Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality.
Log in
- Convenor:
-
Kholoud Al-Ajarma
(University of Edinburgh)
Send message to Convenor
- Chair:
-
Ezgi Guner
(Haverford College)
- Discussant:
-
Nell Gabiam
(Iowa State University)
- Formats:
- Roundtable
- Mode:
- Online
- Sessions:
- Thursday 18 July, -
Time zone: Europe/Madrid
Short Abstract:
This roundtable examines anthropological research on Palestine where the theme of anthropology's role in fostering a more just and equitable understanding of Palestine will be discussed.
Long Abstract:
This roundtable will provide a space for Palestinian and non-Palestinian anthropologists who conducted research in Palestine to reflect on the experiences of studying Palestinian history, the Palestinian struggle, settler colonialism, social and economic conditions under occupation, national liberation movements, and other relevant topics. The roundtable will feature presentations from anthropologists who have conducted ethnographies in various Palestinian communities, shedding light on the diverse array of narratives that emerge in research in a settler colonial context. The roundtable provides an opportunity to critically examine how 'decolonisation' is employed in academic spheres and in research on Palestine in light of the recent war on Gaza. In essence, this roundtable offers a platform for scholars to not only share their ethnographic insights but to collectively interrogate the role of anthropology in contributing to a more just and equitable understanding of Palestine. Through a reflexive and collaborative approach, participants will navigate the complexities of conducting research in contested spaces, fostering a dialogue that goes beyond traditional academic boundaries and contributes to a broader discourse on decolonizing anthropology.
Accepted contributions:
Session 1 Thursday 18 July, 2024, -Contribution short abstract:
Considering the role of anthropologists during a genocide, this intervention will discuss a project instigated in October 2023 to gather testimonies throughout Gaza to share as evidence with human rights organisations.
Contribution long abstract:
Having spent two years working and living in Gaza, including time spent conducting academic research, this intervention considers the role of anthropologists during a genocide, and discusses a project instigated in October 2023 to gather testimonies throughout Gaza to share as evidence with human rights organisations.
Contribution short abstract:
An emerging ethnographer/ PhD student in cultural and social anthropology offers insights, concerns and auto-ethnographic reflections on engaged and political anthropology through the lenses of a marginalised positionality while occupying a precarious institutional position
Contribution long abstract:
Living under both, the ongoing imperially-sustained occupational military rule in Palestine, and statelessness in Austria, while Palestinian political subjectivity continues to be materially-targeted, structurally-erased, vilified or/and unacknowledged, how does one utilize their marginalized positionality while becoming an anthropologist/ethnograper? What are the security concerns/dangers of this becoming? Are there necessary silences for political protection, personal/collective? These questions come from a Palestinian PhD student navigating the academia through their first semester of Social and Cultural Anthropology in an institution that, not only erased a moderate statement supporting a ceasefire/demands for basic Palestinian rights from its website, but also one that canceled lectures on Palestine, in a country that voted against ceasefire, three times (at the UN-and EU) as a genocide was still taking place in PoT.
Palestine, serving as an example of the broader oppressed-geographies in the Global South, demonstrated huge multi-layered contributions to politically/morally engaged and urgent anthropology of speaking-Truth-to-Power(Lila Abu Lughod, Maura Finkelstein) under the subfield of anthropology of Palestine, and has also fostered global solidarity through comparative approaches to parallel oppressive systems. Participating in engaged feminist-queer(thus necessarily political) production of anthropology is intellectually rewarding and harbors justice and liberation. However, is this only possible to tenured professors or the materially-privileged (including Palestinians or “halfies” (Abu Lughod) who have a valuable citizenship? This paper proposal discusses anthropology written by a structurally-disadvantaged subjecthood becoming an anthropologist/ethnographer. Are there important political silences for fear of doxing, reprisal, possible abuses of ethnographic materials by institutions, military-forces, antagonistically(-politically) motivated individuals e.g misrepresentation and decontextualization?
Contribution short abstract:
This paper examines the construction of sectarianism among Palestinian citizens of Israel through ethnographic research in Shefa-‘Amr. It seeks to challenge the Israeli and colonial hegemonic narratives, highlighting the role of Israeli academia in silencing counter-knowledge.
Contribution long abstract:
Palestinians, survivors of the Nakba of 1948 who became Israeli citizens, grapple with their liminal situation, shaping their socio-political evolution. Comprising about 17% of the population, they have been subjects of academic scrutiny, mostly influenced by Zionist political hegemony.
Examining phenomena such as sectarianism among Palestinian citizens of Israel has predominantly followed the modernization approach, shaped by Israeli-Zionist hegemony. This perspective views sectarianism through an essentialist lens, portraying it as an ahistoric phenomenon aligned with the broader hegemonic viewpoint that frames Palestinians as religious minorities within a de-nationalized Palestine.
Despite contributions from critical scholars offering counter-approaches, these often attribute such phenomena solely to settler-colonial control, emphasizing elimination mechanisms. However, they frequently overlook techniques like “cooptation” and “fragmentation” of the native.
This paper traces the reshaping of sectarianism within the Palestinians through ethnographic research in Shefa-‘Amr. Exploring relationships between settler colonialism and sectarianization, it emphasizes the roles played by the state, local elites, and society's daily practices.
The case of Palestinian citizens of Israel provides a distinctive study for examining complex colonial mechanisms, including the social re-engineering of the native—elements that have received limited attention. Aiming to contribute to critical Palestinian anthropology and the production of counter-knowledge, the study challenges hegemonic academic narratives concerning Palestinians.
The paper broadens the discussion to address the role of Israeli academia in legitimizing colonial power relations in Palestine and silencing attempts to produce counter-knowledge. It also explores how these dynamics have been manifested in light of the ongoing genocide, questioning the possibilities of decolonizing knowledge.