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Dis-[O]rientation and the Rise of Neo-Polygyny in A Gendered "Third Space": The Case of the Negev Bedouin
Abstract
In this paper, I use a theoretical framework, Dis-[O]rientation, which I have been developing based upon the work of Homi Bhabha. I argue that as nomadic communities have been sedentarized throughout the MENA, provided with health care, education, and other "modern" amenities, they have entered a "Third Space," no longer living and behaving as herders, nor being fully absorbed within the settled societies which have sought to remove them from their historic cultural roots and lands. The existence of this "Space" is manifested in a variety of ways, including via gender relations. Using case study evidence collected in the Negev over the past two decades, I present my final findings of my most recent research study (2010) which suggests that as the State has actively sought to eliminate past social and economic activities, bedouin men have responded with increasingly higher rates of polygyny - that is, a so-called "traditional" behavior. And yet, the ethnic/national origins of second wives has changed considerably, progressing from the local (Israel) to the regional (MENA) to the global. I conclude the paper by contending that the phenomenon of neo-polygyny now developing in the region well represents communal efforts to negotiate/situate their newly developing identities within a "Third Space."
Discipline
Geography
Geographic Area
Israel
Sub Area
Gender/Women's Studies