups mentioned above. With expertise in psychiatry or psychology, they will focus particularly on care pathways in inpatient units (in historic private psychiatric hospitals and in psychiatric care units in public hospitals). Original problematization via care pathways will be valued during application evaluation.

Postdoctoral activities:

– Writing and publishing research related to the SAHA project.

– Participation in project activities and organization.

– Participation in the scientific life of the laboratory.

Expected skills:

– PhD holder (position 1 in sociology/anthropology; position 2 in psychology/psychiatry with anthropology research experience)

– Oral and written proficiency in Arabic, English, and French

– Experience in writing and publishing scientific articles

Remuneration:

– Position (20 months starting January 1, 2026) at 60% workload

– Junior researcher salary, CNRS scale €1795 gross + 15% IRE

Application procedure (please follow both steps):

• 1. Submit your application by Thursday, November 13, 2025, 11:59 PM Paris time (included):

Position 1 / https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/UAR3135-ERICOI-017/Default.aspx

Position 2 / https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/UAR3135-ERICOI-018/Default.aspx

• 2. Send also the full application file with the following documents (PDF format) by email to saeidnia@ifporient.org.

– CV (in English or French)

– Cover letter (in English or French)

– Research project (maximum five pages, font size 12, in English or French)

– One significant publication (journal article or book published or forthcoming—in Arabic, English, or French)

Do not hesitate to contact s.saeidnia@ifporient.org for any question.