Paper short abstract:

Why would people be politically active in and for a place that is not their own? This paper analyzes narratives from international solidarity activists in the West Bank to explore processes by which meaningful places and subjects are co-produced through multi-sited social movements.

Paper long abstract:

Ethnographies of social movements are increasingly focused on the interplay of meaning and place. But, what does it mean to be politically active in and for a place that is not your own? How do social movements craft meaningful actions and selves when their work is "out of place"? Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in 2008 and 2009 with international solidarity activists working in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, this paper investigates processes in which meaning, belonging, and subjectivity are built by engaging with the non-local. Solidarity activism (or witnessing) is premised upon the idea that in areas of conflict the presence of foreign nationals - and specifically westerners - can uniquely reduce or deter violence, and will, as well, draw international media and political attention to human rights violations that occur. While articulations of solidarity activism provided by organizations emphasize the importance of being present in the West Bank, this paper contends that activists do not construct the West Bank as the site of their legitimate political and physical engagement. Rather, through their engagement with the place of the West Bank, activists re-construct their home cities and countries as sites of their own meaningful political engagement. Building from the work of Escobar and other social movement scholars, this paper asks how meaning and subjectivity are produced through the experience of multiple places. In addition, it explores how this might help us understand changing political subjectivities and the possibilities for solidarity provided by international social movements.