Constructions, contradictions and reconfigurations of ‘Manhood’ among youth in Palestinian camps in Lebanon

• Dominant masculinities are produced through formal and non-formal education in Palestinian society.
• Dominant Palestinian masculinities are not in line with men's lived experiences as refugees in camps in Lebanon.
• Palestinian males construct new masculinities through adherence to Islam and international labour migration.
• These processes provide limited gender scripts from which men can construct their identities and imagine their futures.

This paper examines how Palestinian male identities are constructed in refugee camps in Lebanon. It argues that dominant Palestinian masculinities, which are produced in and through educational processes, familial practices and political discourse in Palestinian society, are not in line with men's lived experiences as refugees in camps in Lebanon. Therefore, Palestinian males have been exercising agency and working to construct new masculinities through adherence to Islam and participation in international labour migration. While these processes have opened up new ways for Palestinian young men to perform ‘manhood’, they have also provided limited gender scripts from which they can construct their identities and imagine their futures.