International Journal of Middle East Studies
Volume 47, Issue 2, 2015, Pages 263-280

Becoming a man in al-wihdat: Masculine performances in a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan (Article)

Achilli L.*
  • a Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (MPC), Florence, Italy

Abstract

This article explores the complex interplay between masculinity and nationalism among Palestinians living in a refugee camp in Jordan. Youth masculinity in the camp is widely perceived in Jordan as an expression of either immoral behavior or unthinking radicalism, and as a symbol of cultural and political difference and the failure of camp dwellers to embrace assimilation. However, camp dwellers' masculinities are not uniform. I argue that young men's ability to navigate and master diverse and sometimes contrasting registers of manhood enables them to reproduce a Palestinian national identity in exile while achieving socioeconomic integration in Jordan. In pursuing this argument, the article has two goals: to challenge popular stereotypes about Palestinian refugees in Jordan today; and to problematize the discursive mutual dependency between nationalism and hegemonic masculinity in the study of Palestinian masculinity. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

international migration hegemony young population nationalism refugee Jordan

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84954521097&doi=10.1017%2fS0020743815000045&partnerID=40&md5=0a7aec98e23fbd074c5cd6c921c7df3a

DOI: 10.1017/S0020743815000045
ISSN: 00207438
Cited by: 8
Original Language: English