Free from the state? Resistance and the possibilities for freedom in the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights

Can sectarianism exist without the nation-state? Can statelessness open up or inhibit the possibilities of political resistance and freedom? Critical scholarship on sectarianism in the Middle East, including my own book on sectarianism within the pre-war Syrian state, locate sectarian belonging within the contingencies and struggles of modern Middle Eastern state formation. But, contemporary crises, such as the devastating war in Syria, the socio-economic crisis in Lebanon, and the right-wing expansionism in Israel, seem to shake the foundational assumptions of states and belonging in the region. By exploring the political resistance among the stateless Syrians, who belong to the Druze sect, in the Israeli-Occupied Golan Heights, this project turns the question of sectarianism on its head. Stateless since the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights during the Six-Days War in 1967, the Syrian Druze have persevered dispossession and occupation and they continue to fight for their liberation and return to Syria. Indeed, they appear to be an example of defying sectarian stereotyping, and the contemporary widespread sectarianisation of political belonging in the region and the rise of populism among rural communities world-wide.

People

	Name	Telephone	Email	Office
	Dr Maria Kastrinou Lecturer in Anthropology (Principal investigator) T: +44 (0)1895 265059 E: maria.kastrinou@brunel.ac.uk	+44 (0)1895 265059	maria.kastrinou@brunel.ac.uk	Marie Jahoda 219

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