Tracing Settler Colonialism: A Genealogy of a Paradigm in the Sociology of Knowledge Production in Israel

Knowledge is inextricably bound to power in the context of settler colonialism where apprehension of the Other is a tool of domination. Tracing the development of the settler colonial paradigm, this article deconstructs Zionist and Israeli dispossession of Palestinian land and sovereignty, applying the sociology of knowledge production to the study of the Israeli-Palestinian case. The settler colonial paradigm, linked to Israeli critical sociology, post-Zionism, and postcolonialism, reemerged following changes in the political landscape from the mid-1990s that reframed the history of the Nakba as enduring, challenged the Jewish definition of the state, and legitimated Palestinians as agents of history. Palestinian scholars in Israel lead the paradigm's reformulation. This article offers a phenomenology of Palestinian positionality, a critical potential for decolonizing the settler colonial structure and exclusive Jewish sovereignty, to consolidate a field of study that shapes not only research into the Israeli-Palestinian case but approaches to decolonization and liberation.

Automated summary

In the context of settler colonialism, knowledge is closely linked with power, with apprehension of the Other serving as a tool of domination. The reemergence of the settler colonial paradigm in the study of the Israeli-Palestinian case challenges the traditional understanding of the Nakba, legitimizing Palestinians as historical agents and leading to reformulation by Palestinian scholars. This offers a critical potential for decolonizing the settler colonial structure and exclusive Jewish sovereignty, shaping not only research into the Israeli-Palestinian case but also approaches to decolonization and liberation.