The articles gathered in this dossier offer insights, based on case studies, into the transformation of the “associative sector” in Lebanon, a sector generally seen to be at the core of an increasingly active civil society. Four of these studies relate to Lebanon, while the fifth brings a welcome comparison with the Palestinian case.

The papers gathered in this special issue of the Civil Society Review, both explicitly or implicitly, challenge the way in which migration is “governed” in the Middle East and Turkey. They explore how agency is articulated, shaped, and continuously adjusted in migration processes. The outline of the issue is organised along three levels of analysis, namely subnational, individual and national or supranational, respectively.