JNVR 2016/19 - Transforming non-recognition into political action – The case of Palestinians from Syria in Lebanon
Aflevering 3, gepubliceerd op 10-11-2016 geschreven door Santana de Andrade, G.The war in Syria since 2011 has generated many challenges. The unprecedented influx of people being forced to flee their homes as a consequence of the conflict has reached the core of the refugee studies discussion and has dominated the media. One question, however, remains the largely marginalized position of Palestinian refugees in this horrific scenario. In an attempt to fill this gap, this article will examine the case of Palestinian refugees from Syria in Lebanon. It questions how they are transforming their non-recognition into political action. It analyses the repertoires of collective action developed by refugees under constraints. By focusing on the mobilization of the Palestinian community from Syria in Lebanon, this paper wants to integrate a wider debate in sociology and political science, which consists of the analysis of political mobilization within diasporic populations. Conceptually, it means the revision of the mainstream understanding of a refugee developing from a mere subject of humanitarian policies – seen only as an absolute victim – to an actor on its own future. This study is based on a field research inside Palestinian refugees camps in Lebanon carried out in 2015. Direct interviews with refugees and a more anthropological/ethnological approach with the observation of those spaces and the relations developed as the participation into political acts perpetrated by refugees, are part of the methodology. An analysis of statistical data, and the historical context support the argument.