Hybrid Sovereignty and the State of Exception in the Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon

This article addresses the relationship between the concepts of national identity and biopolitics by examining a border-transit camp for repatriates, refugees, and asylum seekers in Germany. Current studies of detention spaces for migrants have drawn heavily on Agamben's reflection on the “camp” and “homo sacer,” where the camp is analyzed as a space in a permanent state of exception, in which the government exercises sovereign power over the refugee as the ultimate biopolitical subject. But what groups of people can end up at a camp, and does the government treat all groups in the same way? This article examines the German camp for repatriates, refugees, and asylum seekers as a space where the state's borders are demarcated and controlled through practices of bureaucratic and narrative differentiation among various groups of people. The author uses the concept of detention space to draw a theoretical link between national identity and biopolitics, and demonstrates how the sovereign's practices of control and differentiation at the camp construct German national identity through defining “nonmembers” of the state. The study draws on ethnographic fieldwork at the Friedland border transit camp and on a discourse analysis of texts produced at the camp or for the camp.

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SAYYIDA ZAYNAB IN THE STATE OF EXCEPTION: SHIʿI SAINTHOOD AS “QUALIFIED LIFE” IN CONTEMPORARY SYRIA

International Journal of Middle East Studies ◽

10.1017/s0020743812000050 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 44 (2) ◽

pp. 285-299 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Edith Szanto

Keyword(s):

Refugee Camp ◽

The State ◽

Concentration Camp ◽

State Of Exception ◽

Refugee Camps ◽

Ritual Practice ◽

Giorgio Agamben ◽

Nazi Concentration Camp ◽

Homo Sacer ◽

The Law

AbstractAccording to Giorgio Agamben, a “state of exception” is established by the sovereign's decision to suspend the law, and the archetypical state of exception is the Nazi concentration camp. At the same time, Agamben notes that boundaries have become blurred since then, such that even spaces like refugee camps can be thought of as states of exception because they are both inside and outside the law. This article draws on the notion of the state of exception in order to examine the Syrian refugee campcumshrine town of Sayyida Zaynab as well as to analyze questions of religious authority, ritual practice, and pious devotion to Sayyida Zaynab. Though Sayyida Zaynab and many of her Twelver Shiʿi devotees resemble Agamben's figure ofhomo sacer, who marked the origin of the state of exception, they also defy Agamben's theory that humans necessarily become animal-like, leading nothing more than “bare lives” (orzoē) in states of exception.

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Contextualizing the Palestinian Refugee Camps in the Gaza Strip

Contemporary Arab Affairs ◽

10.1525/caa.2020.13.4.3 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 3-23

Author(s):

Shadi Saleh

Keyword(s):

Gaza Strip ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Refugee Camp ◽

State Of Exception ◽

Ethnographic Research ◽

Refugee Camps ◽

Time Space ◽

Palestinian Refugee ◽

The Gaza Strip ◽

Special Case

Refugee camp spaces are widely analyzed against their host territories. They are constantly associated with isolation and time–space suspension. However, empirical studies show that camps are not simply islands unto themselves. They can have varying levels of interactions with their surroundings. This paper is concerned with contextualizing the Palestinian refugee camps in the Gaza Strip by examining four inseparable dimensions: spatial, socioeconomic, political and time. It unfolds the historical and contemporary interplay between camp and non-camp areas and shows the similarities and distinctions between them. The findings are based on the analysis and fieldwork of Jabalya refugee camp, the largest in the Gaza Strip. Ethnographic research tools are used in addition to text and historical aerial photo analysis. The paper concludes that in a context such as the Gaza Strip in which the majority of the population are refugees, there is a great deal of connectivity between camps and non-camp areas. The camps are far from being described as enclaves, bare lives, or state of exception. The distinctions between them and their surroundings are very subtle. To a large extent, the camps in the Gaza Strip represent a special case of connectivity to a level that has normalized the territory to become a large enclaved refugee space.

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‘State of exception’ or ‘state in exile’? The fallacy of appropriating Agamben on Palestinian refugee camps

Third World Quarterly ◽

10.1080/01436597.2016.1256765 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 38 (9) ◽

pp. 2159-2170 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Dag Tuastad

Keyword(s):

State Of Exception ◽

Refugee Camps ◽

Palestinian Refugee

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The Palestinian Refugee Camps In Jordan: Between National Identity and Socio-economic Integration

Holy Land Studies ◽

10.3366/hls.2004.0007 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 198-221 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ala Al-Hamarneh

Keyword(s):

United Nations ◽

Collective Memory ◽

Economic Integration ◽

Refugee Camps ◽

Spatial Integration ◽

Political Activities ◽

Cultural Traditions ◽

The Past ◽

Distinct Character ◽

Palestinian Refugee

At least 50 per cent of the population of Jordan is of Palestinian origin. Some 20 per cent of the registered refugees live in ten internationally organized camps, and another 20 per cent in four locally organized camps and numerous informal camps. The camps organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) play a major role in keeping Palestinian identity alive. That identity reflects the refugees' rich cultural traditions, political activities, as well as their collective memory, and the distinct character of each camp. Over the past two decades integration of the refugees within Jordanian society has increased. This paper analyses the transformation of the identity of the camp dwellers, as well as their spatial integration in Jordan, and other historical and contemporary factors contributing to this transformation.

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