Resistance Studies: Critical Engagements with Power and Social Change – Serie

Despite the fact that many researchers have focused on Hamas’ armed resistance activities, surprisingly few have theorised about the political choices and dilemmas that Hamas has faced in the context of the changing overarching conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. This study aims to show, theoretically, how context-dependent Hamas is when formulating its resistance and Demo-Islamic practise and that this occurs in interrelations with key actors of the conflict. This study also presents important new empirical data that, in part, also challenges previous research. Hamas is one of the very few Islamist organisations that has reached a governance position via democratic and fair elections. Thus, Hamas can serve as a case study of how Islamist may act in (quasi)democratic surroundings.At the same time, Hamas is a key actor in the overarching conflict, which has several unique characteristics. Hamas’ armed resistance is described as an instrument for the Jihad against the Israeli occupation. However, the Dawa work at the grassroots level can also be seen as a resistance practice that can be identified as constructive resistance. The internal discussion in Hamas as to what strategies to apply, as will be shown, are also formed and impacted by various interrelations with external actors of the conflict. The Palestinian public, in particular, is a key actor that influences Hamas in various ways, although Fatah, PLO, Israel and other external actors also have their specific roles to play.

Constructive resistance occurs when people start to build the society they desire independently of and in opposition to the dominant structures already in place. Through case studies and illustrative examples from around the world, this book explores how people working for a more just, sustainable and peaceful future combine construction and resistance. The book provides students and practitioners of resistance with tools to detect, critically discuss and evaluate cases of constructive resistance. While some movements focus mainly on either construction or resistance, the authors argue that those who manage to creatively combine the two are likely to achieve more far-reaching goals and see their results become more durable.

Resistance has often been connected with anti-social attitudes, destructiveness, reactionary or revolutionary ideologies, unusual and sudden explosions of violence and emotional outbursts. This book goes beyond these conventions. Exploring various key questions, ranging from concept definitions of affect and temporality, to complex entanglements of various social dimensions and ethical questions, this accessible guide provides a robust theoretical and methodological framework for researching of resistance and social change.By drawing connections between resistance and politics, between performance and everyday strategies, and between the juridical and its counter-strategies, this book provides students with a transdisciplinary understanding of contemporary debates in this emerging field.

Resistance has often been connected with anti-social attitudes, destructiveness, reactionary or revolutionary ideologies, unusual and sudden explosions of violence and emotional outbursts. This book goes beyond these conventions. Exploring various key questions, ranging from concept definitions of affect and temporality, to complex entanglements of various social dimensions and ethical questions, this accessible guide provides a robust theoretical and methodological framework for researching of resistance and social change.By drawing connections between resistance and politics, between performance and everyday strategies, and between the juridical and its counter-strategies, this book provides students with a transdisciplinary understanding of contemporary debates in this emerging field.

Our world today is experimenting a time of great power but also of tremendous resistances.Everywhere, people are brought together by similar burdens and frustration and creatively think about how to counter the forms of domination they are ascribed to. In academia as well there is an awakening among scholars to further investigate these multiple forms of resistance and equip the field with useful and empowering knowledge.This book aims at presenting some of these findings and reflecting upon the implications, social relevance, and ethical challenges of the growing field of Resistance Studies.

Our world today is experimenting a time of great power but also of tremendous resistances.Everywhere, people are brought together by similar burdens and frustration and creatively think about how to counter the forms of domination they are ascribed to. In academia as well there is an awakening among scholars to further investigate these multiple forms of resistance and equip the field with useful and empowering knowledge.This book aims at presenting some of these findings and reflecting upon the implications, social relevance, and ethical challenges of the growing field of Resistance Studies.

Rule and resistance can no longer be understood in national contexts only. They both have transnationalised over the last decades. The scholarly discourse, however, still lags behind these developments. While International Relations only sees institutional “governance”, social movement studies only see instances of resistance. Both, however, lack the necessary vocabulary to describe the dynamic interplay between systems of rule and resistance. While we are governed by transnational structures of rule, a systematic analysis of how this operates and how it can be resisted remains to be developed.This open access book develops an understanding of these power relations through rich empirical case studies of different forms of rule-resistance relationships. Some resistant groups demand reforms of particular policies and institutions. Others attack institutions head-on. Yet other actors attempt to escape the rules they reject. Which forms of resistance can we expect under different kinds of rule? How can we understand transnational rule in the first place? The book gives new inspiring answers to these difficult questions.The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Goethe University Frankfurt am Main