Normalizing Occupation ─ The Politics of Everyday Life in the West Bank Settlements

Controversy surrounds Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, and the radical national and religious agendas at play there have come to define the area in the minds of many. This study, however, focuses instead on the process of "normalization" in the life of Jewish residents. The works collected consider the transformation of the landscape, the patterns of relationships shared by the residents, and the lasting effects of Israel’s settlement policy. They stress, in particular, such factors as urban planning, rising inequality and the retreat of the welfare state, and the changing political economy of industry and employment. In doing so, the authors provide new insight into the suburbanized areas which they argue are an integral part of the broader historical trends shaping Israel/Palestine.

Ariel Handel is postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben Gurion University and a research fellow at the Minerva Humanities Center, Tel Aviv University. His publications include The Political Lexicon of the Social Protest (in Hebrew; co-edited, 2012).

Marco Allegra is research fellow at the Centro de Investigacao e Estudos de Sociologia of the Instituto Universitario de Lisboa (CIES-IUL). He is author of Palestinesi. Storia e identita di un popolo [The Palestinian People: A History] (Carocci, 2010) and co-editor of Citta divise, contese, segregate: Beirut, Gerusalemme, Gibuti, Nicosia, Sarajevo [Divided, contested and segregated cities: Beirut, Jerusalem, Djibuti, Nicosia, Sarajevo] (special issue of Storia Urbana, 2010).

Erez Maggor is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at New York University.