Finding Home in Moving Grounds: A study of young Palestinians' relationship with Resistance
Author
Nielsen, Andrea Amondsen
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2014
Submitted on
2014-10-01
Pages
71
Abstract
This thesis examines how young Palestinians in the West Bank relate to resistance and conflict, asking whether their national identity is anchored as much in the conflict itself as in the idea of “Palestine.” Drawing on qualitative fieldwork—participant observation during a stay in autumn 2013 and follow‑up interviews in 2014—the study explores how resistance can operate as a stable frame of reference and a source of status in otherwise unpredictable lives. The analysis is structured in two parts: one on inherited national sentiment (including experiences of absence, loss, and the normalization of an “eternal struggle”), and one on present-day strategies, such as resistance as social practice, the role of masculinity, women’s empowerment, and the tension between social prestige, everyday duties, and family expectations. Theoretically, the thesis engages debates on national identity and social recognition and asks whether the institutionalization of resistance provides young people with a sense of home and agency. Early insights from interviews indicate that participation in resistance garners community respect and that some youth—especially girls—experience other daily restrictions as more pressing than the occupation itself. As this abstract is based on the opening chapters, it highlights the research questions, methods, and analytical directions; suggestive arguments are presented, while full findings appear later in the thesis.
Denne specialeundersøgelse udforsker, hvordan unge palæstinensere i Vestbredden forholder sig til modstand og konflikt, og spørger om deres nationale identitet i lige så høj grad er forankret i selve konflikten som i forestillingen om „Palæstina“. Med udgangspunkt i kvalitativt feltarbejde—deltagende observation under et ophold i efteråret 2013 og efterfølgende interviews i 2014—belyser studiet, hvordan modstand kan fungere som en stabil reference- og statusramme i en ellers uforudsigelig hverdag. Projektet er inddelt i to spor: et, der undersøger den nedarvede, nationale følelse (bl.a. erfaringer med fravær, tab og normaliseringen af en „evig kamp“), og et, der analyserer nutidige strategier, herunder modstand som social praksis, betydningen af maskulinitet, kvinders empowerment og spændet mellem social prestige, hverdagsplikter og familiære forventninger. Teoretisk trækker specialet på perspektiver om national identitet og social anerkendelse og rejser spørgsmålet, om modstandens institutionalisering giver unge en følelse af hjem og handlekraft. Indledende indsigter fra interviewene peger på, at deltagelse i modstand udløser respekt i lokalsamfundet, og at nogle unge kan opleve andre hverdagsbegrænsninger—særligt for piger—som mere presserende end selve besættelsen. Da dette resumé bygger på de første kapitler, præsenteres primært forskningsspørgsmål, metode og analytiske spor; konklusioner antydes, men fulde resultater ligger senere i afhandlingen.
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