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Affective practices and liminal space-making in Palestinian refugee camps

Research Output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding Chapter Peer-review

Sustainable Development Goals

  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
    SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Abstract

In this chapter, we use the concept of affective practice (Wetherell, 2012) to show how kitchens and gardens – usually thought of as humble domestic spaces – can become liminal spaces that enable women to take up public identities as chefs and businesswomen alongside their private identities as wives, mothers and daughters. The contexts of our study are women’s social enterprises in two Palestinian refugee camps (established in 1948-49 following the displacement of Palestinians from what is now the state of Israel and the Occupied Territories). The social and spatial boundaries between the camps and their environs are strong and impermeable, leading to a situation where women are doubly confined, both within the camp and within domestic space and roles. We find that the kitchen and gardens allow the simultaneous enactment of traditional and novel affective practices, providing distinctive forms of reassurance to family members and external stakeholders. The mutability of the spaces makes it possible for women to transgress both domestic and camp boundaries, and simultaneously redefine their gendered identities.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding Chapter Peer-review

Original language

English

Publication milestones

  • Published - 30/07/2024

Publication status

Published - 30/07/2024

Place of publication

Bristol

Publisher

Bristol University Press, United Kingdom

ISBN (Print)

9781529232752

Chapter Number

8

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/626315

Host publication title

Gendering place and affect

Host publication editors

  • Alex Simpson
  • Ruth Simpson
  • Darren T. Baker

Access to documents

author's accepted version
Accepted author manuscript, 188.04 KB
Access to file: Embargo ends 30/07/2027