EADI Distinguished Guest Lecture:  Colonialization, Neo-liberalization and Patriarchy - 2021/04/21
Channel: EADI
Date: 2021-04-29

EADI Distinguished Guest Lecture 
Colonialization, Neo-liberalization and Patriarchy: Palestinian women’s search for an alternative approach to economic and social empowerment
2021/04/21


This lecture briefly describes the Israeli colonial project of dispossession and de-development on occupied Palestine, followed by a discussion on the emerging Palestinian Authority (PA) and its impact on the economy through a gender lens.
 
Development choices have been governed by different objectives, namely stabilization of the peace process, control of the Israeli economy over the territories and the mainstreaming of neoliberal economics, resulting in multi-faceted socio-economic deteriorations.

The talk explores how and why women were disempowered in the Palestinian labour market, and how their role in the national economy was affected. It also reflects on how and why productive sectors came to be neglected, in the context of a patriarchal society biased towards unskilled male labour. Finally, it highlights alternative development models, featuring examples of women who challenged and resisted the mainstream narrative of development. Effective alternative models will be presented, together with concepts used to empower people towards independence and liberation, such as self-reliance and solidarity. 


Eileen Kuttab is an academic and activist, currently Associate Professor in Sociology and a founding director of the Institute of Women Studies at Birzeit University in Palestine.  She is also a founding member of the Arab Council for Social Sciences (ACSS) and heads the focal point of the ACSS in Ramallah, Palestine. 
Her research interests and publications focus on feminism and nationalism, social movements (especially the Palestinian women's movement), critiques of mainstream gender and development, and the contextualization and ‘palestinization’ of the concept of women’s empowerment under colonialism. As an activist, she has served on different boards of women’s grassroots organizations, development institutes and human rights organizations.  She was the first and only women in Palestine to be elected as head of the Union of Faculty and Employees at Birzeit University, successfully integrating gender issues in the university’s administrative framework.  

Discussant: 
Prof. Petra Dannecker, University of Vienna.


[00:00]   Introduction of the speaker
[02:46]   Introduction
[05:53]   Settler Colonialism in Palestine
[10:16]   Palestinian Authority and Oslo Accords
[15:44]   Gender and Patriarchy
[23:18]   Women in the Labor Force
[27:10]   Women in Agriculture
[31:55]   Aid as a political instrument for political alienation
[40:12]   Alternative development models to empower women
[51:03]   Can appropriate models of development be independent from intervention of occupation, PA and international aid

[56:47]   Q&A
[59:22]   How did Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) respond to these alternatives?
[1:04:47]   How is the situation of the women's movement?
[1:09:57]   How does this effect the labour market from a gender perspektive in Palestine? Are there any positive outcomes of the pandemic crisis?
[1:13:25]   Could this be an opportunity for the alternative models mentioned before?
[1:15:53]   How can the alterantive models mentioned be used regionally as well (for Palestinian comunities)? How can the activities inside Palestine be connected to Palestinian communities outside Palestine?
[1:20:00]   What is the role of the Arabs nations and the UN in the Palestinian situation?
What  is the contribution of the Palestinian authority to empower women? Is this in the national agenda?


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