25 février 2025 15h-18h

Institut des Civilisations, Collège de France – Salle de conférence

52, rue du Cardinal Lemoine, 75005 Paris

« Living a Double Marginalization: West Bank’s Palestinian Bedouins Between Colonial Systems and Globalized Policies »

Palestine has lived under successive colonial regimes, including Ottoman, British, and Zionist. These have profoundly influenced the livelihood and social structure of different Palestinian groups needing to cope with various authorities over time. Bedouins have had their own experience of these colonial policies that put them at the margins of Palestinian society.

A key aspect of the marginalization of the Palestinian Bedouin stems from the original colonial discourse and policies. This appears particularly in the control over their means of livelihood, and in the systematic « cleansing » of their lands. Palestinian struggles against the colonial project has also played an important role: in resisting the colonial portrayal of Palestinians as “primitive”, their discourse has emphasized the “modernity” of the Palestinian society. As a result, this counter-colonial discourse has itself contributed to the marginalization of Bedouin society.

The historical trajectory of Bedouin society has contributed to their experience of a “double marginalization”. The first form of marginalization is linked to the settler-colonial system, while the second stems from Palestinian policies before Oslo agreements 1993—and later, from neoliberal policies enforced by the Palestinian Nation Authority.

The double marginalization experienced by the Palestinian Bedouin society is complex and multifaceted, matching cultural, material, and political aspects. Based on ethnographic work among Palestinian Bedouin of the West Bank started in 2013 and continuing until today, this lecture presents an analytical overview of such multiple marginalization, focusing on the period of Zionist settler colonialism, which continues to this day. It also explores Bedouin struggles to resist marginalization and mitigate its effects.

Ahmed Heneiti, est diplômé en Master de Sociologie à la Birzeit University, affilié à l’Intitute of Palestine Studies. Ses recherches portent sur les transformations socio-économiques des Bédouins en Cisjordanie, sous l’occupation. Boursier de l’IFPO Jerusalem, il est actuellement doctorant en anthropologie à l’université de Paris 8 et au LAVUE.