Demonstrating the desired future: performative dimensions of internally displaced Palestinians' return activities

This article is published as part of the Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography special issue "Palestinian Futures Anticipation, Imagination, Embodiments", edited by Mikko Joronen, Helga Tawil-Souri, Merav Amir & Mark Griffiths. ABSTRACT In this paper, I examine the activities...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geografiska annaler. Series B, Human geography Human geography, 2021-10, Vol.103 (4), p.380-396
Main Author: Järvi, Tiina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
future
internally displaced
Israel/Palestine
performativity
resistance
settler colonialism
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Summary:This article is published as part of the Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography special issue "Palestinian Futures Anticipation, Imagination, Embodiments", edited by Mikko Joronen, Helga Tawil-Souri, Merav Amir & Mark Griffiths. ABSTRACT In this paper, I examine the activities of internally displaced Palestinians as performative resistance against the settler-colonial dispossession. Since 1948, when close to 800,000 Palestinians were displaced from their homes in the process of establishing the state of Israel, return has been a key political objective of the displaced. By concentrating on the recent activities organized by internally displaced Palestinians, I scrutinize the power of performative practices in challenging present conditions of continuing displacement. Based on interviews, participatory observation, and published source material, I show how the return activities concentrating on the lost villages do not only commemorate the past but also utilize it in performative claim-making in achieving the desired future. I make the argument that the performative dimensions of claiming work to undermine the settler-colonial reality by issuing a call for a right to belong and for a more just future.
ISSN:0435-3684
1468-0467
DOI:10.1080/04353684.2021.1876524